Antje Boetius is a polar and deep-sea researcher and director of the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research. As professor of geomicrobiology and head of the Joint Research Group for deep-sea ecology and technology at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, she is involved in the MARUM cluster of excellence at the University of Bremen.
Boetius has participated in almost 50 expeditions on international research vessels. Her research focuses on the effects of climate change on the Arctic Ocean and the biodiversity of the deep sea.

She is the recipient of the DFG’s Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz and Communicator Prizes, the German Environmental Award 2018 and was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in 2019. As Chair of the Steering Committee “Science in Dialogue” and member of the “Leopoldina National Academy”, she is heavily involved in science communication and dialogue with society.