Professor Stephen Schneider, a prominent Stanford University scientist who served on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has died at 65. He was a regular visitor to Australia which included a stint as Adelaide Thinker in Residence in 2006, and made frequent comments about Australia’s energy consumption and climate policy.  He was in Australia as recently as last month at the Climate Adaptation Futures Conference on the Gold Coast where he spoke about the future of climate change and our ability to adapt. You can listen to his presentation given during an AusSMC online briefing at the conference by clicking here.

He died of an apparent heart attack on July 19 while on a flight from Stockholm to London, Stanford officials said.

Below several Australians pay tribute to Stephen Schneider.

Feel free to use these quotes in your stories.  Any further comments will be posted here. If you would like to speak to one of the people listed, please don’t hesitate to contact us on (08) 7120 8666 or by email.

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Professor Dave Griggs is the CEO of ClimateWorks Australia & Director of the Monash Sustainability Institute at Monash University

“I last met Steve at the Gold Coast conference a few weeks ago and was dismayed by how ill he looked. We had a coffee and I told him that he should take it easy. But then we got talking about the forthcoming IPCC report and the chapter Steve was going to be Co-ordinating Lead Author of and before I knew it I had agreed to be a contributing author. Not for the fist time I had been caught up with Steve’s vision, passion and enthusiasm. Steve was a one-off and will be sorely missed.”  

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Dr Graeme Pearman is Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Monash University in Melbourne and Director of Graeme Pearman Consulting Pty Ltd.

“I am devastated by the news of Steve’s death. My colleagues have rightly referred to his enormous contribution to the science of climate change and his incredible efforts and skills in the communication of the climate change issue to successive Presidents, the media and the private sector. They have recognised his commitment to quality science and the need for expert advice to be communicated to those who have to make decisions about such issues. They have rightly mentioned his grasp of economics and aspects of human behaviour that so strongly underpin both the cause of the climate change issue, but impact on our collective capacity to respond to it. Amongst the many climate change scientists around the world Steve stood alone in his breadth of appreciate of these things and the articulate way he was able to communicate his and the community’s ever growing knowledge-base and concerns. He had great contempt for pseudo-science and ideologues that made mindless “contributions” to the debate. Thus, all of these accolades are warranted and are in need of magnification. But to me I have lost a long-time friend. One with whom I meet at many meetings all over the world since the 1970′s (the most recent in California this year) where we discussed the science and politics but still found time to compare notes on our lives and attend the opera in Vienna. This is surely a sad day. If only Steve could have seen the dawn of a more robust response to the issue that consumed his many years of dedicated and excellent service to mankind. To his family and colleagues my sincere sympathy.”

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Will Steffen is Executive Director of the Climate Institute at The Australian National University

“Steve Schneider was truly a giant in the area of climate science. Going back to the days of the nuclear winter debates, he contributed an amazing breadth and depth of understanding of the climate system to warn us clearly about the implications of human modification of the atmosphere. The excellence of his science was only exceeded by the enthusiasm and skill of his communication of climate science. Here he was without peer. He was tireless in giving presentations around the world, to devoting an enormous amount of time to media engagement, and to talking to anyone who wanted to listen, from American presidents to school students. Above all, he epitomised what a good scientist working in controversial area should be – absolutely rigorous, careful and thorough in his science and absolutely fearless in communicating the implications of what he knew. We will all miss him very much.”

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Professor Graham Farquhar of The Australian National University is Vice President and Secretary (Biological) for the Australian Academy of Science

“Steve Schneider was very kind to me at the 3rd Conference of Parties in Kyoto in 1997. I was being harassed for being a science adviser to (and on) the Australian Delegation, and Australia was the bête noire there at the beginning. Steve stood up for me as a scientist. We didn’t always have the same view of things, but I respected his experience of climate science, admired his fight against cancer, and enjoyed his company. He was larger than life.”

