MBARI President and Incoming CEO Antje Boetius is a globally recognized leader in polar and deep-sea research. 

With expertise spanning biological oceanography, microbial ecology, deep-sea biology, and ocean biogeochemistry, Boetius has provided vital insight into the impacts of climate change on the ocean and polar ecosystems, especially changes to marine microbial communities. Her groundbreaking work integrates cutting-edge ocean observation technologies with long-term ecosystem studies, particularly in extreme environments. Boetius and her team developed novel instrumentation, such as autonomous and tethered seafloor observatories and robotic sampling systems that enable real-time monitoring of microbial and geochemical processes in the deep ocean, as well as seafloor mapping.

Over the course of her career, Boetius has led or participated in more than 50 international deep-sea and polar expeditions and coordinated numerous national and international research programs to study continental margins, ocean basins, and polar life under ice. Several of her North Pole expeditions helped improve understanding of the role of sea ice for the deep sea.

Prior to joining MBARI, Boetius was the director of the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven, Germany, from 2017 to 2025. She is a professor of geomicrobiology at the MARUM Center for Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, and group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, as part of the HGF MPG Joint Research Group for Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology. Her ongoing research collaborations with AWI and many international partners will help scale the use of innovative MBARI technology, including in polar seas. 

Boetius is affiliated with several international scientific groups, including the Max Planck Society, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Royal Swedish Academy, and the UK’s Royal Society. She is also an adjunct professor in the Oceans Department of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. She has acted as a policy advisor to numerous national and international commissions on climate, biodiversity, and science innovation. Currently, she coordinates a UN Ocean Decade program dedicated to integrated, real-time observation of the Southern Ocean.

A champion of science communication, Boetius is known for her work at the intersection of science, art, and society. She has received numerous honors for her leadership in marine science, interdisciplinary education, and science communication, including the European Research Council’s Advanced Grant, the Communicator Award of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), the “University Teacher of the Year” Award from Deutscher Hochschulverband (DHV, German Association of University Professors and Lecturers), and the Carl-Friedrich-von-Weizsäcker-Preis 2022 from the Stifterverband.