List of Antarctic women
This is a list of Antarctic women. It includes explorers, researchers, educators, administrators and adventurers. They are arranged by the country of their latest citizenship rather than by country of birth.
Argentina
- Viviana Alder, marine microbiologist
- Irene Bernasconi, echinoderm specialist, member of the first team of Argentine scientists to work on Antarctica in 1968
- Patricia Ortúzar, geographer, writer
- Carmen Pujals, botanist, member of the first team of Argentine scientists to work on Antarctica in 1968
- Irene Schloss, plankton biologist
Australia
- Nerilie Abram, climate change environmentalist
- Leanne Armand, marine scientist, diatom ecologist
- Dana Bergstrom, ecologist, biosecurity specialist, writer
- Hope Black, marine biologist, educator, early sub-Antarctic researcher
- Elizabeth Chipman, writer, one of the first Australian women to set foot on the Antarctic mainland in 1975
- Louise Crossley, South-African born environmentalist, station leader
- Amanda Davies, geographer
- Gwen Fenton, biologist, first woman to be chief scientist of the Australian Antarctic Division
- Samantha Hall, environmental researcher
- Catherine King, environmentalist specializing in ecotoxicology research
- Delphine Lannuzel, Belgian-born biogeochemist, educator
- Nel Law, artist, writer, first Australian woman to set foot in Antarctica in 1961
- Diana Patterson, first woman to head an Australian Antarctic station
- Sally Poncet, biologist, ornithologist, explorer
- Anya Marie Reading, seismology and computational methods
- Patricia Margaret Selkirk, plant biologist, ecologist
- Justine Shaw, ecologist, conservation scientist
- Jan Strugnell, evolutionary molecular biologist
- Elizabeth Truswell, palynologist, visual artist
- Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann, one of the first two indigenous Australians to visit Antarctica
- Barbara Wienecke, Namibian-born seabird ecologist
- Nerida Wilson, invertebrate marine biologist
Belgium
- Annick Wilmotte, microbiologist
Brazil
- Edith Fanta, biologist, Antarctic fish researcher
- Vivian Pellizari, microbiologist
Brunei
- Dk Najibah Era Al-Sufri, first Bruneian to reach the South Pole
Bulgaria
- Roumiana Metcheva, ecotoxicologist
Canada
- Josée Auclair, polar explorer, first Canadian woman to have headed expeditions to the North and South Poles
- Kathleen Conlan, marine biologist, explorer
- Jennie Darlington, explorer, one of the first women to overwinter in Antarctica in 1947–48
Chile
- Veronica Vallejos, marine biologist, conservationist
China
- Yan Liu, iceberg calving specialist, environmentalist
- Lijie Wei, paleontologist, stratigraphist
Czech Republic
- Linda Nedbalova, biologist, writer
Denmark
- Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, geophysicist, ice and climate researcher
- Caroline Mikkelsen, explorer, first woman to set foot on Antarctica or an Antarctic island in 1935
France
- Laurence de la Ferrière, Moroccan-born climber and explorer, first French woman to reach the South Pole alone in 1997
- Catherine Ritz, geographer, climatologist
Germany
- Doris Abele, marine biologist
- Nancy Bertler, geologist, ice core researcher
- Anja Blacha expeditioner, longest solo, unsupported, unassisted polar expedition by a woman
- Angelika Brandt, deep-sea biologist
- Katrin Linse, marine benthic biologist
- Karin Lochte, oceanographer, climate change specialist
- Cornelia Lüdecke, meteorologist, writer
- Bettina Meyer, marine biologist
- Monika Puskeppeleit, physician, station leader of the first all-woman team to overwinter in Antarctica
India
- Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu, first Indian woman to ski to the South Pole
- Aditi Pant, oceanographer, first Indian woman to visit Antarctica in 1983
- Sudipta Sengupta, structural geologist, mountaineer, visited in 1983
- Dr. Meenakshi Wadhwa, cosmochemist, geologist, visited in 1992 and 2012 under ANSMET programs
Italy
- Cinzia Verde, biologist, writer
Japan
- Junko Tabei, mountaineer, the first woman to climb to the top of Mount Vinson, Antarctica's highest mountain
Malaysia
- Siti Aisyah Alias, marine biologist
Morocco
- Merieme Chadid, astronomer
Netherlands
- Corina Brussaard, viral ecologist
- Anita Buma, marine ecophysiologist
- Monique de Vries, politician, polar research supporter
New Zealand
- Rosemary Askin, geologist, palynologist
- Nancy Bertler, climate scientist and ice core specialist
- Margaret Bradshaw, British-born New Zealand geologist, pioneering role model in Antarctic research
- Ann Chapman, limnologist, first woman to lead an Antarctic expedition
- Marie Darby, marine biologist and teacher, first New Zealand woman to visit the Antarctic mainland
- Edith Farkas, Hungarian-born meteorologist, ozone researcher
- Roberta Farrell, American-born biologist, educator
- Christina Hulbe glaciologist
- Victoria Metcalf, marine biologist, educator
- Pat Langhorne sea ice physicist
- Christina Riesselman paleoceanographer
- Natalie Robinson polar oceanographer
- Gillian Wratt, botanist, first woman director of the New Zealand Antarctic Programme
- Pamela Young, first New Zealand woman to live and work in Antarctica
Norway
- Liv Arnesen educator, cross-country skier, first woman to ski alone to the South Pole in 1994
- Ingrid Christensen, early polar explorer, first woman to land on the Antarctic mainland or at least view land in Antarctica
- Lillemor Rachlew, one of the first women to set foot on the Antarctic mainland in 1937
- Cecilie Skog, nurse, explorer, adventurer
- Monica Kristensen Solås, glaciologist, meteorologist, explorer
Pakistan
- Namira Salim, explorer, artist
Poland
- Maria Olech, biologist, lichenologist
Romania
- Florica Topârceanu, biologist, medical researcher
Russia/Soviet Union
- Maria Klenova, marine geologist, first women to undertake scientific work in Antarctica in 1956, contributing to the first Soviet Antarctic atlas
South Africa
- Bettine van Vuuren, zoologist
South Korea
- In-Young Ahn, benthic ecologist, oceanographer
- Ji Hee Kim, biologist, environmentalist, writer
- Hong Kum Lee, marine biotechnologist
Spain
- Susana Agustí, biological oceanographer
- Josefina Castellví, oceanographer, biologist, writer
- Carlota Escutia Dotti, geologist
Sweden
- Elisabeth Isaksson, glaciologist, geologist
- Anna Wåhlin, physical oceanographer
- Tina Sjögren, Czech-born mountaineer, explorer, first woman to complete the Three Poles Challenge in 2002
- Annelie Pompe, adventurer, has climbed all seven summits, including Mount Vinson.