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Frank Muller is Professorial Visiting Fellow at the University of New South Wales (UNSW)

“Stephen Schneider’s passing is an enormous loss to humankind. Stephen’s leadership over two decades in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is widely recognised. But his contribution was even bigger than that. Stephen was a trailblazer in showing how diverse disciplines can be brought together to tackle complex problems that are beyond the scope of any one discipline to understand. On climate change, his contributions spanned all aspects from the basic science to economics and ethics.

Stephen had it all. He combined great passion with the highest standards of intellectual rigour and integrity. He was a wonderful communicator and a superb analyst. But most of all, he inspired ordinary people the world over to believe that in the end rational argument and decent values could prevail over ideology and sectional interests.”

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Professor Jean Palutikof is Director of the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) based at Griffith University, Qld

“I’ve known Steve since the mid-80s when I first went to NCAR for two weeks as a visiting scientist. I was visiting Micky Glantz and doing some work on the 1982-3 El Nino. Micky asked me if there was anyone I’d like to meet while I was there. I didn’t know anyone much in those days, so I said ‘Steve Schneider’. He was well known even then, and I never thought for a moment he’d give me a moment of his time – I was an utterly insignificant recent PhD recently back from Africa nobody. He spent nearly an hour telling me what he was doing, and asking me about my work. I was utterly entranced by him, and have remained so ever since. I’m very proud that I could count him as a friend.

Steve was a brilliant mind and a passionate and effective communicator. How often do you get that combination? Almost never. He cared deeply for the planet, He never wavered in his belief that climate change is a threat of global significance that we need to address, now, He believed that by talking, and keeping talking, about the why and the how of climate change, he could reach out to people and convince them of the need for action. He worked tirelessly to build our understanding of the threat of climate change and to communicate that threat, and I guess in the end it caught up with him.

I don’t think we yet understand how much the climate change community is going to miss him – how much we relied on his strength of purpose.”

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Professor John Zillman is an honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne

“Steve had a profound influence on international developments in climate change science and policy over the past 40 years. I had the privilege of working with him in IPCC and other climate change fora for much of that time. He and I usually disagreed strongly on matters related to the philosophy and communication of climate science but I had the utmost respect for his scientific integrity, enormous admiration for his commitment to the climate change issue, and great affection for him as a professional colleague and friend. His wealth of knowledge , wisdom and camaraderie will be greatly missed in the climate community.”

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Professor Tony McMichael is from the National Centre for Epidemiology & Population Health at The Australian National University

“Some of us had the privilege and pleasure of hearing Steve speak at the national NCCARF Climate Change Adaptation Conference in Coolangatta three weeks ago. I had dinner with him and several climate change research and policy colleagues on the eve of that conference. By the time the rest of us had finished our main course, Steve had yet to start his — he enjoyed talking more than eating.

Subsequently, by coincidence, he and I were speaking in the same plenary session at the International Sociology Congress, just last week, in Gothenburg, Sweden. Steve was his usual familiar self on the podium: giving an engaging, energetic, high-volume, expert and succinct account of climate change science, denialism, and the prospects for policy advance. After the session he was, as was typical, holding court with a group of enquiring colleagues and participants, impishly teasing them with probing rhetorical questions.

Steve had had a long battle with lymphoma, and intensive chemotherapy, over the past decade. His breathing and walking were becoming impaired, but that did not seem to slow him up. Late in 2009 he had published yet another book: “Climate Science as a Contact Sport”.  His previous, remarkable, book was called “The Patient from Hell”, an account of the extraordinary dealings that he had with the world of cancer medicine — as a patient who wanted to know, in precise detail, on what evidentiary basis each component of treatment was based. He presumably gave his doctors hell, enquiring relentlessly about trial design, uncertainties, probabilities, confidence intervals, projected outcomes, etc.

The climate science community has lost a gifted and clever scientist, and a passionate advocate for clarity of reasoning and the social application of scientific evidence.”

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Professor Neville Nicholls is Professorial Fellow in the School of Geography and Environmental Science at Monash University, Victoria and President of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society.

