The renowned marine and polar researcher has been awarded the Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts and the Grand Cross of Merit with Star of the Federal Repub­lic of Germany in recog­ni­tion of her outstanding

Deep-sea and polar researcher and Hector Fellow Antje Boetius has been awarded the Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts and the Grand Cross of Merit with Star of the Federal Repub­lic of Germany. The two distinc­tions recog­nize her outstand­ing contri­bu­tions to polar and marine research.

Among Germany’s most presti­gious honors, the awards highlight the inter­na­tional impact of Boetius’ research on the oceans and polar regions.

Since 2025, Antje Boetius has served as Presi­dent of the Monterey Bay Aquar­ium Research Insti­tute (MBARI) in Califor­nia. Previ­ously, she was Direc­tor of the Alfred Wegener Insti­tute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, and Profes­sor of Geomi­cro­bi­ol­ogy at the Univer­sity of Bremen. Recip­i­ent of the Hector Science Award in 2013, she inves­ti­gates biodi­ver­sity and biogeo­chem­i­cal processes in the deep sea and polar oceans, as well as the impacts of climate change on marine ecosys­tems. Her research has taken her on approx­i­mately 50 expedi­tions aboard inter­na­tional research vessels.