Obituary- Bob McDowall

It is with great sadness that I write to inform you of the death of Bob McDowall on the weekend, after a short illness.  Bob was New Zealand’s foremost freshwater fisheries scientist for some decades and had a long and distinguished service with Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (and Marine Dept before that) and latterly, NIWA.  He studied the taxonomy, relationships, biogeography and ecology of the freshwater fish faunas of New Zealand and had a particular interest in the galaxioid families, and also the role of diadromous migrations in fish ecology and biogeography.  Of particular note was his ability to make this science popular to the public. Bob authored twelve books, including Diadromy in Fishes (1988) and New Zealand Freshwater Fishes - A Natural History and Guide (1990), and he edited Freshwater Fishes of Southeastern Australia (1994). He also had one book ‘in press’, namely Ikawai. Freshwater fishes in Maori culture and economy (872 pp.). Bob published (at last count) 267 scientific papers and 232 reports and popular articles.  He was made a fellow of the NZ Royal Society (1984) and an honorary member of the NZ Limnological Society (2000).  He will be missed by many in the NZFSS, not only his enormous scientific contribution, but also for his mentoring of younger scientists, dry wit and inclusive nature.  He is survived by his wife Ainslie, and children Stephen and Susan, and two grandchildren.
David Hamilton
President, New Zealand Freshwater Sciences Society