# 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 (born 1957), marine microbiologist
* Irene Bernasconi (1896–1989), echinoderm specialist, member of the first team of Argentine scientists to work on Antarctica in 1968
* Patricia Ortúzar (graduated 2001), geographer, writer
* Carmen Pujals (1916–2003), botanist, member of the first team of Argentine scientists to work on Antarctica in 1968
* Irene Schloss (PhD 1997), plankton biologist

## Australia

* Nerilie Abram (born 1977), climate change environmentalist
* Leanne Armand (born 1968), marine scientist, diatom ecologist
* Dana Bergstrom (born 1962), ecologist, biosecurity specialist, writer
* Hope Black (born 1919), marine biologist, educator, early sub-Antarctic researcher
* Elizabeth Chipman (born 1934), writer, one of the first Australian women to set foot on the Antarctic mainland in 1975
* Louise Crossley (1942–2015), South-African born environmentalist, station leader
* Amanda Davies, geographer
* Gwen Fenton (PhD 1985), biologist, first woman to be chief scientist of the Australian Antarctic Division
* Samantha Hall (born 1982), environmental researcher
* Catherine King (graduated 1992), environmentalist specializing in ecotoxicology research
* Delphine Lannuzel (graduated 2001), Belgian-born biogeochemist, educator
* Nel Law (1914–1990), artist, writer, first Australian woman to set foot in Antarctica in 1961
* Diana Patterson (born early 1950s), first woman to head an Australian Antarctic station
* Sally Poncet (born 1954), biologist, ornithologist, explorer
* Anya Marie Reading (PhD 1997), seismology and computational methods
* Patricia Margaret Selkirk (born 1942), plant biologist, ecologist
* Justine Shaw (graduated 1996), ecologist, conservation scientist
* Jan Strugnell (born 1976), evolutionary molecular biologist
* Elizabeth Truswell (born 1941), palynologist, visual artist
* Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann (born 1950), one of the first two indigenous Australians to visit Antarctica
* Barbara Wienecke (PhD 1993), Namibian-born seabird ecologist
* Nerida Wilson (graduated 1998), invertebrate marine biologist
* Elizabeth Leane (DPhil Oxon, Rhodes Scholar), Professor of Antarctic Studies at The University of Tasmania, Australian Antarctic Arts Fellow (2004), co-lead Public Engagement with Antarctic Research Action Group as part of SCAR

## Belgium

* Annick Wilmotte (graduated 1982), microbiologist

## Brazil

* Edith Fanta (1943–2008), biologist, Antarctic fish researcher
* Vivian Pellizari (graduated 1992), microbiologist
* Venisse Schossler (graduated 2004), climatologist

## Brunei

* Dk Najibah Era Al-Sufri (born 1983), first Bruneian to reach the South Pole

## Bulgaria

* Roumiana Metcheva (born 1950), ecotoxicologist

## Canada

* Josée Auclair (born 1962), polar explorer, first Canadian woman to have headed expeditions to the North and South Poles
* Kathleen Conlan (born 1950), marine biologist, explorer
* Jennie Darlington (1919–2009), explorer, one of the first women to overwinter in Antarctica in 1947–48

## Chile

* Veronica Vallejos (born late 1960s), marine biologist, conservationist

## China

* Yan Liu (graduated 2003), iceberg calving specialist, environmentalist
* Lijie Wei (born 1974), paleontologist, stratigraphist

## Czech Republic

* Linda Nedbalova (born 1976), biologist, writer

## Denmark

* Dorthe Dahl-Jensen (born 1958), geophysicist, ice and climate researcher
* Caroline Mikkelsen (1906 - late 1990s), explorer, first woman to set foot on Antarctica or an Antarctic island in 1935

## France

* Laurence de la Ferrière (born 1957), Moroccan-born climber and explorer, first French woman to reach the South Pole alone in 1997
* Catherine Ritz (graduated 1975), geographer, climatologist

