Prof. Deanna D’Alessandro is the Director of the Net Zero Institute and a Professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at USyd. A chemist by training, undertaking her BSc and PhD at James Cook University, Deanna completed her post-doctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley, USA as a Dow Chemical Company Fellow (American-Australian Association) and Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Research Fellow. Deanna has been a L’Orèal-UNESCO for Women in Science Fellow, an Australian Research Council QEII Fellow and Future Fellow. Deanna’s research team works across the areas of materials chemistry and engineering, focusing on the development of functional materials with applications in greenhouse gases capture, including Direct Air Capture technology through latest spin-out DACLabs. Deanna is passionate about multidisciplinary approaches to addressing the net zero transition challenge. She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.