This past June, Charles “Wes” Willis retired after 22 years as associate in research and laboratory manager at the Duke University Wetland Center, a part of the Nicholas School. Center Director Curtis J. Richardson shared his thoughts on the impact that Wes has made at the Nicholas School and beyond:
I did not realize when I hired Wes in 1993 that I had hired not only a top-notch environmental chemist for the Wetland Center lab, but someone who would become a dear friend and an essential piece of the Center’s research program for the next 20 years. During his years at the Wetland Center, Wes was involved in projects as varied as Everglades restoration, studying Iraq’s wetlands, and peatland carbon appropriation.
Wes was at home in both the lab and the field, designing experimental equipment, collecting samples and providing consistent, reliable research data. The lab always ran smoothly because of his oversight of faculty and student research, and he was an absolute wizard at fixing obstinate lab instruments. The number of students and post-docs that he has trained and aided in their research over the years runs into the hundreds.
Wes was a touchstone for faculty, students and alumni all across the Nicholas School who wanted advice on their projects. Indeed, at one time or another he has been a fixer and problem-solver for just about everybody at the School. Through the years I often joked with him, “Wes, when you retire, I am going to have to retire, too.”
It is often said that no one is irreplaceable, but Wes may be the exception to that rule. He will be greatly missed not 0nly in my lab but all over the Nicholas School and Duke. We don’t often have the privilege of working with someone with so much talent, ability and dedication to his research. All of this was wrapped up in a package of practicality, wit and professionalism. We at the Wetland Center and the Nicholas School cannot thank you enough, Wes, for all your contributions to Duke and the environmental field. We wish you a very long and happy retirement.
