Dr Mary Obele is a Senior Specialist in Occupational and Environmental Medicine with more than 20 years’ experience working across New Zealand and internationally in occupational health, environmental medicine, workplace hazards, rehabilitation, and health policy. She has worked with many industries including mining, quarrying, construction, transport, manufacturing, and emergency services.

Mary is widely recognised for her leadership in occupational disease prevention and worker health advocacy, including respirable crystalline silica and silicosis. She has presented nationally on silica exposure, engineered stone risks, quarry and mining health, and occupational disease surveillance, including recent presentations on engineered stone silicosis and ethical interpretation of occupational exposure monitoring.

A Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Mary has contributed to occupational guidance on silica exposure, musculoskeletal injury, alcohol and other drugs at work, and medical ethics. She has advised government agencies, chaired national advisory groups, and continues to advocate for a national occupational health registry to improve prevention, surveillance, and worker outcomes in Aotearoa New Zealand.