---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Antonio S. Cofiño
Dear Sean, Ward, and colleagues,
Thank you for sharing this very sad news with the community.
Although I never had the opportunity to meet Dennis in person, I interacted
with him on several occasions over the years, mainly around DAP, both in
netcdf-java and in the netcdf-c library. His work has had a deep and
lasting impact on how many of us access and use remote netCDF data,
including from Spain, across the Atlantic.
We will remember Dennis through the many parts of the ecosystem that carry
his work and that will continue to be present for a long time, and
hopefully well beyond us.
His work will remain part of our daily tools and practices.
Please accept my sincere condolences.
With sympathy,
Antonio S. Cofiño
On Thu, 19 Feb 2026, 16:46 Sean Arms, <sarms@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> It is with great sadness that we write to inform you that our colleague
> Dennis Heimbigner died in January 2026. Dennis was a valued member of the
> netCDF development team at the Unidata Program Center from 2008 until his
> retirement in 2024.
>
> Among Dennis’ many contributions to the netCDF ecosystem were his
> implementations of the DAP2 and DAP4 remote data access protocols, along
> with his work on the ncZarr data model, which creates a mapping between the
> netCDF-4 data model and the Zarr version 2 data model. While Dennis
> preferred to remain in the background, he cared deeply about his work and
> about creating useful tools for the Unidata community. Even after leaving
> the Program Center, Dennis continued to participate in community meetings,
> working to shape the future of netCDF.
>
> We will miss our long-time colleague and friend.
>
> Sean Arms and Ward Fisher, on behalf of the NSF Unidata Program Center
> staff
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