Professor Mathieu Rouault’s research encompassed all aspects of ocean atmosphere interactions. He made seminal contributions to our understanding of how these processes impact marine ecosystems and water resources, from the tropical Atlantic to the South-West Indian Ocean. His influence expanded into various international working groups, projects and panels and he was instrumental in the expansion of the tropical Atlantic PIRATA mooring array towards the east.

Professor Rouault filled the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) position for Ocean and Atmospheric Modelling in the Department of Oceanography at the University of Cape Town and he was the Director of the Nansen-Tutu Centre. He made significant contributions to research for the Water Research Commission and was president of the South African Society for Atmospheric Sciences from 2010–2017.

Professor Rouault’s involvement with SAEON was primarily via his position as director of the Nansen-Tutu Centre, on which Professor Juliet Hermes serves as a board member and Dr Jennifer Veitch is a research associate. He was a steadfast supporter of the SOMISANA (Sustainable Ocean Modelling Initiative: A South African Approach) initiative led by Dr Jennifer Veitch at the Egagasini Node, enthusiastically offering advice as well as financial and supervisory support to students who were part of the initiative.

The many excellent African researchers who have emerged from his tutelage are testament to the true passion he had for training and promoting young African scientists. He found great joy in science and, perhaps more so, the friendships he made in science.

His passing has left a void in the research community, and he will be missed dearly.