Professor Lise Øverås is the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters' third female president since its inception in 1857. Øverås is a Professor of Geomicrobiology at the University of Bergen (UiB) and the Director of the Center for Sustainable Oceans, Ocean Sustainability (UiB). Professor Øverås's publications include studies of microorganisms in natural ecosystems and primitive life forms along environmental gradients, as well as the origin of life.