Farewell to a very good friend

A very good friend, Jim Dowd, passed away yesterday. He had been fighting brain cancer for over a year. About a month ago his wife asked friends to send them stories of life with Jim that they could read together as a family, and this is what I sent:

So, I had this idea of building a drone to collect biological information from whales and call it SnotBot.

Everybody I spoke with, including most of our staff and funders at that time, thought it was a crazy idea. To say I was disappointed by the lack of enthusiasm is an understatement. And then I spoke to Jim, and the tide turned. As soon as he heard it I think Jim said it was a “brilliant” idea.

So at a time when we had no money and an idea that pretty much everyone (apart from Jim) thought was crazy, we moved ahead. The Flying Car team of Jim and his partner Eric jumped in regardless of $$ and said, “Let’s make this happen.” I needed some enthusiasm, and Jim was the man.

Out of the gate we had the idea to try and raise non-traditional funding for SnotBot development through a Kickstarter campaign. During an early Kickstarter conversation I said, “Do you think having a celebrity like Sir Patrick Stewart would help…?” Jim said, “Are you fucking kidding me, absolutely!!” So I called Sir Patrick and he quickly agreed. My idea was Patrick Stewart would be on camera and say: “I want you to support this important work…that is important to whales, our oceans etc.” Boring! Thank heavens we went with Jim’s idea – Let’s harass Sir Patrick in the name of science.

Preview YouTube video Snotbot Kickstarter: Harassing Sir Patrick Stewart For The Whales

I remember when talking with Patrick Stewart, I thought that he was in NYC and we would all jump into a van and drive down, no problem. It was only when I asked Patrick for his address that I found out that he was in LA. “No problem,” said Jim, so we all jumped onto a plane and flew to LA. During the filming it was hard for me at times to keep a straight face with Jim there in his white lab coat – totally stoic while all the time over the moon to be hanging out with Sir Patrick Stewart:

I had a lame design for a logo, luckily Jim and Eric did not. The SnotBot stickers and patches are now collectors’ items, and we have people from around the world asking for stickers and info on SnotBot. I play the 2-minute segment of Jim and me harassing Sir Patrick in every presentation I give, whether it be at the United Nations or just last week at Harvard. It always gets great laughs and, more importantly, encourages people to think outside of the box.

Our Kickstarter campaign was successful, but more importantly, SnotBot has raised the profile of Ocean Alliance to an unimaginable level. Dare I say that SnotBot has Kickstarted Ocean Alliance — we have been featured in TED, the NY Times, Forbes, People Magazine, etc and that bastion of science, Martha Stewart Living.

Jim and Flying Car laid the foundation for success for Ocean Alliance that is keeping us afloat. Not only are we collecting data like never before, we are democratizing science by providing groups around the world with affordable tools for oceanographic research. This never would have happened if not for Jim’s enthusiasm, energy, flexibility, creativity and generosity.

In the Gloucester Clam Jim wrote My Plan From Here; the following is an excerpt:

As I am mostly carbon I imagine there is lots of useful material I could be incorporated into. Maybe structures or even potentially living things of the microbial variety.So, if you are looking for me, you’ll most likely find me at the bottom of a yogurt in the chunky stuff. I’ll try to remember to smile as I pass through.

Thank You, Jim (far right). We (and the world’s whales) are in your debt!

Donate Today See what you can do to save our oceans and the animals within it. Donate Whale Breaching

Recent Articles

Looking for blue whales in Baja

Aloha from Hawaii

How YOU can save whales

Red tide confirmed in dead southern right whales in Argentina

50 years of the Marine Mammal Protection Act

Learn about our research programs and take a look at our world famous SnotBot. Donate Today