Dr Michelle Heupel is Executive Director of Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing system (IMOS) where she drives coordination and delivery of sustained observations of Australia’s marine environments to support research, sustainable use, management and industry activities. She is a research scientist with over 25 years’ experience working on ecology, conservation and management of marine predators, predominantly sharks and fish. Her career has spanned a range of sectors in marine science (university, public funded research agency, private non-profit research laboratory, joint ventures). She is a former member of the Australian Threatened Species Scientific Committee and was a member of the Australian Delegation to the Convention on Migratory Species Sharks MOU meetings in 2016 and 2018. She is currently co-Chair of the United Nations Ocean Decade Advisory Board and was invited to address the twenty-second meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea, at United Nations Headquarters in New York on the application of ocean data for decision-making. Michelle is considered a national and international leader in the application of ocean data to support policy and decision-making.