Professor Nicole Webster is the IMAS Executive Director.

As a marine microbial ecologist, she has moved from the tropics to the poles, studying how microorganisms contribute to the health of the Great Barrier Reef, and the utility of microbes as biomarkers for environmental stress in the Ross Sea of Antarctica.

Over the last two decades, she has worked as Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, and Deputy Director of the Australian Centre for Ecogenomics at The University of Queensland.

In 2021 Nicole was selected to become the Chief Scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division where she is looking forward to developing the innovative and collaborative pathways needed to improve understanding, management and conservation of this wild and fragile ecosystem.

Nicole commenced as the IMAS Executive Director in January 2024.