For the love of fish, nature and people: A tribute to Professor Louis Bernatchez (1960–2023)

It is difficult to overstate the profound impact that Professor Louis Bernatchez had on the wider field of genomics applied to the conservation and management of aquatic resources. Louis died on 28 September 2023 at the age of 63. His passing represents an immense loss. He has held the position of Editor-in-Chief for Evolutionary Applications since its inception in 2008, and his unwavering passion and commitment to making science relevant for a wide range of applications and end-users have significantly influenced the journal's trajectory. We remember him as an exceptionally compassionate, encouraging and genuine individual, possessing unparalleled scientific expertise, and boundless generosity (Figure 1). Our hearts go out to his family, friends, colleagues and students during this incredibly challenging period. Born in 1960, Louis grew up in the small and tight-knit community of Lac-Frontière in Québec, Canada (Ferchaud et al., 2020). His formative years were spent in the wilderness, engaging in hunting and fishing, which helped to forge a profound and enduring bond with the natural world—a connection that would remain with him throughout his life. At the age of 12, he already harboured a firm resolve to pursue a career as a biologist. In 1983, he earned his BSc from the Université Laval in Québec, Canada. Shortly after in 1986, he completed his MSc degree, researching the energetic costs in Lake Whitefish and Cisco. This research ignited a lifelong passion, leading to 40 years dedicated to exploring microevolution's role in macroevolution using sympatric Lake Whitefish species pairs. Afterwards, he briefly left academia to launch a commercial whitefish harvesting project in the remote Quebec community, Laniel. He returned to academia and earned his PhD in 1990, initially focused on the population genetic structure of coregonine fishes which he expanded into a thesis on large-scale phylogeography. Following his PhD, he held postdoctoral positions in France (Université de Montpellier II) and Canada (University of Guelph, Ontario) but felt a strong pull to return to Québec. In 1992, he became a Research Associate at the Université du Québec and later an Assistant Professor at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS). Finally, in 1995, he re-joined the Université Laval, where he rose to full professorship in 2004, took the head of the Institute of Integrative Biology and Systems in 2018, and continued his academic journey until his passing. Louis had a prolific and productive career spanning four decades. He has supported and co-authored well over 500 publications and worked with over 100 collaborators (Figure 2). As anyone who worked with Louis knows, most of these collaborators probably enjoyed (at least) a meal or drink with him, over which he passionately discussed politics, science and fishes. This attitude was just a reflection of his restless working style. For him, being a scientist was his way of living, and he combined this with all the other pleasures he had in life, spanning food, politics, wine, time with loved ones and music. Family played a pivotal role in every facet of Louis's life, and his seamless integration of family and his scientific pursuits served as a powerful example of how one could genuinely embrace and celebrate the concept of work–life balance. As part of his tireless passion for science, he contributed immensely to the growth of new disciplines in the field. He was a pioneer in phylogeography and in the application of functional genomics to non-model organisms. He stressed the importance of integrating molecular genetics and ecology in understanding adaptive divergence and speciation, and he also championed population genomics, advocating for the holistic integration of genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic data with ecological, physiological and life-history data in adaptation studies. He also demonstrated the importance of conservationists engaging with researchers in other disciplines, such as climate science, economics and social science. While he primarily focused on fishes, he expanded his research to include a diverse range of organisms, from invertebrates and birds to mammals. His name is now synonymous with the concepts of ecotype divergence, conservation genomics, genetic health, natural resources management and evolutionary adaptive potential, and his achievements have left a permanent mark on these areas of study. Louis was highly active in fish research with Indigenous communities across Canada and had a particular soft spot for Eeyou Istchee where he conducted some of his earliest research on whitefish along the James Bay coast. Most recently, he became the Principal Scientist leading the Genome Canada grant Fostering Indigenous Small-scale fisheries for Health, Economy and Food Security (FISHES, https://fishes-project.ibis.ulaval.ca/about-fishes/). This FISHES project is a multi-year project weaving genomics, fisheries science and indigenous knowledge across northern Canada to address critical socio-economic challenges and opportunities related to food security and commercial, recreational and subsistence fisheries, and Louis was passionate about it. Louis has received numerous awards, and scientific