Devastated to hear of Barney’s far to early passing. He supervised me in GPRG (Sheffield) from 2004-2008 and we continued to stay in touch. It was his enthusiasm even before that during my undergraduate course which set me towards a career in hydrogeology and environmental consultancy. He was a true leader with wisdom and empathy in spades. I fondly remember attending a 2005 European Bioremediation conference with Steve in Crete where his joy for life with such a broad academic network was as bright as his choice of shirt! Genuinely and thoroughly saddened to hear the news and want to extend sincere sympathy to Barney’s family and wider academic colleagues.