Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

On Boxing Day last year, Australia lost a visionary, an extraordinary marine scientist, a gifted educator and communicator, and a wife and mother: Professor Emma Johnston, AO. Her passing was felt not only across the scientific community but across every corner of the country that cares deeply about our oceans and our natural environment.

I met Emma in my role as Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef. Emma was a board member of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and her contribution to the reef authority and the Great Barrier Reef was second to none. Emma's work was defined by curiosity, rigour and deep compassion for our natural environment. She completed her doctorate in marine ecology at the University of Melbourne and built a career dedicated to understanding how human activities impact marine ecosystems from Sydney Harbour all the way to the Great Barrier Reef and beyond. She authored 185 peer reviewed research articles, supervised dozens of students and helped shape the very fabric of environmental science in Australia.

Emma has been remembered as a communicator who was tactfully able to bridge the gap between complex research and public understanding. Whether she was on television or in lecture halls, she communicated with the same clarity, warmth and passion that defined her leadership.

I was lucky enough to see Emma at the Prime Minister's Prizes for Science dinner in 2024. She'd just been appointed as the first female vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne. My thoughts are with Sam and with her family, friends, loved ones, colleagues and the broader reef community feeling this loss. Vale, Emma Johnston.