Women in Science

These women may not have won any major prizes such as the L’Oréal or Nobel, but they all still deserve a mention for their contributions and they are all trailblazers in their own right.

Please click on the image to find out more.

Across the World

Mary Anning (born 1799) was an English fossil collector, and palaeontologist who became known around the world for finds she made in Jurassic marine fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Channel. Her discoveries included the first correctly identified ichthyosaur skeleton when she was twelve years old.
Dame Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell is an astrophysicist from Northern Ireland who, as a research student, discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. Many scientists think that this is "one of the most significant scientific achievements of the 20th century". The discovery got the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics, but she was not included..
Rachel was American and wrote books on the natural environment. She studied Marine science. One of her most famous books was called "The Silent Spring" and told about a pesticide called DDT which was so poisonous that it killed all wildlife in any area that it was sprayed. This chemical is now banned.
Rosalind was a British Chemist and her work led to the discovery of the structure of DNA. A Nobel prize was awarded for this work, but she didn't get the prize because she died of cancer before the prize was awarded. Years later, it was found from her original notes that she got to the structure of DNA first but Crick and Watson published first and are now more well known.
Professor Sarah is a British vaccinologist. She was involved with making the universal flu vaccine and she led the race to find a vaccine for COVID-19. (AstraZeneca)
Dr. Jane Goodall, who is British, is seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 60-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees. She first went to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, in 1960, aged just 26, where she witnessed human-like behaviours amongst chimpanzees,
Dr Esther De Gourville was a virologist. She set up HIV-testing as well as helping with polio eradication with the World Health Organization (WHO).
Hypatia (born c. 350–370; died 415) was a philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, then part of the Eastern Roman Empire. She taught philosophy and astronomy. She is the first female mathematician whose life is reasonably well recorded.
Mae C. Jemison is the first African American female astronaut. In 1992, she flew into space aboard the Endeavour, becoming the first African American woman in space.
Katherine Johnson was an African American woman who was a mathematician. She worked at NASA and calculated the flight paths of many rockets, including the Apollo mission that put man onto the moon in 1969.
Dr Suzie Imber, associate professor in space physics at the University of Leicester, was the winner of the BBC TV show ‘Astronauts: Do you have what it takes?’
Wangarĩ Maathai was awarded the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. She founded the Green Belt Movement which has planted over 45 million trees across Kenya to combat deforestation, stop soil erosion, and generate income for women and their families.
Dr Patricia was educated in the UK and is now a Director for a clinic in Ghana that helps pregnant women who have the HIV virus.
Maggie is a British Space Scientist and Science Educator. You may have seen her on TV.
Your female science teacher at school will have studied at university and works hard to help you understand science. Do you appreciate her efforts to help you be the best you can be?
Helen Sharman was a chemist working at Mars confectionary when she heard an advert for becoming an astronaut. She applied and was chosen to become the first British space explorer in 1991 spending time in the Mir space station with fellow Russian cosmonauts
Dr Urbasi Sinha is a theoretical physicist working in quantum physics.
Masayo is an expert working in Kyoto in Japan using STEM cell technology to help with eye diseases. STEM cells are very important in medicine as you can turn them into any cells that you need such as skin cells, eye cells, liver cells etc.
Dr Jess Wade works in semiconductors investigating how to get brighter screens with less power. She has written 900 wiki pages for under represented women scientists and is an amazing role model for women in Science
Wang Zhenyi b.1798, was a Chinese scientist from the Qing dynasty. She was a good astronomer and mathematician.
Dr Katie Bouman was a British research student in computer science and artificial intelligence when, in 2017, she led the creation of an algorithm (computer program) that led to a photograph image of a supermassive black hole which is at a distance of 55 million light years from Earth.

Guernsey 

Dr Bane grew up and went to school in Guernsey. She is currently a research associate in the Community Ecology Group at the University of Bristol. As well as being the research lead for the Guernsey Pollinator Project. The aim is to create more diverse flower rich pollinator patches.
Dr Nicola Brink (M.B.E) is Director of Public Health in Guernsey and Alderney and her forethought and decisions is helping to keep the people in the Bailiwick safe during COVID-19. She is a great ambassador for women in Science.
Jenny Giles is a Civil engineer working in the maritime environment of Guernsey, protecting the coastline from sea erosion.
Nicky works as the regional coordinator with the Sea Watch Foundation, organising the Dolfin project, which involves collecting data on cetaceans that visit local waters and raising awareness about the importance of the seas and oceans.
Julia is the Biodiversity education officer in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. She has helped to manage the coastal grasslands with the Guernsey Conservation Herd and is involved with educating young people about the island's environmentment and wildlife
Dame Mary is based on Guernsey. She studied optometry at university and became an expert in health care for eyes. She set up a company called Specsavers which is now one of the leading companies for eyecare across the world.
Elizabeth Sweet is the manager of the Guernsey Biological records centre. As a passionate environmentalist, she collects and uses data to benefit the environment, especially in Guernsey.