(Moderators: please feel free to remove this post if it’s not appropriate for the forum)
An extremely sad news. Stephen (@ stephen_thorpe) was one of the biggest contributors to iNat NZ, and he personally helped me a lot with insect identifications too.
Currently there’s not much information about who and why he was killed, but according to the news, he was stubbled just before noon on 24th, near his office and his favourite iNatting location in Auckland (where I also go often- literally I was there a couple weeks ago), and he passed away soon after.
The killer is not identified and is still on the run, so folks in Auckland, please be extra careful.
I thought I’d share this here because many of you guys would have seen him on iNat and also it reminds us to be careful while doing observations.
NZ herald mentions some of the comments that we posted on his last observation on iNat. Rest in peace, Stephen.
I’m so very sorry to hear this distressing news. The news article and comments reveal that Stephen Thorpe was clearly a fine man. Such a sad loss to the world .
@invertebratist I edited the title to the part about his last activity.
Let’s please keep any speculation about the circumstances of his death, as well as sentiments about the perpetrator, out of the discussion and instead focus on Stephen’s legacy. If someone wants to create a general safety topic for iNatting, that’s fine.
Rest in peace, Stephen. It’s always difficult to lose a community member to illness or an accident, but the circumstances of his death feel particularly senseless and hard for me to stomach.
I had a chance to interact (virtually) with Stephen only a few times, but they were always positive and it was clear to me he was a fixture of the NZ entomology/iNat community. I am grateful for Stephen’s many contributions, and he will be missed.
You were an amazing member of the iNaturalist community. I’m sure you inspired many naturalists from all around the world with your dedication on biodiversity. Today, your iNaturalist bio resonates stronger than ever.
It is my intention that all my observations on iNaturalist remain there in perpetuity (i.e. after my death).
Genuinely sad to find this out, he helped me and I’m sure many out with countless id’s and got me into entomology very sad to hear of his passing, he will certainly be missed.
Welcome to the iNaturalist forum @mark_smale. Sorry that this is likely one of the first posts you saw: there’s a lot more light-hearted and informative posts here
I hope I can leave my observations in a similar state too. They may not always be good, but they’re as much for the good of science as they are a picture collection to me.
I have had occasion to work with Stephen on a number of occasions over the last 30+ years, and was in awe of the remarkable gift he had for remembering the features of insects he had seen in collections - not just of a particular family or group, but across a wide swathe of orders. Stephen had a single-minded focus and passion for insects. His contribution to entomology in New Zealand has been enormous, and he did this largely without the reward of salary afforded to our scientists, and in later years seemingly without the support of our major science institutions. That Stephen’s gift to entomology has been prematurely extinguished in such circumstances is an utter tragedy.
I first came across Stephen on wikimedia commons years ago, before iNat was even a “thing”. In the pre-iNat days I found it hard to accurately identify just about anything - he was one of the few there at the time that seemed to know what he was talking about regarding NZ flora/fauna and he did a lot of work on wikispecies. He had a wide area of flora/fauna knowledge outside his entomological specialties. This is a tragic end to a talented life.
Oh my god, what horrible news.
Our online paths didn’t cross too often, but I know he was an incredibly intelligent and talented person. It’s a massive loss not just for the iNat community, but for science as a whole.