It is with great sadness that we share with our readers the death of our dear friend and PhD colleague Elizabeth ‘Libby’ Kerr who died of cancer at the age of 38 on 4 January 2013.

Libby dedicated a great part of her life to peace research and to activism in conflict-prone areas, with a particular passion for the people of Colombia.  Not only did she seek to understand the displaced and most vulnerable people with a lot of compassion, but she also knew about the power of sharing knowledge, not least as a contributor to our blog. We are struggling with having lost such a great young scholar and friend, and we miss her wisdom and warmth.