8 March, 2021

On International Women’s Day (8 March 2021), we mark and celebrate women working at British Antarctic Survey (BAS). We showcase the diversity of roles and specialities of those working in polar science.

International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women, who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.

Women make up around 35% of the workforce at BAS, working as scientists and support staff, at our HQ in Cambridge, or on our ships and our stations in Antarctica. Here we highlight six individuals.

Ocean modeller Rachel Furner uses machine learning to improve climate change predictions. Read about her role here: https://hermathsstory.eu/rachel-furner/

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Atmospheric scientist Amélie Kirchgaessner reflects about her journey in polar science: https://www.bas.ac.uk/blogpost/blog-the-only-woman-in-seminars/

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Marine biologist Katrin Linse has spent many years working on research ships and delving into the deep seas to track biodiversity. Read more: https://www.bas.ac.uk/blogpost/blog-my-silver-anniversary-research-cruise/

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Senior laboratory Manager Elaine Fitzcharles ensures labs, in both the Arctic and Antarctic, are cutting edge and safe and enable world-leading science.

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Kelly Hogan is a geophysicist who maps the seafloor in the polar regions to understand better what’s happening to glaciers and ice sheets. Read her recent research findings from Thwaites Glacier: https://www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/deep-channels-link-ocean-to-antarctic-glacier/

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Communications specialist Athena Dinar works to promote and explain the importance and relevance of polar science. She describes her work on the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration and why sea-level rise matters to society.

Let’s inspire the next generation of polar scientists and make 2021 count for women and girls everywhere. #IWD2021