Director, Real Zero Hub at IIASA and Chair of the Lethal Humidity Global Council
Dr Shanta Barley is Chief Climate Scientist at Fortescue, a global green energy, metals and renewable technology company. She leads climate science initiatives that support Fortescue’s ambitious Real Zero 2030 target, which commits the company to eliminating fossil fuels from its terrestrial operations without relying on carbon offsets. Before joining Fortescue, she served as Editor at Minderoo Foundation, one of the Indo-Pacific region’s largest philanthropic organisations. Earlier in her career, she worked as a science journalist for the BBC, New Scientist and The Guardian, and contributed to the journals Nature and Nature Climate Change.
Dr Barley also chairs the Lethal Humidity Global Council, an international network of 100 leading climate scientists and policymakers dedicated to advancing evidence-based climate policy through research and collaboration. Her experience extends beyond science communication and policy. She spent 18 months in the remote southwest of Madagascar working as a field scientist with a marine conservation NGO and continues to contribute to academia as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Western Australia.