Lourdes Gautier joined the Columbia community in 2000 working in the Political Science department before becoming the first DAAF of the then brand new Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology in the Fall of 2001. This was shortly after 9/11, and despite the excitement of founding a new department at Columbia, the world seemed like an uncertain place. Lourdes’ reassuring competence and good humor were especially appreciated during this time, and remained hallmarks of her work in the department. She put an enormous amount of effort into the new department, which had (at the time) no set ways of doing anything. She really got the department “up and running,” and led it cheerfully. Throughout her time at Columbia, she was known as a fierce advocate for the students and faculty members of E3B. Lourdes ran the department with much grace and aplomb until her retirement in 2019. She will be deeply missed by the students, faculty, staff, and administrators who had the pleasure to work with her.