LIFE DINALP BEAR project proudly hosted 26^th International conference on bear research and management. The conference took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia from 16^th to 21^st September 2018.

At the conference, The International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA) handed out their Distinguished Service Award to Professor Stephen Herrero. Throughout his career, Prof. Herrero has been a strong supporter of IBA, by serving many years on Council as well as President. His book on bear attacks is THE classic in bear literature, and is famous even among the general public. Unfortunately, Prof. Herrero was not able to attend the conference personally. Lana Ciarniello accepted the award on his behalf and presented a very humorous and touching overview of Stephen’s career and how he has influenced the life and careers of many bear students and biologists through his kind and supportive personality. We recorded and prepared a video of the award ceremony. The video was presented to Prof. Herrero together with the award. The award ceremony was part of the gala dinner, organized for the conference participants, and included a rich social and cultural program that started with a concert of a female choir Kombinat.