Piet de Goede (1949) graduated as a Zoological and Ecological Technician in 1973 at the 'Hanze Hoge School Groningen'. During his study and subsequently he has assisted the work on territorial behaviour in the Great Tit, first at the University Groningen and since 1974 at the Department Animal Population Biology. In his career at the NIOO-KNAW he has participated in several studies of behavioural strategies, population biology and selection in Great Tits. Simultaneously, he has been co-ordinating the Barn Swallow ringing project for the Bird Ringing Centre. Since 1990 he has been assisting projects on dispersal and coping strategies and their consequences for population structure in Great Tits.