“I have known Steve Schneider for over thirty years. His tragically early death is a blow to his colleagues, friends, family, and to the world. He was a brilliant scientist and a great communicator who went the extra mile to communicate difficult concepts and science to a broad audience.  Steve always stayed calm and rational, despite decades of personal abuse from vested interests. His words were often deliberately twisted and misquoted by those intent on misrepresentation, but Steve long ago decided to ignore such base attempts at distraction, and remained focussed on the science and its implications. We are all poorer for his passing, but richer because of his enormous efforts to educate us all on topics of great importance.”

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Professor Barry Brook is the Sir Hubert Wilkins professor of climate change and Director of Climate Science at the University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute

“I first met Stephen Schneider when he presented at a ‘biology of extinction’ conference in in Japan in 2002. He impressed me then with his wide-ranging knowledge of climate science and his ability to communicate how global warming will effect on life on Earth. Nearly a decade later, the study of climate change impacts is among the most actively researched areas of environmental biology. Many of the top researchers in this field drew real inspiration from Steve’s work, and his inspiration and insights will be sorely missed.”

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Ian Lowe is Emeritus professor of science, technology and society at Griffith University in Queensland and President of the Australian Conservation Foundation.

“Stephen Schneider was one of the world’s foremost climate scientists. He was also a wonderful communicator of the science. Australia’s Commission for the Future, when I was its Director in 1988, invited Professor Schneider to play the leading role in Greenhouse ’88, a nationally-linked conference to draw public attention to the clear conclusions emerging from climate science. His clear and authoritative presentations contributed greatly to public understanding of the problem, in turn altering the political climate; as a result, Australia adopted a leading role in the late 1980s and early 1990s in developing responses to climate change, culminating in the agreement at Rio in 1992 of the Framework Convention. He has continued to be a powerful voice of reason in the debate about climate change. His untimely death is a real loss, not just to the scientific community but to the wider world in which he was so positively engaged.”

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Professor John Quiggin is an Australian Research Council Federation Fellow in the school of economics at the University of Queensland

“Stephen Schneider was a great scientist and a great communicator. Like everyone who has tried to communicate the science of climate change and the need for urgent action, he was subject to dishonest, and deeply personal, attacks from the enemies of science, self-described as “sceptics”. He was not deterred by these attacks and continued, until his death to play an active role in promoting a coherent, science-based response to environmental problems. His death is a great loss.”

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Dr Helen McGregor is a Research Fellow with the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Wollongong

“I didn’t know Stephen Schneider personally but wish I had. He has been a pioneer in communicating climate change science to the general public. As a testament to his broad, cross-disciplinary thinking he was able to transfer concepts from climate science to the health sciences, survive aggressive lymphoma, and explain these concepts in his book The Patient from Hell: How I Worked with My Doctors to Get the Best of Modern Medicine and How You Can Too. He will be sadly missed.”

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David Pearce is Executive Director of The Centre for International Economics based in Canberra.

“Although I only met Professor Schneider on one or two occasions, I was struck with how productive and useful discussions with him were.  Professor Schneider clearly had an excellent understanding of the economic issues involved in climate policy and was willing and able to engage in constructive policy debate. From an economist’s perspective, two aspects of his work stand out. The first was his commitment to understanding the true uncertainties related to climate outcomes. This is profoundly important in constructing policy responses. The second is his remarkable book The Patient From Hell which is, in effect, a detailed exploration of decision making under uncertainty in the context of a very personal set of health issues. His commitment to rigorous thinking through issues combined with the very wide scope of his thinking made him a unique contributor to the climate debate. He will be greatly missed.”

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Professor Wasim Saman is Director of Research at the University of South Australia’s Institute for Sustainable Systems and Technologies

“Steve Schneider’s untimely death is a sadly lost voice in delivering the climate change message. He had the ability to forcefully communicate this message to politicians, academics as well as the general public. As a Thinker in Residence in South Australia (2006-2007), Professor Schneider made a serious and lasting contribution to the state’s sustainability agenda. During and since his stay in Adelaide, he was happy to support and contribute to a number of research activities at the University of South Australia. His keynote lecture “Can we define, let alone fix, ‘dangerous’ climate change?” at the launch of our Institute for Sustainable Systems and Technologies in May 2006 left a lasting impression among the hundreds who attended.”

