Dr. Myles Fisher, an Emeritus of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and a groundbreaking agricultural scientist passed away on the 27th of May. He suffered a stroke, which mercifully was sudden and painless. Myles was my colleague, my mentor, and my friend and it is deeply saddening to hear of his death.
Myles, born in an Australian farm, dedicated his life to agricultural science. He started his scientific career as a technician and later obtained his doctorate. He never lost the early skills he developed making him a superb experimentalist always paying attention to details to ensure the accuracy of his observations. As a physiologist, he worked on a range of species and joined CIAT in the late ’80s in the forages program to support a deeper understanding of a number of forage grasses and legumes, and to support breeding efforts on Brachiaria.
Myles was a jack of all trades, equally as comfortable in the field and at the computer. He was at the core of a group of physiologists and agricultural scientists developing crop simulation models, and lead and supported the development of several modules in DSSAT and in the Brachiaria crop model.
Myles talked about climate change long before it was a thing, interested at first in the carbon balance of pasture lands in Latin America. At the height of his career, Myles published a groundbreaking paper in Nature entitled Carbon storage by introduced deep-rooted grasses in the South American savannas which quantified the important role of deep-rooted pastures in the global carbon balance. This pioneering piece of work paved the way for much of the climate change work that CIAT subsequently undertook, and to which Myles continued to contribute to this day.
Since his retirement in 2002, Myles seemed to work harder than ever before. I got to know Myles through a consultancy I worked on with him and Sam Fujisaka to review a program of the Global Environmental Facility. He would be up even before the crack of dawn reviewing documents, and was literally a walking encyclopedia, memorizing every tiny detail and regurgitating it on demand. He supported so many initiatives of the Alliance for Bioversity International and CIAT, including our efforts on water and food, climate adaptation and mitigation, and crop modeling. He was an expert editor who would improve the scientific rigor just as effectively as spotting a missing apostrophe in a bibliographic reference. He was a mentor to so many young researchers, helping them in their early career to design experiments, analyse data, and to publish. I count 77 publications since his retirement in 2002, which is more than many publish in their entire careers. Truly prolific.
They don’t make men like Myles these days. He was a gentleman and a true man of his word. He mastered the balance of being a straight-shooting Australian with an incredible sense of humanity, humility, and appreciation of people. I’m a richer person for having known him, and I can attest that he contributed to my growth as a scientist and as a person. And I am sure all those who he touched across the Alliance Bioversity-CIAT will say the same. He will be sorely missed.
I invite my colleagues and those who have known and interacted with Myles to make comments to this blog entry as a testament to his life, telling the stories of your interactions with him and the ways in which he has touched our lives.
On behalf of all of those in the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, our thoughts and prayers go out to Myles and his family and friends.
May he rest in eternal peace.
Very Sad Indeed, he was my friend and mentor.
Enjoyed every ride to CIAT, every joke, science and personal stories. Believe it or not, had amazing conversations on high tech.
So many stories and jokes to share, one my work-related favorites “DSSAT is like a sausage, it is better no to know what is inside”
I will never forget this man, his signature is all over my thesis indeed
Rest in peace my friend and a giant hug to Pamela , sending my prayers and thoughts to his family
Daniel
Sad because of his passing but happy about for the footprint he left in all of us. My prayers and thoughts are with Dr. Myles.
Very thankful for your post, Andy. I crossed path many times with Myles over the past 20 years, and knew about the importance of him and his work for many scientists. He was so dedicated to CIAT and its mission. It was good to knew him around, sitting in Andy’s office, always welcome, with his dogs walking the corridors. RIP Myles!
Myles was more than a mentor for me. He changed my life! He made me believe that I had the potential to do my PhD; without him and his wife (Pam), I am sure I would have probably given up. I am sorry he will not be there for my graduation but he will be in my mind that day.
He was always critical but at the same time supportive. I remember the first time I went to his office because Andy said that I should ask for his help on DSSAT and the cassava model. I tried and his first answer was that it would be a lot of work and he just said: “good luck with that”. Then I thought, well “was he not supposed to give me the solutions?”. Who has worked with him know that he was there to help but no to give you the solutions, his idea was that you had to work hard and learn. He was there to make you think twice about the way you were doing the things and during his last years he enjoyed sharing his experience because we, the young scientists, were his legacy. He helped my with all the editions of my first paper, but he did not do it himself. We had for more than two weeks daily meetings where he explained to me the right way of writing. He said: “I could do it in few hours but that is not the idea, I want you to improve your writing so in the future you can make it alone!”.
No many persevered working with him because he could be really hard on you. I think at least twice since I started working with him in 2012, he said that if he would be my boss he would fired me (I guess I was lucky in that moment that he was my mentor but no my boss!). He was stubborn and when he considered that you were not doing a good quality job, he would tell you so.
He retired but he never stopped working. He worked endless hours on the cassava model with James Cock and me. He was a grandfather for my, always supportive and there whenever I needed it some advice. If it would not be for him and James I would not speak English, but I had every meeting with them in English and then after long time I was able to understand (although he would have to explain to me his jokes).
I am really sad I cannot be there. Myles I miss all the weekends working with you in your office and all the science walks with Chas and Bro. Thanks for all your patience with me. If I could go back to December I would have had a longer hug with you, I did not know it was the last time I would see you.
Myles will be truly missed. Not only as a prolific scientist but also as a person, always thorough, friendly and with an open ear in particular for the upcoming scientists.
His work on carbon accumulation by tropical forages was ground breaking at the time and is still influential today.
On the behalf of the forages team expressing deepest sorrow.
Since my retirement from CIAT on June 2012 until March 2020, I worked with Dr. Fisher at his home, who wellcomed me with appreciation and love. During all this time I became a trustworthy person for him and his wife and we shared many personally moments, so I can say that one of the things He most enjoyed was cooking the turkey on Thanksgiving day. He was quite a kitchen expert.
He was very strict, tireless and impeccable in his work, but generous and calms. I will always keep a great memory from him and I will be very grateful for allowing me to work and support him in his projects.
Dr. Fisher will be forever in my heart.