Meet the Editors

Ivan Sache - Versailles - France

     I was borne in Thonon-les-Bains in 1964 and grew up in Antibes, then a paradise I was eventually expelled from in 1982. After a few years spent in Burgundy, I settled in Versailles in 1987. I have been working since then as a scientist at the INRA research station of Thiverval-Grignon. I am a plant disease epidemiologist, aiming at catching up with those fungal diseases that run like hell and devastate crops. More specifically, my research question is to understand why some epidemics occur at a given time in a given place, hoping to contribute in the mitigation of their impact on crop yield and quality. I am also deeply involved in projects on the responsible conduct of research, communication of science to the "general public", and mentoring of younger scientists.
     My interest in flags is as old as my interest in fungi and mushrooms. I discovered both in books, especially in the colored flag plates that were once printed in the inside cover of the Petit Larousse dictionary. The family legend says that I was able to identify country flags while I could hardly read. Decades later, in 1995, I found out that there was an international group of people sharing the same interest. After a few years as a silent lurker, and, subsequently, as a contributer, I decided to join the editing team of the FOTW website, of which I have been an active member since 1999. I am particularly proud to contribute to this humanist project, based on free but responsible sharing of knowledge, without any commercial purpose.
     Beyond the pleasure to discover new flags, my main interest in vexillogy is to investigate what these flags actually mean for those who fly them and which components of history and culture they are expected to emphasize. Over the last decade, the dramatic increase in resources made available on the Internet has made my investigation more and more exciting.

Ivan Sache, 23 October 2011