Following completion of his doctoral thesis, in theoretical particle physics at Oxford University in 1965, Don Melrose changed his research interests to plasma astrophysics. After post-doctoral appointments in the UK and the USA he returned to Australia in 1969, to the Australian National University until he took up his current appointment as Professor of Physics (Theoretical) at the University of Sydney in 1979. He made important contributions to the theory of coherent emission processes in astrophysics: plasma emission in solar radio bursts, electron cyclotron maser emission and pulsar radio...