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Roger Jones is a Professorial Research Fellow at Victoria University’s Centre for Strategic Economic Studies

“It is distressing to hear of the sudden passing of Steve Schneider, a great and admired colleague and friend. Committed to the need to act on climate change he never lost sight of the science informing that message. If the science changed – and it was often Steve changing it – that aspect of the message would change, too. He was the Chief of the Uncertainty Police, along with colleague Richard Moss, making sure the message on uncertainty and risk was delivered clearly through successive assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. When he was diagnosed with cancer, he used the same understanding to confront the facts, work with the odds, understand and change the treatments, improving his chances of survival and those who followed after. This story was published in his book The Patient from Hell (2007). Diners at The Attica restaurant in Melbourne the previous year heard the story in person (those at other tables had little choice has Steve regaled us with the tale, in not the quietest of voices).

So many of us in Australia were delighted to catch up with Steve during his last visit on the occasion of the NCCARF Conference on Climate Adaptation held on the Gold Coast in late June. Steve has always had a special relationship with Australia, visiting many times and spending time as the thinker in residence for South Australia in 2006. He visited Australia frequently, responding to invitations to inform, enthuse and cajole those who were reluctant to act, often en route to bird-watching expeditions in remote regions. It was on a following trip to Europe where Steve was continuing to spread the message, that he died.

When I began working in the area of climate change risk, Steve gave terrific support, offering me an editorial in his interdisciplinary journal Climatic Change. He then took and incorporated large slabs of that paper into the IPCC Third Assessment Report. Hundreds of scientists around the world will have similar stories of how he offered help and support for them and their work, always interested in the work and in the person. It is difficult to find an area across the broad interdisciplinary breadth of climate change science, impacts and adaptation where he has not made a substantial contribution. I’m privileged to count him as a friend and will miss him terribly.”

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Kevin Hennessy and Penny Whetton are from CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research and were both lPCC authors in 2007

“Stephen Schneider was one of the world’s leading contributors on climate change projections, impacts, vulnerabilities and policy.
Stephen’s work had a strong influence on science direction and on policy development as well as dealing with issues raised by those who doubted the evidence of climate change.

He has had long association with Australia, stretching back to having key roles in climate change conferences from the late 1980s onwards and has been a frequent visitor over the years, including to CSIRO a number of times.

Stephen was extremely articulate, and enthusiastic with a strong desire and ability to communicate climate science, as those who participated in the International Climate Adaptation Conference on the Gold Coast three weeks ago will attest. He will be sorely missed by his Australian colleagues as well as by those around the world.”

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Professor Jim Falk is Climate Change Research Director at the Association of Pacific Rim Universities World Institute. He’s also Visiting Professor at the United Nations University’s Institute of Advanced Studies, Emeritus Professor at the University of Wollongong and Director of the Australian Centre for Science, Innovation and Society

“He was a man of extraordinary scientific ability, extended by a special capacity for communication, and strengthened with notable courage and integrity. He was also a great guy. It is a shock to lose him in this way, and it will be felt in many parts of the world.”

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Dr John Church is Principle Research Scientist at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research

“The passing of a great spokesperson for the future.

A great forward thinker and communicator who alerted the world to many issues. The World is richer as a result of his contribution but poorer with his passing.”

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Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany

“This is tragic news. I had many encounters with Steve’s beautiful mind and I enjoyed them all.

He leaves us in a time when personalities of his calibre are needed more than ever. It will be hard, but I guess we owe it to him to overcome the anti-enlightenment forces.”

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Adrian Gibbs is a retired virology professor formerly from the School of Biological Sciences at the Australian National University in Canberra and a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

“Graeme’s death, en route to an international ‘flu conference in Portugal, is a great loss to Australian and international science.

He was an extremely able and enthusiastic working scientist. His major discovery was that the particles of influenza virus could be taken apart, gently, by particular detergents. Out of this he devised the ‘flu subunit vaccine now used all round the world and, after separating the bits, also produced the really big (and beautiful) crystals of ‘flu neuraminidase used by the X-ray crystallographers and modellers to design the anti-flu drugs, Relenza and Tamiflu.

