Friends, colleagues, students, and everybody else knew him just as Simon. He was a unique and extraordinary scholar, born and raised in the Dominican Republic (DR). Since his childhood, he felt a strong attraction for both literature and science. This took him to acquire an exceptionally good domain of Spanish grammar and literature, and a good knowledge of French….

Haiti, located on the large island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, hosts a rich and diverse fauna that is also facing significant threats. The country’s aquatic ecosystems, in particular, are confronted with numerous challenges such as massive deforestation, increasing urbanization, and significant pollution due to limited wastewater and waste treatment capacity. Simultaneously, scientific studies in the field are scarce…