Dr. Bruno Richard Stephan died after a short heavy illness on 09/04/2016. Richard, as he was called, came in 1968 from Hannover where received his PhD in horticulture to the institute at Grosshansdorf and remained there until his retirement in 2001. He soon made a name in the provenance research of domestic but also of foreign pines, e. g. western white and lodgepole pine, and other foreign species such as grand fir. He expanded his special field or research, the pathology of needle cast of pine and Douglas fir, blister rust of western white pine and other diseases to international stature. The Waldsterben required a reorientation of research on native species such as silver fir. The results fed into the concept for the conservation of forest genetic resources, in which he was significantly involved.

Text: Dr. Georg von Wühlisch