I first met Graeme over 40 years ago, and was taken by him on some amazing adventures, usually involving boats! Most notable were the expeditions to the Barrier Reef to collect the noddy and mutton bird poo, which contained the influenza virus variants used for the drug designs. His guiding principle, like that of my Ph.D. supervisor, Fred Bawden, another great virologist, was ‘Well that’s an interesting idea, but what’s the evidence?’. We will miss him greatly.”

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Dr Stephen Prowse is CEO of the Australian Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre for Emerging Infectious Disease.

“I’d like to extend my condolences to the family of the veterinarian Dr Ben Cunneen. This is a complex and dangerous virus that has to be handled with a high level of biosecurity. It’s difficult to study as it involves wildlife, livestock, humans and possibly other species. There are ongoing research projects to identify the risk factors and to perhaps help reduce the likelihood of a tragic event such as this happening again.”

If you wish to speak to an expert, don’t hesitate to contact the AusSMC on (08) 8207 7415.

Kurt Lambeck is Professor of Geophysics at the Australian National University (ANU) and President of the Australian Academy of Science.

“Ed Lorenz is widely known for formulating the concept of chaos theory in simple terms such that today we are amazed by its simplicity. Chaos theory helps us understand the importance of getting your starting conditions right when you are trying to predict how a system will behave in the future, for example. If you begin your calculations with numbers that are not quite correct, small anomalies can suddenly become very significant and steer your solution off track.

This is relevant in the concept of trying to understand climate change. We perturb a system by small amounts, each one seems insignificant, but the consequence could be that the whole system takes off in a different direction. Chaos theory emphasizes the instability in many physical systems, where traditionally we have thought they were stable.”

David Karoly is Professor and Federation Fellow in the School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, and a lead author on the IPCC 4th Assessment Report.

“Ed Lorenz is best known for his pioneering research on chaos and the predictability of weather and climate. But he was also an outstanding teacher, making sure to present complex ideas in simple ways. He showed an uncanny ability to distil the complexity of the atmosphere or the climate system into just a few simple equations, and then explain the behaviour of those systems in new and insightful ways.”

Australian experts comment on the death of one of the country’s leading water experts – Peter Cullen. Peter was hugely influential as a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists and as a commissioner of Australia’s National Water Commission. He was a former president of the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies and was the former director of the CRC for Freshwater Ecology.

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Professor Mike Young is Research Chair, Water Economics and Management, The University of Adelaide and a Member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists

“Peter Cullen was a giant in every sense of the word. A big person with big ideas – big ideas that were easy to understand. Peter understood, better than most, that to change policy you had to change the way people thought. He instinctively knew how to explain water science and water policy options to the young and to the old. He was the Babel fish that every river, every community and every politician turned to. Carting his big joyful frame around him and using the National Water Initiative as his template, Peter believed that Australia could excel in water management. He sensed that now was the time to get the fundamentals right. The legacy of ideas will endure.

To remind us of his great mind and insight, here are some Cullenisms

‘While politicians like to blame other levels of Government, the reality is that our politicians reflect what we as a community are telling them. We are all responsible for the mess we find ourselves in.’

‘When scientists do enter the political arena, they must understand they are playing to different rules from those used in science and need to learn the rules of politics and the media. Unless they understand the rules and tactics of policy debate it is like them walking on to a tennis court equipped only with golf sticks’.

‘By now we should have learned that praying for rain is no substitute for good planning’.

‘It is really pretty simple housekeeping. How much water do we have to allocate?’

‘It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to develop a sustainable and healthy Murray Darling Basin. There is much to be done’.”

Dr Wendy Craik is Chief Executive of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission.

“We were honoured to have worked closely with Professor Cullen over many years, but especially during his time as Chief Executive of the CRC for Freshwater Ecology to which the Commission was a significant funding partner. Professor Cullen’s stewardship of the CRC from 1993 to 2002, especially through its Murray-Darling Freshwater research Centre, paved the way for major Commission programs such The Living Murray and the Sustainable Rivers Audit.

