The Royal Society is recognizing her outstanding achievements in deep-sea and polar research. Boetius is one of over 90 researchers from around the world to receive this honor this year. In spring 2025, the former scientific director of the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven moved to California to become president of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), one of the world's most renowned institutes for ocean research and marine technologies.

The Royal Society, based in London, was founded in 1660 and is the oldest continuously existing scientific academy. It is the United Kingdom’s national academy for the natural sciences. The natural philosopher Heinrich Oldenburg, who was born in Bremen, served as the society's secretary for many years in its early days. Women were not permitted to become members until 1945. Boetius now joins the ranks of Stephen Hawking, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Lise Meitner, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, and Dorothy Hodgkin.