Dr Vanessa Pirotta
Latest updates from under the sea:
Making Waves: An Interview With Wildlife Scientist Dr Vanessa Pirotta
Winner of the Emerging Leader in Science category of the 2024 Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards
Vanessa hosts the 25th Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science
Vanessa’s latest whale research on ABC’s 730
IFLScience feature of Vanessa’s latest Bryde’s whale research!
Australian Museum’s 2024 Eureka Awards
Whale rescue, Sydney Harbour, Australia
Who is Dr V?
Wildlife scientist
Science communicator
Woman in STEM/STEAM
Children’s author
Australian Museum Eureka Finalist 2024
TEDx speaker
Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence
Superstar of STEM, Science & Technology Australia
Antarctic Science Foundation Ambassador
Founder of Wild Sydney Harbour citizen science program
Speaker at the United Nations, Rome, Italy
Vessel operator
Follow Vanessa
Dive into Vanessa’s books
Meet Dr V
Vanessa’s research uses innovative technologies for wildlife conservation.
Dr Vanessa Pirotta is a wildlife scientist, woman in STEMM/STEAM, science communicator, author and vessel operator.
Vanessa’s research uses innovative technologies for wildlife conservation. Vanessa works collaboratively across both marine and terrestrial environments merging cutting edge tech to access animals in unique ways. Most notable works include drones to collect whale snot and the use of computer algorithms and AI for the detection of illegal wildlife trafficking.
Vanessa is a passionate and experienced science communicator who plays an important role in society by making science accessible. She’s represented Australia internationally as the international runner up of the world-renowned science communication competition FameLab, spoken on the TEDx platform, been recognized by the Australian Financial Review as one of the top 100 Women of Influence and listed as one of Science & Technology Australia’s Superstars of STEM. In 2024, Vanessa’s dedication to informing everyday Australians about the importance of the ocean has led to her nomination and finalist listing in the Australian Museum’s Eureka Awards.
Vanessa is the lead scientist of the scientific and citizen science program Wild Sydney Harbour, which is learning more about marine life in Sydney Harbour, Australia. As part of this, Vanessa is leading scientific research with local indigenous rangers, the Gamay Rangers. Together, they are combining indigenous knowledge and scientific research to learn more about marine mammals such as whales, dolphins and fur seals.
Vanessa is also a proud children’s and big kids author, with her books The Voyage of Whale and Calf, Oceans At Night and Humpback Highway: Diving into the mysterious world of whales, serving as an annual reminder of humpback whale biology and ecology in Australian waters.
Connecting science with Indigenous knowledge
Vanessa is working collaboratively with the Gamay Rangers to merge First Nations knowledge with science. This project is aimed at monitoring marine mammals on Sea Country and connecting community with our blue backyard of Sydney, Australia.
Dr V on Play School
Science to help save Australian wildlife
Vanessa is working collaboratively with the Australian Federal Government, Rapiscan Systems and the Taronga Conservation Society Australia to help combat illegal wildlife trafficking. The team proudly joined The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, Minister for the Environment and Water and The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC, Minister for the Environment at Taronga Zoo regarding Australia’s efforts to help stop illegal wildlife trafficking.
Vogue and Dr V
Vanessa was an invited key speaker at the Vogue Codes summit in Sydney, Australia.
Vanessa’s citizen science project
Dr V is working with scientists, PhD students and engaging with the local community to better understand fur seal and dolphin presence in Sydney Harbour, Australia.
Researching the dolphins and fur seals of Sydney Harbour, Australia
Science week from the
RV Investigator
Killer whales playing with boats?
Southern Ocean LIVE
Watch it now on ABC iview
Vanessa joined the Southern Ocean LIVE TV event in June 2022 on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia to discuss whale drone snot collection research.
The mystery of whale strandings
Lunch with Dr V
Vanessa was invited to lunch with the Sydney Morning Herald.
Dr V on TV
Dr V and COSMOS Magazine
Dr Vanessa featured in
The Brilliant
Vanessa’s land-based wildlife research:
Artificial intelligence to detect wildlife trafficking
Curious kids:
Why don’t whales have teeth like we do?
CommBank’s GirlsInTech Day 2023
Vanessa’s a Superstar of STEM
Vanessa joined the 2021-2022 cohort of 60 women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from around Australia to be listed as an official Superstar of STEM by Science and Technology Australia.
Contact Vanessa for expert wildlife comment or to speak at your next event!
Click on the Contact Dr. V page on this website.
Antarctic Science Foundation Ambassador
Watch Vanessa’s TEDx talk about the ocean:
AI for detecting illegal wildlife trafficking
Terri Irwin and Vanessa chat with Leah
Vanessa surprised Leah (11) with Terri Irwin for one of her mentoring sessions! Here’s a sneak peak:
Do whales fart and sneeze?
Have you seen the world’s biggest animal?
Whale vs Croc
Vanessa is a passionate science communicator.
National Science Week
A whale of a tale from the CSIRO’s RV Investigator
Vanessa’s research voyage to the Coral Sea
Science Communication for the Australian Museum
Watch as Vanessa makes whale sounds to describe the difference between toothed and toothless whales.
Follow Vanessa
Vanessa via Instagram
The important stuff.
Drone information:
All drone footage collected under NSW National Parks & Wildlife Services scientific licence 101743. Animal ethics obtained via Macquarie University. Licensed Civil Aviation Safety Authority drone pilots used.
A BIG thank you to the following:
Whale snot drone collection thanks to Heliguy Scientific. Southern right whale drone footage thanks to SkyCam Media. Underwater whale footage thanks to Emerald Films and SeaLight Pictures. Thank you Joanne Stephan for the Macquarie University lab video. Thank you SkyCam Media and Australian Aerial Imagery for their assistance filming the BBC Presenter Search video.
Website development- thank you to Cath from the wonderful Catfish Creative!
Underwater free diving shoot: Dean Cropp and Jono Allen- thank you!
Eye protection in the field provided by Maui Jim- thank you!!!