His public advocacy and strong scientific positions created huge public awareness of the Murray’s environmental needs and his work undoubtedly contributed to the development of The Living Murray’s ‘First Step’ decision to recover water for the river.

Professor Cullen’s reasoned, intellectual and concerned voice will be greatly missed in all future public discussions of the water resources challenges facing Australia.”

Professor John Langford is the Director of Uniwater – a joint initiative of Monash and Melbourne Universities. He is also Former Chair of the CRC for Freshwater Ecology and Former Exec Director of the Water Services Association of Australia.

“I have known Peter Cullen for over 40 years. We were research students together at Melbourne University in the 1960s. I was Chairman of the Board of the CRC for Freshwater Ecology for 12 years while he was the Chief Executive.

He was a great mind and put freshwater ecology on the map in Australia. More than anything, though, he changed the water debate in this country and our attitudes to our river environment.

He was a brilliant communicator with a sharp mind – he understood the political process and the media and used this to great effect. His influence in the water debate will be greatly missed at this critical time. I will greatly miss his company and the vigorous discussions we regularly had on water affairs.”

Dr Steve Hatfield-Dodds is an advisor to the Wentworth Group and is a researcher in CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems’ Integration Science and Public Policy.

“Professor Peter Cullen was a man of giant intellect, passion, and good humour. He dedicated his life to improving our understanding the ecology of Australia’s water cycle, and to ensuring that this science was acted on to protect and improve the health of our rivers, creeks and esturaries. Peter would know that it is not yet time to rest on our laurells – and that was not his style anyway. But we know that we have made a better start on the path because of his efforts. He made an enormous contribution to informing and motivating national water reform, and that we and all future Australians owe him our gratitude.”

Dr Geoff Syme is Research Program Leader at CSIRO Land and Water

“As a social scientist I was inspired into a lifetime in water resources management by Peter’s very early papers that clearly saw water problems as people problems and was prepared to tackle them as such. He has been a great friend and mentor to me over 25 years and all involved with water resources management have benefitted hugely from his energy comradeship and his willingness to take water to the political arena.”

Professor Nancy Millis, Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne,

“I have known Peter Cullen since his undergraduate days but later, we came in close contact through the Board of Management of the CRC for Freshwater Ecology which he directed before his retirement. I know his contributions will be lasting; they have been incredibly valuable in raising political and regulatory awareness, as well as informing the general public of the value of water as a scarce but essential resource for both urban and rural communities. Equally, he urged its careful exploitation, as he recognised that healthy rivers, flood plains and wetlands are vital to the quality and sustainability of the entire aquatic ecosystem. He was realistic in his advice and fearless in delivering often unpalatable messages when he was convinced that current practices were unsustainable. Would that there were more like him. His voice will be sadly missed.”

Professor Simon Beecham is Professor of Sustainable Water Resources Engineering at the University of South Australia

“In my view Peter’s greatest talent was making people, and particularly politicians, sit up and listen. Through the Wentworth Group and other vehicles he led the way towards our far-off dream of Sustainable Water Management. For example in 2003, The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists released their ‘Blueprint for a national water plan’ with the primary objective to ‘protect river health and the rights of all Australians to clean usable water’.”

From a personal perspective, Peter was a great inspiration to me. I found his passion for sustainable water management both infectious and compelling. He was also very personable and supportive and gave me invaluable advice, particularly when I was at UTS. This advice has guided me throughout my professional life. The water industry will miss Peter Cullen but hopefully will remember affectionately the remarkable contribution he made during his lifetime.”

Professor Ken Baldwin, is the President of the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS).

“He really did make a difference. He is best known for his contribution to public policy debates over water use, as a prominent member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists. Peter was an astute ambassador for his science who could engage effectively with politicians, farmers, irrigators, media and the broad community. He exemplified the connection between good science and community well being. As a researcher, Peter was highly respected for his work in freshwater ecology. In addition to his science, Peter was highly credible in political and policy debates because he an independent thinker and straight talker.

