Lina Nunes
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Dr Lina Nunes died on March 3, 2024 in her hometown of Lisbon following a long illness, at the all too young age of 59.
Lina is survived by the loves of her life, her sons João and Pedro, who meant the world to Lina.
Lina was a member of the IRG for many years, first after being a RCA Awardee in 1991, the second year the RCA was awarded, then as an active participant in the science of the IRG for many years since. Lina was the Chair and driving force within the IRG47 Local Organizing Committee of the very successful IRG47 meeting held in Lisbon, Portugal in 2016. She was a founding member of the IRG Communications Committee and the developer and administrator of the IRG LinkedIn and Facebook portals for many years until her illness took its toll.
Lina was a beloved member of the IRG community, known to many and friendly to all. Lina wrote her bio for the IRG back in 2016, you can read it here.
We thank all of those IRG members who contributed to this Tribute to Lina.
Frank Brooks
I met Lina several times in the 1990's when the European Community resolved to create a single European trading market in goods and services with no barriers to trade between Member States. The European Standards Organisation (CEN) established committees and working groups to create European Standards (ENs) with input from each nation's national standards body (BSI for the UK). I was the BSI industry representative for the creation of EN351 that laid down criteria for the specification of conferred durability of treated wood by defining chemical retentions (of EU approved wood preservatives) in the different Use (Hazard) Classes. Lina was the Portuguese representative. The working group met about 15 times over 2 - 3 of years in different EU countries when the Standard was drafted. The meetings generally had good co-operative technical input which moved the standards process forward, and Lina’s input was important in this process.
During the evenings the social connections provided further impetus to the process, and Lina was again a significant person in utilizing these gatherings to move the standards development forward. Clearly her social skills later became part of her legacy through her development of the social media platforms for the IRG.
Many people will have fond memories of Lina and I hope her sons will know that they can be proud of her.
Maite de Troya
Lina has been one of the best people I've ever met in my life. Professionally, she has been too humble, as I believe that her full professional worth has not been recognized. But she has always been willing to help and collaborate with any scientist who asked her to. She has been a friend, but one of those who has always been willing to listen, even if it was not in person. Kind, caring, modest, and very, very sensitive. As a believer in God I feel her by my side like a great angel. I hope to meet her again in heaven
Dennis Jones
I first met Lina as part of the European Thematic Network for Wood Modification in 2000 (just before I joined IRG) and was immediately struck by this extremely knowledgeable person who was also very approachable, always willing to help and with a big smile on her face. The Network led to the European Conferences on Wood Modification (ECWM) which provided an extra chance to meet up other than the annual IRG meetings, each offering myself and many others to hear of the high-quality work being led by Lina. She was always the first port of call in checking taxonomy and our regular discussions led to several joint papers. There were many visits to Lisbon, often linked to international rugby matches (she loved the game and I recall her laughing at me cheering a score for Wales when in a pub full of South Africans – everyone turned round and looked at me… I didn’t care, Lina was looking after me!). My visits often involved delivering a box of chocolates, but she always said Joao and Pedro ate most of them! Our last meeting in January was brightened up by my giving her a picture drawn by the younger daughter (of a giant termite devastating a forest), she had a laugh and smile at that. I will miss the science, the discussions, the friendship and most so, the smile.
Cysgu yn dawel, cariad. (Sleep in peace, love)
Jeff Lloyd
Lina and I first met working in Dr. David Dickinson’s lab at Imperial College where we were grad students. Both of us working on borates but her with termites (her great passion) and myself with fungi. We were immediately friends but cemented the friendship during IRG22 in 1991 in Kyoto, Japan where we both received the RCA.
We were to have many meetings, conferences and adventures together there-after, and co-authored some papers together. Portugal IRG47 that she organized last minute and almost single-handedly was one of my favorites. I was fortunate enough to have both her and her incredible boys, Joao and Pedro, visit in TN and myself stay with them in Portugal. I also was able to sit in on Joao’s masters defense and it was fabulous to see Lina so proud.
She was always a good listener and had sound advice and even fighting cancer she was more interested in what I was up to than talking about herself.
She leaves both Joao and Pedro, two incredible boys she loved above all, and so many great friends at IRG and within wood protection. What a great legacy, and one she can be proud of.
Magdalena Kutnik
Lina,
Such a big heart. Tender and fragile, with so much love to give. Emotions that overwhelmed you so easily, making you laugh and cry at the same time.
We shared so many different situations during our long years of friendship, dark and sad hours tinged with anguish, but erased from my memory by happy moments, filled with hope and happiness. We laughed, danced, sang, walked miles together, spend hours talking in your home, in mine, in hotel rooms, in planes, trains, buses, in cities all over the world. We talked about our kids, our parents, our loves, our friends, about the strong feelings that bound us together and meant so much to us. I loved you, deeply, sincerely, with all your qualities and faults. I'll think of you listening to Fado, breathing in the sea, looking at the stars. I'll miss you forever, my sweet Lina.
Joran Jermer
I have known Lina since the late 80s, of course through the IRG but also from the European standardization activities in CEN TC38.
She attended an IRG meeting for the first time in 1988 (Madrid) and as far as I know, the last meeting she attended was in 2019 (Quebec city).