## Germany

* Doris Abele (graduated 1984), marine biologist
* Nancy Bertler (graduated 1996), geologist, ice core researcher
* Anja Blacha (born 1990), expeditioner, longest solo, unsupported, unassisted polar expedition by a woman
* Angelika Brandt (born 1961), deep-sea biologist
* Katrin Linse (PhD 2000), marine benthic biologist
* Karin Lochte (born 1952), oceanographer, climate change specialist
* Cornelia Lüdecke (born 1954), meteorologist, writer
* Bettina Meyer (PhD 1996), marine biologist
* Monika Puskeppeleit (born 1955), 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
* Meenakshi Wadhwa, cosmochemist, geologist, visited in 1992 and 2012 under ANSMET programs

## Italy

* Cinzia Verde (graduated 1987), biologist, writer

## Japan

* Junko Tabei (born 1939), mountaineer, the first woman to climb to the top of Mount Vinson, Antarctica's highest mountain

## Malaysia

* Siti Aisyah Alias (born 1966), marine biologist

## Morocco

* Merieme Chadid (born 1969), astronomer

## Netherlands

* Corina Brussaard (PhD 1997), viral ecologist
* Anita Buma (graduated 1984), marine ecophysiologist
* Monique de Vries (born 1947), 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
* Ann Chapman (1937–2009), 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 (1921–1993), Hungarian-born meteorologist, ozone researcher
* Roberta Farrell, American-born biologist, educator
* Christina Hulbe, glaciologist
* Pat Langhorne, sea ice physicist
* Victoria Metcalf, marine biologist, educator
* 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 (born 1953), educator, cross-country skier, first woman to ski alone to the South Pole in 1994
* Ingrid Christensen (1891–1976), early polar explorer, first woman to land on the Antarctic mainland or at least view land in Antarctica (1931)
* Karen Kyllesø (born 2003), youngest person to ski solo and unassisted to the South Pole in January, 2025
* Lillemor Rachlew (1902–1983), one of the first women to set foot on the Antarctic mainland in 1937
* Cecilie Skog (born 1974), nurse, explorer, adventurer
* Monica Kristensen Solås (born 1950), glaciologist, meteorologist, explorer

## Pakistan

* Namira Salim (born 1975), explorer, artist

## Poland

* Maria Olech (born 1941), biologist, lichenologist

## Romania

* Florica Topârceanu (born 1954), biologist, medical researcher

## Russia/Soviet Union

* Maria Klenova (1898–1976), marine geologist, first woman to undertake scientific work in Antarctica in 1956, contributing to the first Soviet Antarctic atlas

## South Africa

* Bettine van Vuuren (graduated 1992), zoologist

## South Korea

* In-Young Ahn (graduated 1982), benthic ecologist, oceanographer
* Ji Hee Kim (graduated 1991), biologist, environmentalist, writer
* Hong Kum Lee (graduated 1989), marine biotechnologist

## Spain

* Susana Agustí (graduated 1982), biological oceanographer
* Josefina Castellví (born 1935), oceanographer, biologist, writer
* Carlota Escutia Dotti (graduated 1982), geologist

## Sweden

* Johanna Davidsson (born 1983), adventurer, skied alone from the coast to the South Pole
* Elisabeth Isaksson (graduated 1986), glaciologist, geologist
* Annelie Pompe (born 1981), adventurer, has climbed all seven summits, including Mount Vinson
* Tina Sjögren (born 1959), Czech-born mountaineer, explorer, first woman to complete the Three Poles Challenge in 2002
* Anna Wåhlin (born 1970), physical oceanographer

## Trinidad and Tobago

* Marilyn Raphael (PhD 1990), climatologist, educator, writer

## Turkey

* Şahika Ercümen (born 1985), freediver
* Burcu Özsoy (born 1976), scientist

## Ukraine

* Halyna Kolotnytska (born 1972), cook of the second Ukrainian Antarctic expedition, 1997/98

