Professor Adriana Vergés is a marine ecologist whose research focuses on the ecology and conservation of coastal marine habitats. In particular, she and her team investigate the ecological impacts of climate change in our oceans and develop hands-on restoration solutions to protect and conserve marine ecosystems, including seagrass meadows, kelp forests and coral reefs. She has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications and is a passionate science communicator.
Professor Vergés is a Director of the Kelp Forest Alliance and a co-founder of Operation Crayweed and Operation Posidonia – two projects that have been restoring seaweed forests and seagrass meadows in NSW over the last 10 years. Operation Crayweed was awarded the NSW Green Globe Natural Environment Award in 2017.
In 2019, Professor Vergés received the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Emerging Thought Leader Prize. She holds a PhD from the University of Barcelona and a Master of Science in Science Communication from Dublin City University, and is a Professor at UNSW Sydney and the Sydney Institute of Marine Science.