Merlin Crossley is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Quality) at UNSW, a Professor of Molecular Biology, and an enthusiastic teacher and science communicator. He has worked or studied at the Universities of Melbourne, Oxford, Harvard, and Sydney. He has been recognised by numerous awards, including a Rhodes Scholarship and the Australian Academy of Science's Gottschalk Medal. He was instrumental in establishing the Education Focussed academic pathway and the Scientia Education Academy at UNSW. He is also on the Board of The Conversation, and is an Honorary Associate of the Australian Museum, who named a new species of squid after him – Iridoteuthis merlini, Merlin’s Bobtail Squid.