- Johanna Davidsson, adventurer, has skied alone from the coast to the South Pole.
Trinidad and Tobago
- Marilyn Raphael, climatologist, educator, writer
Turkey
- Burcu Özsoy, scientist
- Şahika Ercümen, freediver
Ukraine
- Halyna Kolotnytska, cook of The Second Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition 1997/98
United Kingdom
- Louise Allcock, marine biologist, editor
- Felicity Aston, explorer, climate scientist
- Kim Crosbie, environmentalist, citizen scientist, writer
- Ginny Fiennes, explorer, her Transglobe Expedition team was the first to reach the two poles
- Jane Francis, palaeoclimatologist, director of the British Antarctic Survey
- Helen Fricker, glaciologist, writer
- Karen Heywood, oceanographer, educator
- Eleanor Honnywill, contributor to the British Antarctic Survey, writer
- Joanne Johnson, geologist, writer
- Jennifer Lee, specialist in invasion biology
- Hannah McKeand beat the record for solo skiing from the coast to the pole, 39 days. Beat the record for number of South Pole expeditions.
- Tavi Murray, glaciologist
- Elizabeth Morris, glaciologist
- Pom Oliver, explorer, film producer
- Sharon Robinson, plant physiologist, climate change biologist
- Jane Rumble, head of the Polar Regions Department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, since 2007
- Rosie Stancer, explorer, adventurer
- Janet Thomson, geologist, first British woman to undertake field research in Antarctica
- Fiona Thornewill, explorer
- Jemma Wadham, glacial biogeochemist
United States
- Ann Bancroft, writer, educator, adventurer, first woman to complete Arctic and Antarctic expeditions
- Jenny Baeseman, civil engineer, environmentalist, geoscientist
- Robin Bell, polar ice specialist
- Mary Odile Cahoon, Benedictine nun, early Antarctic biological researcher
- Kelly Falkner, chemical oceanographer, educator
- Patricia Hepinstall, flight attendant, one of the first two women to fly to Antarctica in October 1957
- Barbara Hillary, first African-American woman to reach both poles
- Louise Huffman, educator specializing in polar science
- Christina Hulbe, geologist, educator
- Lois Jones, geochemist, led the first all-woman science team to Antarctica in 1969
- Kelly Jemison, geologist specializing in Antarctic diatoms
- Ruth Kelley, flight attendant, one of the first two women to fly to Antarctica in October 1957
- Amy Leventer, marine biologist, micropaleontologist
- Diane McKnight, environmental engineer, educator, editor
- Mary Alice McWhinnie, biologist, first American woman to head an Antarctic research station
- Jill Mikucki, microbiologist
- Robyn Millan, astronomist, physicist, investigating radiation belts
- Tori Murden, explorer, first woman to reach the South Pole by land in 1989
- Alison Murray, microbiologist
- Jerri Nielsen, physician, writer
- Julie Palais, glaciologist
- Irene C. Peden, electrical engineer, first American scientist to work in the Antarctic interior in 1970
- Ann Peoples, first American woman to have a management position in Antarctica
- Erin Pettit, glaciologist
- Vanessa O'Brien, mountain climber, explorer
- Christina Riesselman, paleoceanographer
- Michelle Rogan-Finnemore, scientist, legal expert
- Jackie Ronne, explorer, first woman to be a working member of an Antarctic expedition
- Christine Siddoway, structural geologist
- Deborah Steinberg, oceanographer, zooplankton ecologist
- Cristina Takacs-Vesbach, microbial ecologist
- Lynne Talley, physical oceanographer
- Trista Vick-Majors, microbial ecologist
- Diana Wall, environmental scientist and a soil ecologist
- Sophie Warny, Belgian-born palynologist
- Terry Wilson, geologist, tectonics specialist