Koni Steffen fatally injured in Greenland accident
Konrad Steffen, director of WSL, professor for climate and cryosphere at ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne, and esteemed long-term member of C2SM, has died following an accident in Greenland this past weekend.
Prof. Konrad Steffen, our esteemed and highly valued colleague and director of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) died on Saturday on Greenland in a tragic accident. We not only lose an outstanding scientist and committed researcher, who studied climate, ice and snow interactions in polar and alpine regions and shaped polar research in Switzerland, but also an engaged member and staunch supporter of C2SM since its start in 2008. Koni contributed to shaping C2SM as a member of its Steering Committee from 2008 to 2012 and supported our vision of building a climate community that integrates experts from all disciplines across institutions. He anchored WSL as a core member institution within C2SM and through his unwavering support he played a crucial role in ensuring our transition into our long-term future.
We will remember Koni as a towering scientist who not only pushed cryosphere science forward, but also climate modelling at C2SM. He was an eloquent and lively speaker on countless occasions, and an advocate for the role of science in society. We will miss Koni’s compassionate and engaging personality dearly. He is a big loss for the C2SM community, for the ETH domain and for science. We express our heartfelt condolences to his family and close friends.