Dear friends and colleagues,
it is with great sadness that we share with you that Professor Navjot Sodhi passed away last night, 12th June 2011.
He had remained in ICU at NUH after an operation for over a week and the head of department emailed all of us the sad news this morning.
RIP Navjot. We will all miss you very much.
“From: Matsudaira, Paul Thomas (Head, Biological Sciences)
Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 8:41 AM
Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students:
It is with deep sadness that I inform you of the death of Professor Navjot Sodhi. Navjot underwent surgery a little over a week ago for a cancer that was recently diagnosed. He remained in the ICU where he passed away last night (June 12) at 6:30 PM. He was a leader in ecology and conservation biology and was a great contributor to his field, mentor to his students and postdocs, and colleague to the DBS faculty.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to his wife, Charanjit, and children, Ada and Darwin.
Once we learn more about his family’s plan for a memorial service, we will let you know.
With regret,
Paul”
Lena Chan from National Parks Board’s National Biodiversity Centre wrote this morning:
“It is with great sadness that we at the National Biodiversity Centre, NParks, learnt about Navjot’s sudden departure. We will definitely miss collaborating with him. His demise will leave a major gap in research in conservation biology not only in Singapore but also the region. His generous sharing of his knowledge was exemplary. It is good that he lived to complete his tropical ecology book that is free on on-line.
Our profoundest condolences to Charanjit, Ada and Darwin.
Lena”
@mongabay twittered early this morning, , informing the tropical conservation biology community,
“We are deeply saddened by the sudden and unexpected death of Navjot Sodhi. He will be dearly missed.” bit.ly/Navjot [Links to the 2009 Conservation Scholar’s feature on Navjot Sodhi]
Corey Bradshaw writes, “Navjot Sodhi is gone, but not forgotten.” Conservation Bytes, 13 Jun 2011.
“I have to say that his death is personally a huge blow, and professionally, a tragic loss to the fields of ecology and conservation biology. He was a good friend, and a bloke with whom I had some great times. He was someone I could trust.”
Corey goes on to share some of the thoughts shared by other conservation biologists he has been receiving this morning. See Corey’s post at Conservation Bytes.
See also, “Remembering Navjot Sodhi: lecturer, mentor, colleague and friend“.
The Biodiversity Crew @ NUS 
It is with great sadness that we at the National Biodiversity Centre, NParks, learnt about Navjot’s sudden departure. We will definitely miss collaborating with him. His demise will leave a major gap in research in conservation biology not only in Singapore but also the region. His generous sharing of his knowledge was exemplary. It is good that he lived to complete his tropical ecology book that is free on on-line.
Our profoundest condolences to Charanjit, Ada and Darwin.
Lena
oh my god that was so sudden. I always remembered how much I enjoyed his lessons, not just because of his ‘unorthodox’ ways of teaching, but also how he held himself, never bothering so much with the stifling rules in the NU of S. The only prof who is easily identifiable by his berms, cap and ever-present ratty Corona beer jacket.
RIP, Sohdi. You taught me a whole lot.
Even if I didnt agree with his methods sometimes, I could feel that he believed in saving the environment, and not in the all emotional tree hugging way. No. He has written papers that have influenced policies. written textbooks that would inspire future conservationists.
A real conservationist who had real impact.
We will miss this giant of tropical conservation. I have only had the pleasure of collaborating with Sohdi online, but have always been impressed by his work, and by my interactions with him
Our thoughts are with Sodhi and his family.
Fabrice DeClerck
I had the privilege of co-authoring a book, “Winged Invaders” on pest birds, with Navjot (2006) in Singapore, and the experience was a sheer delight. He was modest enough to listen to a mere journalist-writer like myself when it came to rendering his erudite science into layman language. He was inspiring, a lateral thinker, and a pleasure to work with, a dedicated field biologist – and gifted with a cheeky grin and a mischievous desire to ‘poke’ people, especially the pompous and officious, to use a Singaporean phrase! I liked him a lot. I am totally shocked and upset to find him gone so suddenly, almost without warning. My thoughts too are with his family. May his work live after him.
Ilsa Sharp, Perth, Western Australia
Navjot Sodhi was a great inspiration to me and to many other butterfly and conservation biologists. I looked up to him for his tremendous work on extinction risks. This is a great loss for the nature conservation community. We will sorely miss him.
Very sorry to hear this sad news. I met Navjot only briefly, when visiting Singapore while reporting for Nature in 2003, but his enthusiasm for his subject was obvious and infectious.