## United Kingdom

* Louise Allcock (graduated 1992), marine biologist, editor
* Felicity Aston (born 1977), explorer, climate scientist
* Kim Crosbie (born c.1969), environmentalist, citizen scientist, writer
* Ginny Fiennes (1947–2004), explorer, her Transglobe Expedition team was the first to reach the two poles
* Jane Francis (born 1956), palaeoclimatologist, director of the British Antarctic Survey
* Helen Fricker (graduated 1991), glaciologist, writer
* Karen Heywood (graduated 1983), oceanographer, educator
* Eleanor Honnywill (c.1919–2003), contributor to the British Antarctic Survey, writer
* Joanne Johnson (born 1977), geologist, writer
* Jennifer Lee, specialist in invasion biology
* Hannah McKeand (born 1973), beat the record for solo skiing from the coast to the pole
* Elizabeth Morris (born 1946), glaciologist
* Tavi Murray (PhD 1990), glaciologist
* Pom Oliver (born 1952), explorer, film producer
* Sharon Robinson (born 1961), plant physiologist, climate change biologist
* Jane Rumble, head of the Polar Regions Department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, since 2007
* Rosie Stancer (born 1960), explorer, adventurer
* Janet Thomson (born 1942), geologist, first British woman to undertake field research in Antarctica
* Fiona Thornewill (born 1966), explorer
* Jemma Wadham (PhD 1998), glacial biogeochemist

## United States

* Jenny Baeseman (graduated 1998), civil engineer, environmentalist, geoscientist
* Ann Bancroft (born 1955), writer, educator, adventurer, first woman to complete Arctic and Antarctic expeditions
* Robin Bell (graduated 1980), polar ice specialist
* Mary Odile Cahoon (1929–2011), Benedictine nun, early Antarctic biological researcher
* Kelly Falkner (born 1960), chemical oceanographer, educator
* Patricia Hepinstall, flight attendant, one of the first two women to fly to Antarctica in October 1957
* Barbara Hillary (1931–2019), first African-American woman to reach both poles
* Louise Huffman (born 1951), educator specializing in polar science
* Christina Hulbe (MSc 1994), geologist, educator
* Kelly Jemison, geologist specializing in Antarctic diatoms
* Lois Jones (1935–2000), geochemist, led the first all-woman science team to Antarctica in 1969
* Ruth Kelley, flight attendant, one of the first two women to fly to Antarctica in October 1957
* Amy Leventer (graduated 1982), marine biologist, micropaleontologist
* Diane McKnight (born 1953), environmental engineer, educator, editor
* Mary Alice McWhinnie (1922–1980), biologist, first American woman to head an Antarctic research station
* Jill Mikucki (graduated 1996), microbiologist
* Robyn Millan (graduated 1995), astronomist, physicist, investigating radiation belts
* Tori Murden (born 1963), explorer, first woman to reach the South Pole by land in 1989
* Alison Murray (graduated 1989), microbiologist
* Jerri Nielsen (1952–2009), physician, writer
* Vanessa O'Brien (born 1964), mountain climber, explorer
* Julie Palais (graduated 1974), glaciologist
* Irene C. Peden (born 1925), electrical engineer, first American scientist to work in the Antarctic interior in 1970
* Ann Peoples (graduated 1979), first American woman to have a management position in Antarctica
* Erin Pettit (born 1971), glaciologist
* Christina Riesselman (graduated 2001), paleoceanographer
* Michelle Rogan-Finnemore (graduated 1981), scientist, legal expert
* Jackie Ronne (1919–2009), explorer, first woman to be a working member of an Antarctic expedition (1947–48)
* Karen Schwall, first female Army officer in Antarctica and first woman to manage McMurdo Station
* Christine Siddoway (born 1961), structural geologist
* Deborah Steinberg (graduated 1987), oceanographer, zooplankton ecologist
* Cristina Takacs-Vesbach (born 1968), microbial ecologist
* Lynne Talley (born 1954), physical oceanographer
* Trista Vick-Majors (graduated early 2000s), microbial ecologist
* Diana Wall (PhD in 1971), environmental scientist and a soil ecologist
* Sophie Warny (born 1969), Belgian-born palynologist
* Terry Wilson (born 1954), geologist, tectonics specialist