Jane Francis | |
---|---|
Chancellor of the University of Leeds | |
Assumed office 9 July 2018 | |
Preceded by | Melvyn Bragg |
Personal details | |
Born | Jane Elizabeth Francis October 1956 (age 67–68) |
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | University of Southampton |
Awards | |
Website | Jane Francis at British Antarctic Survey |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Palaeoclimatology |
Institutions | |
Thesis | The fossil forests of the basal Purbeck formation (upper jurassic) of Dorset, Southern England (1982) |
Professor Dame Jane Elizabeth Francis, DCMG FRS (born October 1956) is the Director of the British Antarctic Survey. [1] She previously worked as Professor of Palaeoclimatology at the University of Leeds where she also was Dean of the Faculty of Environment. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] In 2002 she was the fourth woman to receive the Polar Medal for outstanding contribution to British polar research. She is currently the Chancellor of the University of Leeds. [7] [8] [9]
Francis was educated at Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School in Canterbury, and received both her undergraduate degree in Geology and her PhD from the University of Southampton. [10]
Francis was a NERC research student in geology/biology at Southampton University from 1979 until 1982. [1] She continued on as a NERC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Bedford College, London, until 1984. [1] She was appointed to a position as Palaeobotanist at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), from 1984 to 1986. [1]
For five years Francis was a Postdoctoral Research Associate with Larry Frakes at the University of Adelaide. [1] In 1991 she accepted a position as a lecturer in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Leeds UK; she was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1996. In 2002, she was awarded the Polar Medal, becoming only the fourth woman in history to receive the award. [11]
She was promoted to Professor of Palaeoclimatology in the School of Earth and Environment and was the Director for the Centre for Polar Science at the University of Leeds, [8] before becoming Dean of the Faculty of Environment in 2008. [1] She is an Honorary Professor at the University of Leeds. On 1 October 2013 Francis took up her post as Director of the British Antarctic Survey, becoming the first woman Director of the institution. [12]
Francis's principal interests are in palaeoclimatology and palaeobotany. She specialises in the study of fossil plants, and their use as tools for climate interpretation and information about past biodiversity: [13] [14] for example, understanding past climate change during greenhouse and icehouse periods. [15] Her research has emphasised the "Antarctic paradox," that although the Antarctic is largely inhospitable now, its abundant plant fossils indicate a drastically warmer past climate. [16] She has undertaken more than 16 expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. [17]
Francis was described by the Geological Society of London during the awarding of her Coke Medal as playing a "pivotal role in shaping and directing the Earth science carried out in polar regions, through her extensive service on a staggeringly wide range of national and international policy committees." [13] She is also the first woman to chair the Operations Working Group of Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings, the international forum of nations concerned with legal and operational issues in Antarctica. [18]
Francis holds a number of memberships of national and international scientific bodies. [15] She is a member of the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Executive Board; member of the Scientific Advisory Group of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat; Executive committee member of the European Polar Board; and UK Delegate to the international Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. [19] [12]
Francis's contributions have been recognised with numerous awards. Most notably, she was awarded the Polar Medal in 2002 for outstanding contribution to British polar research, presented by H.M. Elizabeth II, and was the fourth woman ever to receive the award. [20]
She received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Leeds in 2014, [21] as well as an Honorary Doctorate of Environmental Science from the University of Plymouth, also in 2014. [22] In that same year she was named "Explorer Scientist" among 100 leading UK scientists by The Science Council. [17] She also has been awarded the Coke Medal from the Geological Society of London (2014); [23] the President's Award of the Paleontological Society; [24] the Antarctic Service Medal from the US National Science Foundation; [24] and the Workplace Achievement Award from the BBC's 'eve' magazine, sponsored by Nivea. [24]
In the 2017 New Year Honours, Francis was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (DCMG) for services to polar science and diplomacy. [25] [26]
In 2017, Francis became the seventh Chancellor of the University of Leeds, succeeding Melvyn Bragg. [27] In December 2020 the British Antarctic Survey named a peak on Adelaide Island, Francis Peak, after her. [28] She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2021. [29]
The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica.
The South Polar region of the Cretaceous comprised the continent of East Gondwana–modern day Australia, Zealandia, and Antarctica–a product of the break-up of Gondwana in the Cretaceous Period. The southern region, during this time, was much warmer than it is today, ranging from perhaps 4–8 °C (39–46 °F) in the latest Cretaceous Maastrichtian in what is now southeastern Australia. This prevented permanent ice sheets from developing and fostered polar forests, which were largely dominated by conifers, cycads, and ferns, and relied on a temperate climate and heavy rainfall. Major fossil-bearing geological formations that record this area are: the Santa Marta and Sobral Formations of Seymour Island off the Antarctic Peninsula; the Snow Hill Island, Lopez de Bertodano, and the Hidden Lake Formations on James Ross Island also off the Antarctic Peninsula; and the Eumeralla and Wonthaggi Formations in Australia.
