The story of Amundsen and Scott’s race to the pole has been told many times. Less well known is that of German explorer Wilhelm Filchner, who headed south in 1911 and also hoped to reach the South Pole. Filchner didn’t reach the Pole, but he did make two important geographic discoveries: the Filchner Ice Shelf [...]
Professor Dame Jane Francis is the first female Director of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and a pioneering scientist, whose study of fossil plants and their use as tools for climate interpretation is recognized internationally. Academic Career and Polar Research Professor Jane Francis trained as a geologist at the University of Southampton. She went on [...]
In 1958 Sir Vivian Fuchs made history when he successfully completed the first crossing of the Antarctic via the South Pole. Planning for the expedition began in 1953, and envisioned the use of Sno-Cat tractors to cross the continent in 100 days, starting at Weddell Sea, ending at Ross Sea, and crossing the South Pole. [...]
Helmer Hanssen participated in three of Roald Amundsen’s polar expeditions and was part of the five-man group who were first to reach the South Pole on December 14, 1911. Early Years and Arctic Expeditions Hanssen was born in northern Norway, where he grew up farming and fishing with his father. As a young man, he [...]
Sir Edmund Hillary is best known for being the first person (along with Tenzing Norgay) to summit Mount Everest. Perhaps less known is the fact that he led the New Zealand component of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE) in 1955-58 and was the first person to arrive at the South Pole by vehicle. The Commonwealth-sponsored [...]
Frank Hurley is an icon of both Australian documentary photography and Antarctic exploration. Hurley was an exceptional photographer and his six visits to Antarctica covered a substantial part of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration. His striking images of Shackleton’s ill-fated Endurance expedition are some of the most famous images of Antarctic exploration. Hurley began [...]
Hjalmar Johansen participated in Roald Amundsen’s Antarctic expedition 1910-1912 and accompanied Fridtjof Nansen on his attempted dash to the North Pole in 1895. The Arctic with Nansen Hjalmar Johansen was Norwegian champion in gymnastics at 20 and was famous for his strength and acrobatics. He applied to join Fridtjof Nansen’s drift across the Arctic Ocean [...]
Maria Klenova was a Russian and Soviet marine geologist and one of the founders of Russian marine science. Klenova spent nearly 30 years researching the polar regions. She was the first woman scientist to do research in Antarctica and was a contributor to the first Soviet Antarctic atlas. Early Life and Career Maria Klenova was [...]
Carl Anton Larsen was a whaling pioneer, ship’s captain and inadvertent scientist. He is known for discovering the Larsen Ice Shelf and other features on the Graham Land Coast, as well as for the whaling station he built at Grytviken, South Georgia. Early Life Carl Anton Larsen was the son of a Norwegian Sea Captain. At [...]
Mikhail Lazarev was a Russian naval officer and explorer. Lazarev took part in the discovery of Antarctica and numerous islands, as a commander of the ship Mirnyi and Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen’s deputy, on the 1819–1821 Russian naval expedition. The expedition circumnavigated Antarctica; was the first to cross the Antarctic circle since Captain Cook in [...]