Global tributes have flowed for Professor Will Steffen, the eminent climate scientist and communicator who passed away on Sunday night in Canberra. The sense of shock, and irretrievable loss, is palpable.

Steffen, 75, had pancreatic cancer. He spent a career advancing climate science, and doggedly – bravely – fighting for policy change. Devastated colleagues told how he worked tirelessly for the climate cause, until he could fight no longer. They recalled his fierce intelligence, and his willingness to stick his neck out through Australia’s long, wasted years of climate denialism – even in the face of abuse and death threats. Younger scientists shared stories of Steffen’s kindness, his patience, his endless well of optimism.

Today in The Conversation, three of Steffen’s friends and colleagues remember the giant of a man.

CSIRO’s John Finnigan recalls his final conversation with his dear friend, and describes how Steffen’s pioneering ideas changed the way we think about Earth’s limits. Pep Canadell, also of CSIRO, tells how Steffen helped create global climate research networks even in the dusty era of fax machines. And the ANU’s Steve Lade reminds us what Steffen knew most keenly: that humanity must transform its mindset from exploitation to stewardship if we, and our planet, are to survive.

The Conversation, too, owes a debt of gratitude to Steffen. A prolific and highly valued author, Steffen had a gift for communicating the most complex climate science to our readers. His precise, suckerpunch prose could take your breath away. He seamlessly blended scientific fact with heartfelt truths; his writing left no doubt that rapid climate action was both a scientific and moral imperative. The Conversation is better for Will Steffen’s stellar contributions, and we will miss him.

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