A Carleton alumnus has been identified among the 18 Canadian passengers who died on an Ethiopian Airlines jet that that crashed Sunday morning near Addis Ababa, according to a press release from the university.

Peter DeMarsh, a graduate of Carleton’s master’s program in international affairs in 1985, was the chair of the International Family Forestry Alliance and president of the Canadian Federation of Woodlot Owners.

He lived in New Brunswick and was on his way to Nairobi, Kenya, to attend a conference about family-owned forests and climate change, according to the university’s press release.

DeMarsh was on the same plane as Pius Adesanmi, the director of Carleton’s Institute of African Studies, who was also identified among the 157 passengers that died in the crash on Sunday.

“The Carleton community extends sincere condolences to Peter’s family and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time,” said Benoit-Antoine Bacon, Carleton’s president and vice-chancellor, in the press release. “We are all shocked and saddened that Peter DeMarsh and Pius Adesanmi, both leaders of change who contributed so much to the world, are no longer with us.”

A book of condolences has been put out in the Tory Building foyer for members of the community affected by the loss of DeMarsh and Adesanmi to sign.


Photo provided