Gone Before Beginning

This is a sad addition to the Wall of the Dead, not least because it was such a needless death.  This account comes from the Purdue University student newspaper for June 8:

A 21-year-old Purdue student, who had a life-long passion for reptiles, died on Friday while on a volunteer trip to the Cayman Islands with the Blue Iguana Recovery Program.Daniel Hamilton, senior in the College of Agriculture, died from hyperthermia, or heat stroke. He was found in the thick bush in Grand Cayman where he was taken by paramedics to a hospital but later died. He was from Hebron, Ind.

The resonating message from family and friends close to Hamilton was that his passion has always been reptiles and wildlife …

Field work can be dangerous.   But dying of heat stroke on a Caribbean resort island is absurd.  People who organize these expeditions need to protect their volunteers better from such obvious hazards.