Dear Frank,
it’s been a year since you left us and we dearly miss you – we always will. You have been an inspiration for so many. Your legacy continues…
I recently received a letter from Dr Dave Williams from CSIRO and a an e-mail from Andrew Bissett, who worked with you on the Biomes of Australian Soils (BASE) project.
The Biomes of Australian Soil Environments Team has recently been awarded. The e-mail stated:
“We were awarded a DNFC collaboration award recognising the BASE initiative for its work in coordinating the efforts of Australia’s soil researchers to produce a national scale soil microbial database. As Frank contributed substantially to the success of the project he was named on the award.”
Dr Williams said in his letter “This award recognises those teams or individuals who demonstrate increased flexibility and enhancement of Australia’s innovation performance through the mobility the exchange of people and knowledge.
I commend the team’s efforts to characterise the diversity, abundance, distribution and function of Australia’s unique soil microbiome through genomic analysis of 20+ billion DNA sequences from over 1500 field sites and delivered a National Framework Soil Microbial Dataset as a research infrastructure resource.
I am proud to be able to acknowledge this significant piece of work and the teams contribution and collaborative effort.”
I know, you were very passionate about the project and Andrew said, he was very happy to have you in his team.
I will try get the group together to discuss how we can take your work forward to the next stage.
With love, your companion Tina
The man with the gold bug 
My Name is Karl Brown,
I just Googled my old friend Frank and was shocked to discover this news. Frank and I were housemates back in our graduate research student days in Canberra. We recruited a third housemate Liz. Liz and I became a couple and we are still together to this day. We still fondly remember watch Dr Who re-runs with Frank and long conversations on the porch well into the night. Frank moved Adelaide and I to Melbourne. Academic lives are busy and I never quite got around to reaching out.
Miss you Frank. I regret I didn’t reach out sooner.
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Dear Karl, I am thankful you left a comment on this page. Frank was telling me stories about his precious time in Canberra and he continued to watch Dr Who, so that didn’t ever change…We once visited Canberra and he showed me the house he was sharing with you and he had really lovely memories. Please keep the good memories in your heart. Thanks for your time and love. Tina Reith
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