Remembering Francois Primeau

Francois Primeau passed away on June 19, 2026 after being struck by a vehicle while riding his bike.

Francois was a vital part of the InMOS team and a true leader in the field of oceanography. He brought expertise to our team ranging from physical oceanography to Bayesian statistics to ocean biogeochemistry. He pioneered some of the foundational techniques in ocean biogeochemistry that make the work that InMOS is doing possible, including developing fast spin-up techniques for ocean models using Newton’s method, and creating new methods for inverse modeling and optimization to bring models closer to observations. He was a fearless scientist who could see new ways to solve problems using creative mathematical techniques, had the technical skills to bring these ideas to fruition, and had the patience and teaching ability to make them accessible to others.

Even more than his scientific brilliance, the team will miss Francois’ warm smile and caring demeanor. He was a regular fixture at our biweekly meetings, always ready with insightful questions and good ideas to pursue. He loved to “talk science” and his passion for science brought a feeling of excitement and fun to the work that we were doing. He offered help, advice and encouragement to us along our scientific and life journeys.

His passing leaves a hole in our team, and in our community, that will be difficult to fill.

On behalf of the InMOS team,

Tim DeVries
Lead PI, InMOS

A remembrance from UC Irvine is available here .