Marine and Brackish Bryozoans from the Southern Bight of the North Sea

Hans De Blauwe shows a broad interest in nature at a young age. Shells, amphibians and fossils in particular attract his attention. At the age of 11, he became a member of the Belgian Youth Association for Nature Studies and became acquainted with birds. From the age of 16 he participates in an inventory of Syrphid flies. His thesis in the secondary horticultural school in Melle deals with galls and gall-causing insects. In 1983, he graduated as teacher (bachelor) science-geography. His first childhood dream comes true when he becomes a professional fireman in 1991. In the meantime, he continues to pursue his second vocation, biology, as a hobby. In 1999, his attention turns to jellyfish - which he inventories in the Zeebrugge area - and moss animals. In 2004, Hans became a voluntary scientific employee of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), after he had already eagerly accepted an invitation to revise the institute's moss animal collection and to participate in a campaign on the Hinderbanken. He discovers many introduced moss animals and other marine invertebrates in harbors and estuaries. The original plan to adapt Lacourt's identification guide for bryozoans to the current situation gets out of hand. This work is the result of that. Hans has produced a vast body of literature over the last 25 years, authoring 112 papers that include the description of 26 new bryozoan species and 3 new bryozoan genera. His particular interest in identifying and reporting non-native and invasive species has been generating continuous data since 2006 through his contributions to the checklist of Non-native species in Belgian waters of the North Sea and the surrounding estuaries. In 2000, the Linnean Society of Londen awarded Hans the H. H. Bloomer Award for his important contribution to the knowledge of natural history as an amateur naturalist.