Professor Kerrie Wilson is Queensland Chief Scientist and a Professor in the Faculty of Science at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Her previous roles at QUT include Pro Vice-Chancellor (Sustainability and Research Integrity) and Executive Director of the Institute for Future Environments.  Before joining QUT in January 2019, Kerrie was the Director of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions and an ARC Future Fellow at The University of Queensland. She is also an Affiliated Professor in Conservation Science at The University of Copenhagen, the Australian Natural Sciences Commissioner for UNESCO, a member of the Australian Heritage Council and member of the Reef 2050 Plan Independent Expert Panel. Kerrie has previously held leadership positions with NGOs, including Director of Conservation for The Nature Conservancy Australia.

Kerrie Wilson holds a degree in Environmental Science (1999) from the University of Queensland. After completing her PhD in Conservation Biology at The University of Melbourne in collaboration with the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge, Kerrie undertook post-doctoral research at The Ecology Centre before accepting the role of Director of Conservation with The Nature Conservancy Australia program. Kerrie returned to academia in 2008 after being awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Postdoctoral Fellowship at The University of Queensland. She taught in Conservation Biology and Climate Change courses.

Kerrie is a leading interdisciplinary decision scientist with more than 190 research publications focusing on various applied resource allocation problems, such as where to invest limited resources to protect or restore biodiversity and what factors influence investment success. She has developed analytical approaches to capture the social context in environmental decision making and demonstrated how to integrate social, economic and ecological analyses to improve evaluation and prediction of the outcomes of environmental policies and programs. Her research has been published in journals such as Nature, Science, PLOS Biology, Nature Climate Change, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Kerrie has more than two decades of experience leading and conducting research into the science, strategy and policy of environmental conservation and management. Her disciplinary leadership is evidenced by roles on national and international advisory boards. Current elected positions include the Australian Natural Sciences Commissioner for UNESCO, a member of the Australian Heritage Council, and a member of the Reef 2050 Plan Independent Expert Panel. Kerrie has received numerous national awards, including two Australian Research Council Research Fellowships, an Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Outstanding Young Researcher, the Prime Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year, the Australian Academy of Science Nancy Millis Medal for Women in Science.