Professor Peter Macreadie

I am a Professor, working at the frontier of nature-based solutions, using science to drive a more sustainable and nature positive world.

I founded and direct the Blue Carbon Lab and lead RMIT’s Centre for Nature Positive Solutions, where 40+ scientists and students work with government, industry, Indigenous communities, NGOs, and global collaborators. Together, we turn research into action—restoring ecosystems, shaping policy, and creating markets that align environmental and societal goals. Our work spans blue and teal carbon, biodiversity crediting, natural capital accounting, restoration, biosecurity, marine resources, microplastics, pollution, and climate resilience.

In 2025, I was awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship to address the barriers holding back blue carbon projects. The fellowship focuses on operationalising blue carbon—creating scalable, investible, and equitable projects that deliver climate mitigation, biodiversity gains, and benefits for coastal communities.

My research has shaped policy and carbon markets in Australia and globally. I contributed to Australia’s first blue carbon crediting method, advised government on including blue carbon in national greenhouse gas inventories, and support new frameworks for freshwater wetlands and biodiversity markets. Our global mapping showed wetland conservation and restoration could remove over a billion tonnes of CO₂ each year—evidence now guiding climate investment. Our work is cited in hundreds of policy documents, from the EU Green Deal to the World Bank’s Blue Carbon Wealth of Nations to reports to the US Congress.

I have published >300 papers (>20,000 citations, h-index 73) in Science, Nature Climate Change, Nature Ecology & Evolution, One Earth, The Lancet Planetary Health, PNAS, and Global Change Biology. I have secured $45M+ in funding and co-investment, and helped develop tools such as low-cost carbon monitoring systems and AI-driven mapping—now used by governments, utilities, and carbon developers.

This work is only possible through collaboration. I am fortunate to work with an extraordinary team at CNPS and BCL, and with partners worldwide who share the goal of a nature positive future.

Recognition includes 30+ awards such as the 2023 Frontiers Planet Prize, the 2020 Premier’s Sustainability Award, and the 2015 David Syme Prize.

What drives me is ensuring science doesn’t sit on the page but changes how we care for ecosystems—helping create a future where people and nature thrive together.