Skip to main content

Latest News

Professor Dame Jane Francis Polar Explorers

Professor Dame Jane Francis

Professor Dame Jane Francis (1956 – ) 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…
August 28, 2010
Sir Vivian Fuchs Polar Explorers

Sir Vivian Fuchs

Sir Vivian Fuchs (1908 - 1999) 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…
August 28, 2010
Helmer Hanssen Polar Explorers

Helmer Hanssen

Helmer Julius Hanssen (1870-1956) 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…
August 28, 2010
Sir Edmund Hillary Polar Explorers

Sir Edmund Hillary

Sir Edmund Hillary (1909-2008) 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…
August 28, 2010
James “Frank” Hurley Polar Explorers

James “Frank” Hurley

James Francis "Frank" Hurley, OBE (October 15, 1885 – January 16, 1962) 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…
August 28, 2010
Hjalmar Johansen Polar Explorers

Hjalmar Johansen

FREDRIK HJALMAR JOHANSEN (1867-1913) 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…
August 28, 2010
Maria Klenova Antarctic HistoryPolar Explorers

Maria Klenova

Maria Vasilyevna Klenova (1898 – 1976) 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…
August 28, 2010
Captain C.A. Larsen Polar Explorers

Captain C.A. Larsen

CARL ANTON LARSEN (1860 – 1924) 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…
August 28, 2010