She became member in 1990 and received the RCA in 1991 (Kyoto) as part of the 2nd batch of RCA recipients.
She was active in Section 1, as vice chair 2008-2010 and as chair 2011-2013. She was first author of 10 papers and contributed to another 30 papers, in all 40 papers issued between 1988 and 2022 many covering her favourite subject - termites.
She was member of the Communications committee since 2010 and as everybody knows, responsible for the Group's Facebook site. Much appreciated!
The 2016 IRG meeting in Lisbon was very much the result of Lina's efforts as chair of the Organizing committee.
In May 1993 Lina helped me to organize the final meeting of CEN TC38 WG 3 (preparing the standard that later became EN 351) in Lisbon, see photo of the committee.
Lina will be sadly missed by all IRG colleagues.
David Dickinson
Lina was one of my early PhD students at Imperial College. Her main concern when she first came to London was that she couldn’t find anywhere to buy her strong black coffee on the way to work. That was before the coffee revolution took over in the UK. Funny what sticks in your mind.
Over the years I visited Portugal many times with work and Lina always looked after me and we shared many meals together and lots of coffee. I met her mother who was so proud of her.
I have very fond memories of her RCA award meeting, IRG22 in Japan, where she gave two papers on her PhD work. She was so happy and proud to talk about her own work.
After I retired I attended the IRG47 meeting in Lisbon with my wife. For me it was one of the best meetings socially. We both met up with other old friends together. It was so obvious to me that Lina worked so hard to make sure we enjoyed our visit and the social side of the IRG47 meeting.
Marie-France Thévenon
To be quite honest, I can't remember when I first met Lina, but it was at an IRG meeting.
What I do remember is that she was so welcoming, reassuring and smiling that every time we met, it was enjoyable.
She was an outstanding wood (and termite !) scientist, always having time to listen to you and giving super good advices.
She was humble, positive and inspiring, she will be sorely missed.
Barry Goodell and Jody Jellison
Lina was a friend that we saw at meetings just once a year; still we felt an intimate bond with her. We know that many in IRG felt the same. There are reasons that each of us attends certain scientific meetings, and those reasons go beyond our interests in technology and in sharing knowledge. Lina represented the soul of IRG, and she was one of the most important reasons why we attended the meetings – for that type of friendship. Lina cared for all her IRG friends very much, and we loved her for that caring nature.
Lina’s organization, hard work, attention to detail and helpful tips made for one of the most memorable IRG meetings in Portugal in 2016; and she kept her sense of humor throughout. That sense of humor was her trademark - and it was often gentle, but she could also use it as a tool with quite pointed comments and often hilarious discussion. She had a wonderful smile and an infectious laugh.
Lina was her usual spirited self when a small group of us toured Kruger National Park together, enjoying the amazing animals and, for Lina especially, the termites! One of the things we learned in that trip was that Lina was quite a fan of Disney’s Lion King. Her periodic shouts of delight while touring kept us all laughing: “Oh… look, a Pumbaa!” and “Yes, I do want my picture with Simba!” On one of the long rides out into the Kruger Bush one chilly morning as she and I sat together, another thing I learned about Lina was her early diagnosis of cancer. But she was determined to have fun, live life, and not let that slow her down. In Quebec the following year, Jody, Lina and I had lunch in the Old City and we caught up on each other’s lives, only to learn that Lina’s prognosis was not good but that she was keeping up a strong fight. We cried together for a bit – and then went out together to have fun in the city.
Lina made a difference in many people’s lives. Her lovely smile, her humor and her caring nature will be in our memories forever.
Tony Bravery
I first met Lina when she joined Imperial College, London as a PhD student with David Dickinson. I was struck from the start by her friendly and open character, completely unfazed by new surroundings and new people. She came out to us at the BRE Centre for Timber Technology and Construction in Watford to learn how we maintained our termite colonies and the techniques we used in our research and testing – and we learned much from her! I remember her as an enthusiastic and dedicated researcher and a great listener. Her skill with people and great knowledge of termites combined to create a teacher and mentor who was clearly much appreciated and loved throughout the great IRG Community. Her contributions to the European Standards and Scientific Co-ordination community have been mentioned by others here and I add my own appreciation and recognition for all that Lina gave us.
It was an enormous pleasure for me to participate, at least in parts of the IRG Meeting in Lisbon in 2016, and Lina’s personal hospitality and professionalism in the organisation of that meeting was evident and so much appreciated by all the participants.
Lina leaves a great professional and personal legacy of which her sons, who sadly I was never able to meet, can be very proud.
This tribute was written for inclusion in the March 2024 IRG newsletter.
Donations in Memory of Lina
If you would like to make a charitable donation in Lina's memory, we received this information from her son Joao: "When it comes to organizations Lina cared about, she donated annually to these two Portuguese organizations":
Liga Portuguesa Contra o Cancro
An organization focused on helping cancer patients and survivors in Portugal https://www.ligacontracancro.pt
You can make a donation by PAYPAL or through:
LPCC IBAN: PT50003300000004209177462
Bank: Millennium BCP
Swift: BCOMPTPL
SOS Voz Amiga
An organization that focuses on helping peoples mental health by providing an open phone line to call to. https://www.sosvozamiga.org