The CHIMP & SEE Blog: With Heavy Hearts: Rest in Power Dawna Wallis (aka 'Snorticus')

It is with a very heavy heart that we post today to pay tribute to Dawna Wallis (aka Chimp&See citizen scientist "@Snorticus") who we recently found out passed away on June 13 2019.

Dawna was one of our long time participants and her enthusiasm and kindness were infectious! In fact, one of our PanAf scientist had even written to her about doing field work as she was so observant and keen at Chimp&See.

Thank you so much Dawna for all the chimp collages you shared, all the chimps you helped identify, all the great chimp names you gave and all the fun discussions we had about wildlife, you will be so very dearly missed. We wish your family all the best and send our deepest condolences to them.

Below, a few of the tributes to Dawna we have received:

"What sad news indeed, and what a shock. Dawna was so helpful to me during my early days with C&S and her sense of humour often made me smile. Please convey my sympathies to her family. "
-Jane aka @Batfan

"That is such sad news. Please pass on my condolences and best wishes to Dawna's husband and family."
-Fiona aka @puddock

"I'm shocked and very sad. I very much liked Dawna's subtle power of observation, her humor and her entire presence."
-Lucia aka @Luca-chimp

"That is so very sad... I don't know what C&S would have done without her contributions, and it definitely would have missed out on many laughs. We were blessed to have her."
-Kris aka @ksigler

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Dawna always voiced her independent opinion when it came to chimp matching. She did not let other people's opinions take over to what she actually saw. I learned from her lots about how different light, shadows, and colors can make a chimp look like. She discussed again and again how the way a video / image was taken and then presented influences what we believe to see and that you really need to focus on every detail (especially the ears - one of her specialities) and not shrug it off for a seemingly harmonious sum of the parts.
But most of all, she was an appreciated voice and friend on twitter with opinions about the world - and chimpanzee conservation."
-Anja aka @AnLand

"I am so so sorry to read those lines. Deeply shocking and sad indeed.Although I weren't that close with her, she seemed like a very nice person, passionate about everything she worked on."
-Zuzi aka @yshish

"It is a shocking and very sad news. I knew her less than others. However, I remember Dawna as such a helpful, and very kind lady.
She will be deeply missed."
-Flavie aka @Orohena

"I am very sad and shocked. I will miss Dawna's smart and friendly nature very much. She also leaves a large gap at Chimp&See."
-Heike aka @HeikeW

"I am terribly sorry. I do not know what to say, I am in shock. I am really sorry."
-Paula aka @PauDG

"Oh no, this is so sad, I'm deeply shocked! I liked her very much, her humor, her power of observation, her intelligence, her sense of justice, her lovely character. I enjoyed very much to communicate with her also on facebook. I will carry her in my heart."
-Heidi aka @Boleyn

“Dear Dawna, you have been a wonderful companion in this amazing journey of species conservation, who always understood the meaning of the words ´team work´. I will be greatly missing you. My thoughts are with your family and friends during this difficult time. See you somewhere, wherever there are animals to protect around <3 “
-Nuria aka @NuriaM

"What sad news 😢. I thought I had not seen her around much, but assumed it might be due to her waiting for the relaunch. Thank you for telling me. She will definitely be missed."
-Laura aka @LauraKLynn

Also, a big thank you to our moderator Heidi/@Boleyn for checking in on Dawna when she noticed that Dawna was not commenting anymore at Chimp&See. We are so very grateful to Heidi, and our other mods, for creating such a caring community at Chimp&See and notifying the rest of us of Dawna's passing, as well as collecting the kind thoughts you have read above.