Acknowledgements are rarely found on scientifically oriented web sites. For certain reasons I wish to express my gratitude to a number of people who have helped build this site and to those who have somehow helped me survive over these years, and to say "thank you" also to you, the present visitor of this page.

Even though "Italy's Volcanoes" is the product of a one-man effort, it benefits from an incredible number of contributions - images, information, links, and, a very important detail, encouragement, received from persons other than myself. Many people who have written e-mails have given me very positive comments, and these people range from school kids in the USA and many other countries over interested laymen who search volcano information on the web to volcanologists, including some Etna experts of world rank. First of all, I thank all these people for the incredibly positive response to "Italy's Volcanoes" which has confirmed it as a prime source on Italian volcanism. I thank all the faithful visitors coming back almost daily, and all those who visit regularly, as well as those who drop on this page for the first time.

I cannot mention here all the people who have lent their contributions to this site - I hope to mention them wherever appropriate, such as in figure captions for images contributed by others. There is a growing number of people who have been with me on Etna or other volcanoes in Italy, and who have frequently inspired me to explore areas hitherto unknown to me together. I owe quite a bit of my present knowledge and experience on the volcanoes to these people.

Now for the individual acknowledgements.

	Giuseppe Scarpinati on Etna in 1975, with a "smoke ring" emitted from the NE Crater rising above his head.

GIUSEPPE ("PIPPO") SCARPINATI (volcano enthusiast living in Acireale near Catania, former Italian correspondent of the "Association Volcanologique Européenne" L.A.V.E., based in Paris) has provided many of the most stunningly beautiful photographs shown on the Etna pages, some taken many years ago, and others while we were on the great Sicilian volcano together in the past few years. Pippo's photographic skills and his amazing collection of Etna photos have given a touch of splendor to this site which was lacking before. Every few days when the phone rings in the evening I feel that's him wanting to tell me what he can see from his panoramic terrace with a commanding view of Etna...

MARCO FULLE (Astronomical Observatory of Trieste, Italy) has rendered many of his photographs of Stromboli and Etna available for "Italy's Volcanoes". Many of his more recent photos have been posted at "Stromboli On-line" which has always been a "close relative" of this site, and both are intended to complement, rather than compete against, each other. Each time Marco visits Etna he gives me first hand reports of his observations, which have become a feature appearing regularly on the Etna News page.

ROBERTO CARNIEL and J�RG ALEAN (the creators of Stromboli On-line) have been as faithful contributors of first hand eyewitness accounts from their visits on Etna as Marco Fulle. Furthermore, Roberto has become one of those persons constituting a powerful working group, along with Marco Neri, Valerio Acocella, myself and others, which is becoming more and more evident in scientific publications in international journals.

THORSTEN BOECKEL and TOM PFEIFFER, themselves authors of fine web sites, have contributed photos and information, and together with Stromboli On-line their sites and "Italy's Volcanoes" are rather to be considered something like a big family.

CARMELO MONACO and GIOVANNI STURIALE (both of the Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche at the University of Catania) have contributed photos and other information, and together we have enjoyed many exciting moments on Etna. Giovanni has furthermore rendered many photos taken by his father - the late Carmelo Sturiale - available for "Italy's Volcanoes"; many of these have never been published before. Carmelo Sturiale documented the activity of Etna during the 1960s to 1980s, and his photographs of the poorly known summit eruptions in 1964 are of particular value in helping to understand the course of the events, which were remarkably similar to the summit activity of the volcano in the past few years.

DAVID BRYANT, cameraman and film maker from the UK, supplied spectacular video clips of violent eruptive episodes on Mount Etna in February and June 2000. He furthermore contributed photos of another eruptive episode in March and much information based on his observations during numerous visits to Etna in late-1999 and early 2000. Unfortunately, David left "just for a few weeks" in August 2000 and was never seen again near Etna, although some amazing things happened at the volcano after that date.

MARCO NERI of the Catania Section of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) has become a close friend and "partner in crime" in a never-ending series of publications about the recent activity of Mount Etna. He was there in times of darkness (even when he lived his own) and kept the door for scientific work open for me. With him and a growing number of other colleagues from Catania and elsewhere, a powerful interdiscipliary team has formed, whose work is beginning to appear in international scientific journals (see the "Publications" section in my Curriculum Vitae).

Many of my colleagues at the Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche at the University of Catania and friends from Catania and elsewhere have shared unforgettable moments on Etna with me, and often helped with the solution of logistical problems. I would like to express my gratitude in particular to those persons who have returned over and over again to Etna with their groups of students: WOLFGANG FRAEDRICH of the Gymnasium Heidberg, Hamburg, Germany, and BOUDEWIJN T'HART of the University of Utrecht, Holland.

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Copyright © Boris Behncke, "Italy's Volcanoes: The Cradle of Volcanology"