A Royal Research Ship (RRS) is a merchant navy vessel of the United Kingdom that conducts scientific research for His Majesty's Government. Organisations operating such ships include; the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC). A warrant from the monarch is required before a ship can be designated as an RRS.
Snow Hill Island is an almost completely snowcapped island, 33 km (21 mi) long and 12 km (7.5 mi) wide, lying off the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. It is separated from James Ross Island to the north-east by Admiralty Sound and from Seymour Island to the north by Picnic Passage. It is one of several islands around the peninsula known as Graham Land, which is closer to Chile, Argentina and South America than any other part of the Antarctic continent.
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on behalf of the UK. It is part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). With over 400 staff, BAS takes an active role in Antarctic affairs, operating five research stations, one ship and five aircraft in both polar regions, as well as addressing key global and regional issues. This involves joint research projects with over 40 UK universities and more than 120 national and international collaborations.
Seymour Island or Marambio Island, is an island in the chain of 16 major islands around the tip of the Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula. Graham Land is the closest part of Antarctica to South America. It lies within the section of the island chain that resides off the west side of the peninsula's northernmost tip. Within that section, it is separated from Snow Hill Island by Picnic Passage, and sits just east of the larger key, James Ross Island, and its smaller, neighboring island, Vega Island.
The Centre for Polar Observation & Modelling (CPOM) is a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Centre of Excellence that studies processes in the Earth's polar environments. CPOM conducts research on sea ice, land ice, and ice sheets using satellite observations and numerical models.
The Lopez de Bertodano Formation is a geological formation in the James Ross archipelago of the Antarctic Peninsula. The strata date from the end of the Late Cretaceous to the Danian stage of the lower Paleocene, from about 70 to 65.5 million years ago, straddling the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary.
RRS Shackleton was a Royal Research Ship operated by the British scientific research organisations the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS), British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) in the Antarctic from 1955 to 1983. She was subsequently operated as a seismic survey vessel under the names Geotek Beta, Profiler and finally Sea Profiler before being scrapped in 2011.
Elizabeth Mary Morris,, also known as Liz Morris, is a glaciologist and Senior Associate at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge. She has been a visiting professor at the University of Reading since 1995. She was head of the ice and climate division at the British Antarctic Survey, from 1986 to 1999, and president of the International Glaciological Society, from 2002 to 2005.
Boaty McBoatface is the British lead boat in a fleet of three robotic lithium battery–powered autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) of the Autosub Long Range (ALR) class. Launched in 2017 and carried on board the polar scientific research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough, she is a focal point of the Polar Explorer Programme of the UK Government.
RRS Sir David Attenborough is a research vessel owned by the Natural Environment Research Council and operated by the British Antarctic Survey for the purposes of both research and logistic support. The ship replaces a pair of existing vessels, RRS James Clark Ross and RRS Ernest Shackleton. The vessel is named after broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
Jemma L Wadham is a British glacial biogeochemist.
Elizabeth Marchant Truswell is a former Chief Scientist at the Australian Geological Survey Organisation and is known for her application of recycled palynomorph distribution as an indicator of sub-ice geology.
Jane Rumble is the Head of the Polar Regions Department for the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She is also the acting Commissioner of the British Antarctic Territory, by virtue of being the Deputy Commissioner.
Rosemary Anne Askin, also known as Rosemary Askin Cully, is a New Zealand geologist specialising in Antarctic palynology. She was a trailblazer for women in Antarctic science, becoming the first New Zealand woman to undertake her own research programme in Antarctica in 1970.
Joanne S. "Jo" Johnson is a geologist and Antarctic scientist, who has worked for British Antarctic Survey (BAS) since 2002. She works in the palaeoenvironments, ice sheets and climate change team and is best known for her work on glacial retreat. She was awarded the Polar medal in 2023. The Johnson Mesa in James Ross Island, Antarctica is named in her honour.
Martin J. Siegert is a British glaciologist, and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Cornwall) at the University of Exeter. He co-Chairs the Diversity in Polar Science Initiative, and has spoken about socio-economic inclusion in Polar Science and indeed broader society.
Emily Fleur Shuckburgh is a climate scientist, mathematician and science communicator. She is Director of Cambridge Zero, the University of Cambridge's climate change initiative, Academic Director of the Institute of Computing for Climate Science, and is a fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge. Her research interests include the dynamics of the atmosphere, oceans and climate and environmental data science. She is a theoretician, numerical modeller and observational scientist.
Mike Pinnock is a British scientist in the field of polar research and was one of the longest serving managers of the British Antarctic Survey until his retirement in 2018. He is currently a BAS Emeritus Fellow which invites select former employees to continue to develop their scientific and scholarly work through a continued relationship with the organisation. He is a treasurer and board member for Antarctic Science Journal. He has published 76 papers, mostly on the topic of solar wind coupling to the Earth's magnetosphere.