Dr. Bob Scholes was a systems ecologist with a particular interest in the savannas of Africa. He trained under Prof Brian Walker at the University of the Witwatersrand and Prof Pedro Sanchez at North Carolina State University and has over three decades of field experience in many parts of Africa and the world. He led several high-profile studies (eg the Assessment of Elephant Management, Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change, Strategic Assessment of Shale Gas Development) and large research campaigns (eg SAFARI 2000, Southern African Millennium Assessment). He was a member of the steering committee of several International Council of Scientific Unions research programmes. Was a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the CSIR, Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa, Member of the South African Academy, a Research Associate of the CSIR, and a NRF A-rated scientist.