Antje Boetius is a polar and deep-sea researcher. She has served as Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research from 2017-2025, and has just joined the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute of Moss Landing, California as President. She is an expert of biological oceanography, deep-sea biology, microbial ecology and biogeochemistry of the ocean including novel ocean observation technologies. Antje Boetius has led or participated in over 50 expedition. Current topics of her research include the study of life and ocean landscapes under the ice, and the long-term observation of the effects of global warming on polar ecosystems. Antje Boetius is an external scientific member of the Max Planck Society, of the German National Academy Leopoldina and several other international academies. She is an expert on ocean health and a policy advisor to numerous national and international commissions on climate, biodiversity and science innovation. Currently she coordinates a UN Ocean decade program for synchronous observation around Antarctica. She has a long record in science communication including collaboration with arts, film and other media.
Professional position
- President and CEO, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)
- Professor of Geomicrobiology, University of Bremen
- Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research
