Scholes is a distinguished professor of systems ecology at the Global Change Institute of the University of the Witwatersrand. He is among the top 1% of environmental scientists worldwide based on citation. He has led several high-profile studies, such as the Assessment of Elephant Management, Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change and Strategic Assessment of Shale Gas Development, as well as large research campaigns, such as the SAFARI 2000 and Southern African Millennium Assessment. Scholes is the author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, third, fourth and fifth assessments. He has been on the boards of the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, the South African National Parks and South African National Space Agency. He is a foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences, fellow of the CSIR and the Royal Society of South Africa, a member of the South African Academy, a research associate of the CSIR, a National Research Foundation A-rated scientist and a winner of the National Science and Technology Forum Lifetime Contribution to Science Award.