Heather Stewart is an Ass. Professor at Kelpie Geoscience, adjunct to the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre. She has over 20 years of experience in multidisciplinary marine research and exploration with a focus on characterising the geology and physical character of the seabed and sub-seabed. She has participated in more than 35 marine expeditions globally and more than 10 remote land-based fieldwork expeditions.

Heather’s current research has two themes: the geomorphology and sediments of hadal and abyssal systems like subduction trenches and fracture zones; and assessing the dynamics, configuration, and sedimentary record of former ice-sheets. Working across disciplines Heather uses her expertise in shallow seismic, sidescan sonar, multibeam echosounder and sample data to work across a number of complementary fields.

Heather has published more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and commercial reports, is an experienced scientific and public presenter having given more than 60 conference and university guest lectures and over 20 invited public talks. She has completed a number of crewed submersible dives. Recently Heather, alongside expert pilot and legend Kate Wawatai, became the deepest diving all female submersible team.