accolades for his contributions to the scientific advancements of these fields (Ferchaud et al., 2020). Most notable are the Canadian Research Chair in Conservation Genetics of Aquatic Resources and then in Genomics and Conservation of Aquatic Resources, which he held since 2001 and 2006, respectively, and election to the Royal Society of Canada (2011), American Association for the Advancement of Science (2011), receiving the Marie-Victorin Prix du Québec (2012), the Molecular Ecology Prize (2016) and being elected to become knight of the Ordre National du Québec (2020). Beyond the formal prizes and awards, Louis was humbly delighted that such recognition gave him the opportunity to share science, to communicate broadly about the research of his team and to diffuse important messages for the conservation of biodiversity. The scientific community will remember him not only for these awards but also for his passion for science, energetic personality and collaborative philosophy, which he incorporated into a unique way of doing research. Those who had the honour and pleasure of knowing him knew that Louis was not only a living scientific hub but also a colleague, teacher, supervisor and mentor who influenced the lives of so many of us in profound ways. He was immensely passionate about raising the next generation of scientists from undergraduate to post-doctoral researchers. His team, his ‘gang’ as he would have said in québecois, was his highest priority throughout his career including during the last months fighting for his life. This supervising role was his biggest pride, not merely from a scientific point of view, but also as a mentor, who took great care of the future and happiness of his students who were about to take the next step in their careers. Such attention to others was expansive in time—membership of the Bernatchez group had no expiration date—and also in space: Louis had many enduring relationships with collaborators around the world. Despite the untimely departure of Louis, he would have wanted us to continue treading the path he so brilliantly charted. He would have enjoyed seeing us coming together not just as colleagues but as friends, sharing a glass of wine or a beer, listening to harmonious melodies and revelling in joyful laughter. As we navigate the journey he began, we pay tribute to his enduring spirit and the indelible mark he left upon our lives. In Box 1, we offer some reflections on Louis' extraordinary journey as Editor-in-Chief of Evolutionary Applications, and past and present Associate Editors and Guest Editors of the journal share some of their personal thoughts and memories about Louis as leader, storyteller, colleague and mentor. Over the course of his period as Editor-in-Chief of Evolutionary Applications, Louis has managed a substantial portfolio, encompassing more than 6000 manuscripts. It was late September 2000. I had arrived in Brisbane the night before and was as excited as I was frightened about presenting my ongoing PhD work in front of Louis Bernatchez, the world-famous fish phylogeographer. I was there because of an invitation from Craig Moritz: ‘You should come and visit our lab. Louis is doing a sabbatical with us'. I will be always thankful for that invite. Louis' kindness and humour made me feel immediately at ease. My talk Biogeography and speciation of South American silverside fishes was followed by Louis' brilliant talk Fish stories from the North: relevance for speciation. Too many fishes in just 1 day for a herpetology lab! Louis' assertiveness assured me I was on the right track and his huge interest in fish evolution later sparked our long-term research collaboration across the equator. He acted as my PhD examiner, and years later became the host for my first academic sabbatical, a mentor, a key team member of our rainbowfish projects and field expeditions, a host for my PhD students and postdocs, an inspiring and tireless Editor-in-Chief, and an amusing friend. We had the chance to celebrate work and life multiple times, and what always amazed me in those moments was how generous with his time and kind Louis was with students and colleagues (including competitors), as well as with random folks who crossed his path. In this article, we pay tribute to his life, to his immense integrative vision and to his prominent contributions to the fields of ecological, evolutionary and conservation genomics. For me, I will always remember and celebrate Louis as the friendliest and greatest ‘fish guy’ I've ever met. I have only met Louis in person three short times, three memorable times though. I have never collaborated with him on a project or an article, and yet today I feel a great emptiness, as great as the loss of a close colleague, or even a member of my family. Louis was like that. He made us feel part of a big family, the molecular ecology family, of which he was a figurehead. And even more so, for the community of aquatic geneticists, that he loved, protected, encouraged and pushed to be the best it could be. For example, he pushed me hard to write one of my rare articles that had little impact in our field, the coupling hypothesis, arguing that discussions over beers at conferences were pointless and that you had to have the courage to act on your convictions. 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