Peter was also a very effective educator both formally with undergraduate and postgraduate students but more broadly with his engagement in public debates on water usage and natural resource management. Peter was President of FASTS in 1998/9 and again in 2001.

The Australian scientific community extends our heartfelt condolences to Peter’s family.”

Professor Sam Lake is a freshwater ecologist with the School of Biological Sciences at Monash University

“Peter was a great colleague; inspiring, knowledgeable and fun to be with. He was a generous and very stimulating Director of the CRC for Freshwater Ecology and he enlivened many a meeting. In the arduous and difficult area of water reform, Peter was a committed leader, who could balance social and economic interests with ecological concerns. His commitment and drive to better our environment will be sadly and greatly missed.”

Professor Peter Fairweather is professor of Marine Biology and Director of the Lincoln Marine Science Centre, Flinders University

“His passing is a great loss to Australian science, the environment and Australian society. He was always a voice for reason during difficult debates over water policy, able to weigh up complex technical material along with the implications and import of it for primary industry and people living along our waterways. As well as being very well respected by other scientists, he was valued as our public voice in many of the debates about water and our environmental future. Often he could get to the heart of the really difficult issues more quickly than a whole raft of other commentators, and he wasn’t afraid to question our many scared cows.

On a more personal note, he was a fantastic colleague to interact with. He always wanted to know what you thought was new and was enthusiastic about all our discoveries. Peter acted as an important mentor at several points in my career, being very welcoming and a reliable source of solid advice. His generosity of spirit made many of us feel part of his network, and he openly encouraged the right sort of speculation but then insisted on us having the data to back up those bold new assertions. I will miss him greatly as both a human being and scientist.”

David Mitchell is Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Land, Water and Society in the School of Environmental Sciences,Charles Sturt University

“Peter Cullen was a “big picture” scientist with an acute awareness of what was necessary for the secure long-term management of Australia’s water resources and the capacity to motivate and encourage people at national and local levels to share his understanding and to modify their management objectives and actions in the interests of the future welfare of the country and its peoples. He was a good friend and colleague of long-standing and I am saddened by his early demise.”

Professor Peter Schwerdtfeger is Emeritus Professor of Meteorology at Flinders University

“I was privileged to hear Professor Peter Cullen’s lecture on the occasion of Flinders University’s “Schultz Oration” late in 2007. Although he was suffering from obvious physical difficulties, his explanation of Australia’s water problems and its inextricably associated dilemmas was ubiquitous in the breadth of its considerations. While he was well aware of the political and social complexities, he did not let these cloud his comprehension of the essential science.”

Peter Hayes is Board Chair of the CRC for Irrigation Futures.

“Peter made a major contribution to the CRC for Irrigation Futures during his three years on the Board. His experience, knowledge and skills in both water matters and CRC’s were invaluable to our CRC in those early formative years.

One of Peter’s greatest skills was his ability to synthesis knowledge and produce something that people could use. He provided an exemplary role model for simplifying and communicating complex issues to the whole community.”

Mike Logan is an irrigator and Board member of the CRC for Irrigation Futures.

“He played an important contribution in balancing the environment and the production demands of water. Peter was a strong supporter of the CRC’s goal of doubling water productivity.

He had a knack for challenging and asking the difficult questions.’The water sector and country have lost a great water communicator and thinker.”

Professor Patrick Troy is a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies at the Australian National University

“Peter Cullen was a giant in the water industry. He was the leading freshwater ecologist in the nation and was mercifully free of the obscurantism that often accompanies leading scientists when they try to communicate outside their narrow field of expertise. He was the embodiment of good sense and was prepared to call a spade a spade. He made few concessions to the powerful preferring to speak truth to power. I doubt that the Wentworth Group could have been as influential as it was without his wisdom and skill at communication.

He will be sorely missed.”

Professor Peter Doherty is Laureate Professor in the Dept of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne.

“I didn’t know him personally, but admired his good sense and presence as a public figure. He will be sorely missed.”