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<\/p>\n\u201cEmma\u2019s career was marked by brilliant achievements, but her family was her greatest joy. Our hearts go out to her husband and children,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
Johnston was made an officer of the Order of Australia in 2018 for her services to higher education, particularly to marine ecology, eco-toxicology and research institutes. In 2022, she was elected a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.<\/p>\n
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Emma Johnston was finalising her resilience strategy for the university just a few weeks before her death.Credit: Renee Nowytarger<\/p>\n
University of Melbourne Chancellor Jane Hansen said Johnston had an \u201cunwavering commitment\u201d to students, whether it be through tackling cost-of-living pressures, scholarships, teaching, or supporting their research.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe did everything she could to ensure they were best equipped to achieve their goals. Most of all, she just liked spending time with them to hear their stories. They were her inspiration,\u201d Hansen said.<\/p>\n
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She also promoted the capacity of women and girls to study science, \u201chelping us to better understand and protect our marine communities and coastal waterways\u201d.<\/p>\n
Johnston replaced Duncan Maskell<\/a> as vice chancellor, who had faced a turbulent period when he took the role in 2018, marred by COVID-19, pro-Palestine protests<\/a> and debate over caps on international student intakes<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Group of Eight universities said her death was an \u201cunfathomable loss for Australia\u2019s higher education and research community\u201d.<\/p>\n Go8 Chief Executive Vicki Thomson said they had lost a remarkable leader and friend.<\/p>\n \u201cEmma was simply amazing \u2013 brilliant in her science, principled in her leadership, and unfailingly generous as a colleague and mentor. Our heartfelt grief is shared across the nation\u2019s universities and beyond. \u201d<\/p>\n In a written obituary, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering CEO Kylie Walker and UNSW Professor Rob Brooks said that \u201cEmma wanted nothing less than to save the world \u2013 but like the ocean \u2013 in the end she could only do so much\u201d.<\/p>\n For two decades, Emma Johnston has been documenting the impacts of humans on the natural environments of Antarctica, Sydney Harbour and the Great Barrier Reef.Credit: Dan White\/UNSW<\/p>\n \u201cEmma\u2019s final months were marked by a fierce doubling-down on this mission \u2013 she understood that she was running out of time. Only 52 years old when she left us after a brief and brutal illness, she still wasn\u2019t done with parenting, with saving the oceans and the planet, with nurturing and uplifting the next generation, or with remaking the Australian research and higher education landscape into something magnificent,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cShe truly was a leader for our age.\u201d<\/p>\n The university will commemorate Johnston at the appropriate time in line with the family\u2019s wishes.<\/p>\n Professor Michael Wesley will continue in the role of acting vice chancellor.<\/p>\n![\"For](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0783eb736fc964bf22c879b234786f36de347f43.jpeg\")
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