Daniel Prati 1966-2026

We mourn the loss of Daniel Prati, who passed away completely unexpectedly in March 2026, five months before his sixtieth birthday, due to heart failure. We are stunned by Dani’s sudden death and deeply saddened.

His empty workplace is unbearable. We try to take comfort in the many wonderful hours we were able to spend together—whether planning and discussing experiments, doing fieldwork, or sharing a beer in the evening.

We are very grateful for the many years we had with him and deeply miss Dani—his kind and warm-hearted nature, and his dry sense of humor.

After completing his studies and doctorate in Basel and Zurich, and holding academic positions in Birmensdorf, Halle (Saale), and Potsdam, Dani had been a research associate in the Department of Plant Ecology at the University of Bern since 2007. He had a great love for plants and a strong interest in evolution, which led him to train in his hometown of Basel as a plant population biologist and evolutionary ecologist. In his subsequent positions, he initially focused on the life cycles, adaptations, and biotic interactions of clonal and invasive plant species. In recent years, he increasingly worked on questions related to plant species diversity and the coexistence of species.

Dani had been involved with the Biodiversity Exploratories since the beginning in 2006—playing a key role in shaping them conceptually, organizationally, and personally over all these years. In his work, he combined comparative field studies with experiments conducted in the field, in gardens, and in greenhouses. He was a skillful, pragmatic experimentalist and an experienced field biologist—a very rare and valuable combination. He always placed great emphasis on coherent experimental design and careful analysis. Dani was always happy to be out in the field.

In the Department of Plant Ecology at the University of Bern and beyond, for many years the guiding principle for both big and small questions was: “I’ll ask Dani—he’ll know.” We can hardly believe that this is no longer possible.