From Tasmania’s shores to global climate summits, Professor Gretta Pecl is helping the world understand how our oceans – and our futures – are changing.

A world-leading marine ecologist, Gretta is ranked among the top 200 most influential climate scientists on the planet (and the top 20 women). Her work tracks how climate change is shifting marine life, reshaping ecosystems, and impacting the communities that depend on them. She is a Professor of Climate Change Ecology at the University of Tasmania and Director of the Centre for Marine Socioecology – a globally recognised hub for interdisciplinary ocean research.

As a Lead Author for the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Gretta’s insights have helped shape the international response to the climate crisis. But just as importantly, she believes in local connection – in bringing people into the conversation, in making science human, and in giving communities the tools to adapt.

She co-leads Future Seas 2030, a program under the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, helping chart a course for healthier oceans. She also created Redmap Australia, a citizen science project inviting fishers and divers around our coastline to help monitor changes in Australian seas – turning citizens into contributors to climate science.

Gretta’s leadership has put Tasmania at the centre of global marine climate research. As a speaker at events like the Ocean Business Leaders’ Summit, she shares not just science, but optimism – that with the right knowledge, we can adapt, lead, and thrive.