Victor Karel Christiaan Venema

I am so sad to hear of Victor's sudden and unexpected passing.

Sadly, I only met him once in person, but we communicated online quite a bit for several years. He was an intelligent and compassionate scientist who shared a deep love and passion for science.

We often publicly disagreed with each other on aspects of climate science. But, I think we both enjoyed discussing our way through these disagreements with a mutual respect, and learning from each other as we tried to pinpoint exactly where our disagreements lay! And we both shared a love for doing good science and for learning new things about subjects we thought we knew!

Several times, we had planned on collaborating on a paper in which we focused specifically on the issues of "temperature homogenization" where we were in agreement. But, regretfully, we never got around to it.

I remember fondly an evening we spent chatting for hours about climate science in late 2018 (when he visited Dublin for a WMO conference). We had promised to have another similar chat whenever I visited Cologne. And we assumed this would be fairly soon. I still can't believe that he is gone.

You left us too soon, Victor. Rest in peace. 

I am very sad to read that Victor has passed away. He was such a friendly person and a dedicated scientist.
When I started my PhD research in a completely new field with a new community, it was among others his warm welcome that convinced me to be in the right place.
It was his idea to have these PhD/Postdoc meetings before the regular project meetings and so formed this nice group of collaborators. He never became tired to explain me his surrogate clouds and without him, my PhD thesis would not have be the same.
My deepest condolences to his family. Rest in peace, Victor. 

Victor helped the Cologne-Bonn Cryptoparty through a tough time during the pandemic when we only were able to meet online. Competently, patiently and friendly he supported hundreds of people to make their electronic life more secure. Thanks a lot for that! 

My sincere condolences to the family and everyone who cared about Victor.
I have lived in Bonn since 2001 and knew Victor for almost as long. The news of his death shocked me all the more.
I held Victor in high esteem, as a very independent and authentic person. Perhaps Victor was even one of the most authentic people I have ever met, because he lived completely according to his convictions. He loved his profession, was a scientist with a whole heart and a brilliant mind. He had his heart in the right place, never tired of speaking out against injustice, against anti-science and anti-rationalism, and for a proper perception of the climate crisis.

Victor, it was good to have known you. I am sad that we will never see each other again, especially because we unfortunately lost contact during the pandemic. Rest in peace, Victor. 

I first met Victor at one of the homogenization symposia at Budapest, which I was attending as a newbee to learn more how to homogenize time series of (in our case) GPS retrievals of integrated water vapour. Victor was so omnipresent at this meeting through interventions, giving advice, etc. I also got really good feedback from him after my talk. At another conference, in Dublin, we sat together and made some plans for future collaborations, but, unfortunately, it never happened. We exchanged some e-mails afterwards, and I will never forget his kindness, collaborative spirit, and all his efforts of keeping homogenization alive and kicking.

Beste familie, mijn oprechte deelneming bij het overlijden van jullie broer Victor. Hij zal ook in de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap echt gemist worden! 

Victor was a smart and rigourous scientist, open minded, and a very friendly person. I am glad I met him and had the opportunity to work with him, a decade ago. This is too sad. May you rest in peace Victor. 

Mijn oprechte deelneming met het verlies van Victor. Wat een verdrietig bericht. We leerden elkaar kennen toen we beiden postdoc waren in Duitsland. Als Nederlanders in Duitsland was er meteen een band. Heel veel sterkte bij het verwerken van dit grote verlies. 

I am very sorry to hear about Victor’s passing. I met him at a climate data homogenization meeting many years ago. His efforts toward creating a network of scientists working in this field was greatly appreciated. It was a pleasure working with him. My sincere condolences to his family and friends. 

Victor was a helpful and amusing voice at the very start of my academic career. He provided such good advice, always with a good sense of humour. The homogenisation community will not be the same without him. 

Victor was an exemplary scientist and a pleasure to interact with. I greatly appreciated his advice and expertise, and I was very sad to hear about his passing. Sincere condolences to his family and friends. 

I did not know Victor but was one of the readers and admirers on the Internet. The world of climate science is a little less richer with him. Sincere condolences. 

I met Victor during my PhD. Discussions with him were always very helpful and motivating. Despite his rich experience, Victor kept an open and curious mind, which impressed me a lot.
But also if it was not about science, Victor was a very friendly and positiv person.
You left far to soon, Victor, and you will be missed! 

We were colleagues in Bonn for many years and it was through his advice that I came to the Bonn Institute in the first place. He was a very dedicated and smart scientist and always friendly. He was at peace with himself and I don't remember ever hearing a bad word from him. When I think of him, I see him giving a talk, meanwhile drinking a whole pot of tea and smiling after his key statements.
It is very sad that you left so early, dear Victor. 

Victor and I have shared an office for about four years while working on our PhDs in Delft. I will always fondly remember that time. Victor was a great colleague and friend. He had a huge influence on me both scientifically and personally. My world views were very much transformed by our discussions. I was amazed by his energy, caring, and kindness. Victor always wanted to improve the world. His scientific and personal life choices were very much affected by this drive. He studied topics of consequence (atmospheric sciences, and climate change). He was a talented communicator and activist contributing to our awareness of environmental and climate change issues. In the recent years he was promoting open science. I always admired his dedication and energy that he devoted to these endeavours. Unfortunately, we have not communicated much in the last few years. Victor left us too early. There are so many things to talk, joke and argue about. We will miss you. Rest in peace. 

It was with shock and great sadness that I read the news of Victor's death. I got to know Victor in connection with work on homogenisation problems and enjoyed working with him very much. Victor was an excellent scientist, a very pleasant and critical discussion partner, a good and talented mediator and a great and generous person. He will be missed everywhere! My deepest condolences to his family. 

I am so sad to hear that Victor has passed away way too early… We did not have any contact in recent years, but when I was at the institute in Bonn we worked together on two projects and wrote several publications together. Actually the picture above seemed so familiar to me, I just checked, I took it at the beginning of a big new project for the website, I still have the original on my laptop. When I think of Victor I think of many vivid discussions in his office with him and his office-mate, always with a lot of humour and laughter. Victor always had so many new ideas in his mind. Rest in peace dear Victor! 

This is sad news. We both worked in Bonn and still had contact later through homogenization. He was always ready to help with advice and contacts, as he not only knew everyone in the homogenization community but also knew what people were working on. His ability to get excited about topics was very impressive. He will be greatly missed. 

I was his supervisor for many years in Bonn, when he helped to develop and also partially led two large national research programs. Victor was one of the brightest scientists I happened to know during my career; he independently developed new ideas in cloud science and climate data sets but also in how to conduct scientific discourse. I still remember vividly how he could motivate his fellow scientists in developing and expressing their own ideas by new discussion concepts. During the past decade, the close contact we always had did lessen unfortunately - and it was a real pity to gradually loose him as a companion. Now he is gone - and there is no time for reconnecting with him, which I regret very much. He will always be in my memory as this bright, congenial, independent - and sometimes a bit stubborn - scientist, and friend. 

Het spijt me erg om te hore dat Victor op een veel te jonge leeftijd is overleden. Het was een plezier om met hem samen te werken in het remote sensing wolkenonderzoek gedurende zijn promotiewerk. 

I am so sorry to hear about Victor passing. I know him from the homogenization comunity. He was a deeply respected and much admired scientist, witty and kind. I loved every discussion with him as he would never take anyting for granted, he questiond every statement in science and any other topic.
My sincere condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. He will be missed very much. RIP Victor