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Dr. Timothy Bowen Werner, aged 63, passed away peacefully on August 29, 2025, after a long battle with chronic illness. Tim was a graduate of Boston University (History). He held a master's degree from both the University of Maryland (Zoology) and Stanford University (Business Management). In 2018, Tim obtained his PhD from Boston University (Biology). Like his varied interests in life, Tim's professional career was diverse. His interests in marine conservation included marine protected areas and developing collaborations among engineers, harvesters, and scientists to address the most pressing conservation problems that large, vulnerable species currently face in oceans. In addition, he was passionate about characterizing spatial patterns of marine biodiversity, with an emphasis on the systematics and phylogeography of tropical holothurians (sea cucumbers). His most significant contribution to marine conservation is certainly his tireless work on reducing the bycatch of marine mammals and other vulnerable species in commercial fishing gears, particularly large whales and small cetaceans. Tim started his career in conservation at the World Wildlife Fund in 1987 and soon moved to Conservation International (1989–2004), becoming Senior Director of the Global Marine Program in 2002. At CI, Tim was involved in seminal work on marine biodiversity in the coral triangle in the South Pacific (McNeely et al. 1990; Allen and Werner 2002), the South Atlantic (Werner et al. 2000), and coral reefs worldwide (Roberts et al. 2002). In 2005, he joined the New England Aquarium (NEA), where he helped found the Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction (https://www.bycatch.org/). The Consortium provides funding and technical guidance to researchers and fishers to reduce marine mammal and other marine species bycatch in fisheries. At NEA, Tim worked with a variety of stakeholders to develop alternative fishing techniques to reduce the bycatch of threatened species such as the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) and Franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei), and others (Werner et al. 2006; Werner et al. 2015; FAO 2021; Berninsone et al. 2022; Žydelis et al. 2009). He served as a scientist on the US NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) Pelagic Longline Take Reduction Team and the US Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team and was a member of the Expert Panel for the International Whaling Commission's Bycatch Mitigation Initiative. Tim also served on the ICES—Working Group on Bycatch of Protected Species, and the Expert Committee on Fisheries Technology, in Upper Gulf of California, Mexico, helping to conserve the vaquita (Phocoena sinus). Until he passed, Tim was Research Faculty at the School for the Environment, UMass-Boston and a Senior Associate at Ocean Associates Inc. Beyond his conservation work, Tim was a polymath, interested in diving, indigenous music, sports (Patriots and Red Sox, go figure!), systematics, and literature. He served as an apprentice to a guitar maker at one point in his life and collected musical instruments during his travels. He was both an enthusiastic traveler and a foodie, having worked in numerous countries and on many remote islands. He logged hundreds of hours scuba diving in Asia, the South Pacific, and the Atlantic. At various times, Tim lived in several countries, including England, Belgium, Portugal, and Venezuela. He was multilingual, fluent or nearly so, in Portuguese, Spanish, French, Flemish, and Melanesian Pidgin. Tim authored and coauthored over 30 peer-reviewed publications and technical reports, particularly on bycatch. He contributed significantly to the development of the Guidelines to Prevent and Reduce Bycatch of Marine Mammals in Capture Fisheries, published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, in 2021 (FAO 2021). Tim leaves behind a legacy of numerous conservation accomplishments by reducing risks from human activities to endangered species and habitats, and by demonstrating that collaborative efforts can frequently lead to conservation wins around the world. We will miss his sense of curiosity and wonder about the natural world, his dedication to conservation, that quizzical look when our thinking went astray, and his abiding friendship. His family has requested that donations to honor Tim be made to the Society for Marine Mammalogy Conservation Fund, an organization whose mission is aligned with Tim's life work. Scott Kraus: writing – original draft, writing – review and editing. Michelle Cho: writing – review and editing. Les Kaufman: writing – review and editing. Jeremy J. Kiszka: writing – review and editing. Eric Newton: writing – review and editing. Andrew J. Read: writing – review and editing. Claire Werner: writing – review and editing. Madeleine Werner: writing – review and editing. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.