It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Ms. Odette Desbiens, which occurred on June 24th. Ms. Desbiens was a member of the Society since its inception. She has contributed extensively to the Microscopy Society of Canada as councillor-at-Large as well as a member of several Annual Meeting Organizing Committees, including the Microscopy & Microanalysis 2002 meeting held in Quebec City. Ms. Desbiens created the very first website of the Society until she leaved its responsibility few years ago to our colleague Marin Lagacé.
As a result of her extensive contribution to the Microscopy Society of Canada, Ms. Desbiens received the Frances Doane Award in 2014 in recognition of her activities in the Society and the promotion of microscopy she always did in her career.
Retired from Laval University for almost ten years, Ms. Desbiens has pursued a very rich career as a microscopy technologist at the Faculty of Agricultural and Food sciences. She was the author of several scientific publications and she trained several young microscopists at Université Laval, including the undersigned.
Odette's participation in the annual meetings of the Society was appreciated by all as well as her joyful character. She will be missed by several members of the Society.
