Patricia Yager (Ph.D., University of Washington, 1996) is a Professor of Marine Science at the University of Georgia who studies the effects of climate change on oceans worldwide. Her interdisciplinary research combines oceanography, marine ecology, and biogeochemistry, and concentrates on the interactions between climate and marine ecosystems. Recent projects investigate the effects of melting ice sheets on Arctic and Antarctic coastal productivity, but she has also explored carbon cycling in the Amazon River plume. Yager is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a recipient of the Antarctic Service Medal. While leading an oceanographic expedition to the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica, in 2022, Yager was deeply moved by the devastating glacial melt in the region since her previous visits in 2007, 2008, and 2010. She returned home with renewed purpose to address climate change mitigation and impacts, starting with her own community. That same year, she became Director of the Georgia Climate Project, a statewide academic network that provides leadership and collaboration space in climate science, solutions, and storytelling.