Ebbe Schmidt Nielsen (7 June 1950 – 7 March 2001) was a Danish entomologist influential in systematics and Lepidoptera research, and an early proponent of biodiversity informatics. The journal Invertebrate Systematics was established with significant contributions from Nielsen, and he assisted in the founding of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Nielsen wrote several books, published over eighty scientific papers, and was highly regarded within the scientific community. Following his death, the GBIF organised the Ebbe Nielsen Prize in his memory, awarded annually to promising researchers in the field of biodiversity informatics. The moth Pollanisus nielseni is named after Nielsen.
Early life and education
Nielsen was born on 7 June 1950 in Ry, Denmark. His parents were farmers, and he and his brother frequently explored the surrounding Jutland countryside, playing in forests and by the shores of Mossø, a lake near their home. Inspired by reading about collecting and identifying moths and butterflies, Nielsen began gathering specimens at the age of fourteen and later joined an entomology club based in Århus. and on 1 March 2001, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility was officially launched. As Australia's Head of Delegation for the GBIF and a founding member, Nielsen was en route to Montreal to attend the first meeting of the governing board when he died of a heart attack.
A special issue of Invertebrate Systematics was published in 2003 as a tribute to Nielsen, and contained articles written by his friends and colleagues about him and his work. In 1995, a new species of moth was discovered in Western Australia and in 2005 it was formally described by Gerhard M. Tarmann. The moth, of the genus Pollanisus, was given the specific epithet nielseni by Tarmann, in memory of his colleague's extensive work in lepidopterology.
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