Requiem for an Entomologist

Lake Opeongo, Summer 2005

I spent a lot of time ruminating on this. I was going to type out this long philosophical post on the glories and wonder of field work, and how Mike was someone who showed me that, and gave me so much because of it. But it's all just...well. Right now it just feels so fake and plastic, and it wouldn't be fair to him.

So all I'll say is this: God bless you Mike. And thank you, for everything.


Fishgut Bay, searching for water scorpions, Summer 2005

EDIT: I apologize if I lost anyone with this post - Mike Spironello was my TA for the third year entomology course which I took late last summer in 2005. Not only did I get to go back to Harkness (see the link in the sidebar) - but I got to experience more of Algonquin Park. Really one of the high points of the year.

What always just blew me away about Mike was how he fit my ideal image of a grad student to a "T" - someone who just breezed through life in a wholly nonchalant way, and yet in the snap of a finger could look at an insect and recite on command an almost encyclopedic amount of knowledge about it. A razor sharp mind whose sense of fun and enjoyment of life was something I'd never seen before.

More information on what happened can be gleaned by going to the link in the title, and I suggest you at least take a small glance to get to know him better.

The pictures are from the Flickr page of my friend and fellow entomological colleague, Yasser Habib (Later resized on Photobucket to fit the window).