The members and Secretariat of the European Marine Board have been greatly saddened by the news that our esteemed colleague, Carlo Heip, passed away on Friday 15 February. As a representative of NIOZ (the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research), Carlo has been an active member and vice-Chair of the Marine Board for many years. He contributed generously of his time, his leadership and his outstanding intellect to advance marine science in Europe and globally. He was lead author of the most recent Marine Board science policy paper, Marine Biodiversity: A Science Roadmap for Europe, and has led the significant efforts in Europe to advance our knowledge and understanding of marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, not least as Coordinator of the formative MarBEF Network of Excellence. Carlo’s scientific achievements are too numerous to detail but the many messages from Marine Board colleagues remind us that he was also a generous and warm person and that it has been a great pleasure and a privilege to work with him. We offer our heartfelt condolences to Carlo’s family at this difficult time.