UNIVERSITE DE GENEVE
TO:
PROFESSEUR LOUISETTE ZANINETTI
SECTION DE BIOLOGIE
DEPARTEMENT DE ZOOLOGIE
ET BIOLOGIE ANIMALE
13, RUE DES MARAICHERS,
CH-1211 GENEVE 4
Jean HOUMARD
Charge de Mission
CNRS – Departement des Sciences de la Vie
3, rue Michel-Ange
75794 PARIS Cedex 16
Geneva, September 27th 2004,
Concerns:
Supporting Letter for Colomban de Vargas’ application to an
ATIP-2004 fellowship.
To Whom It May Concern:
Dear Committee Members,
Over the past two years, I have been Vice-President of the University of Geneva in
Switzerland, after a long career as full Professor in both the departments of Biology
and Geology of the same University.
I have no reservation in strongly advocating the nomination of Colomban de Vargas
for an ATIP fellowship. I have known Colomban as the supervisor of both his Master
and PhD theses. He came to my laboratory with the intention to work on molecular
systematics and evolution of any group of protists. As a PhD subject, he was given
one of the most difficult groups, the planktonic foraminifera. These protists are not
only difficult to collect (living exclusively in the open Ocean) but also extremely
challenging for molecular work, because they contain a large number of
endosymbiotic and parasitic micro-organisms. On the other hand, the planktic
foraminifera have one of the best-known fossil records, offering a unique opportunity
to compare mode and tempo of evolution between DNA and fossil data.
It was amazing to see how Colomban resolved by himself most technical problems
and obtained the first planktonic foraminiferal rDNA sequences. He also showed an
extreme enthusiasm and perseverance for establishing collaborations with several
marine laboratories around the world (France, UK, US, Israel, Bermuda), and was
invited to participate to numerous international scientific cruises, during which he
collected a spectacular amount of genomic and environmental data. Colomban’s
thesis achievement include the first molecular phylogeny of planktonic foraminifera,
multiple analyses of molecular versus morphological evolutionary rates, and mainly
the discovery of systematic cryptic diversity within the planktonic foraminifera. This
latter result had a fundamental impact on the scientific community, because it
demonstrated that tiny -or in some case undetected- morphological differences in the
shell may separate fully isolated species of adapted to radically different
environmental conditions. This outstanding contribution opens a vast new field of
research in Geobiology. It was published in prestigious journals, presented at
international symposia and conferences, and Colomban, placed at the very top of his
field, was interviewed by several European newspapers and television.
In addition to his main project, Colomban was collaborating with many colleagues at
the department and actively engaged in several other research projects. He has played
a fundamental role in the genetic discovery of the “naked” and fresh-water
foraminifera, as well as in the analyses of homeobox genes (with Dr. Brigitte
Galliot), or vertebrate polyploidy (with Dr. Hans R. Kobel). Showing an exceptional
maturity for a graduate student, Colomban also gave courses in Systematics and
entirely supervised the MS thesis of a student, Muriel Bonzon.
Since he left Switzerland for a post-doc at Harvard in 2000, I have kept a regular
contact with him via e-mails and telephone. It was amazing to see his rapid evolution
and integration into the competitive American system. Despite his young age, he was
selected as an assistant professor in one of the top-ten institute of marine sciences in
the US (IMCS, Rutgers), where he build his own laboratory and successfully directed
a small research group over the last two years.
Without doubt, Colomban is the most intellectually talented student I ever met in my
academic career. His motivation to increase the overall scientific knowledge and to
contribute to the successful development of a project is clearly above average. He
has achieved international renown by virtue of his extraordinary talent, extensive
experience, and unique expertise in molecular biology and marine sciences.
His proven scientific creativity goes together with a very warm, caring, and generous
personality, which makes of him a scholar of outstanding promise not only for
Sciences advancement, but also for the integration of scientific activities in the
Society.
In conclusion, I strongly advocate the nomination of Colomban de Vargas for an
ATIP fellowship. This financial help and encouragement will certainly help him to
develop his full talents, which will be an invaluable asset to the international
research community.
Sincerely Yours,
Louisette Zaninetti (PhD)
Vice-President
Professor, Department of Biology
Professor, Department of Geology
University of Geneva