2019 | Women in Antarctica

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first all-women research team in Antarctica.

Presented by the Byrd Center

Thursday and Friday
October 17 - 18, 2019

Led by Dr. Lois Jones, this team of four women from The Ohio State University made polar history when they went to Antarctica in 1969. The symposium will look at women’s past, present, and future in science, research, discovery, and leadership.

Schedule/Symposium Agenda

Wednesday, October 16

  • 7:00pm – 9:00pm Icebreaker and registration @ Staybridge Suites, 3125 Olentangy River Road at 7:30pm the 2019 Goldthwait Polar Medal will be awarded to Dr. Julie Palai

Thursday, October 17

  • 8:00am Registration and Coffee Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, 2nd floor registration table and outside of the auditorium (Rm. 240) 1090 Carmack Road
  • 8:30am Welcome: Ian Howat, Director of the Byrd Center 8:45am-9:45am

  Session 1 Thank you Lois Jones

  • 8:45-9:15 Julie Palais – Following in the Footsteps of Lois Jones: Looking Back on 40 years of involvement with the U.S. Antarctic Program
  • 9:15-9:45 Kelly Falkner – Celebrating Change in Polar Science and Science Support
  • 9:45-10:00 Break, refreshments
  • 10:00-12:00pm Session 2 Pioneering Women
  • 10:00-10:30 Karen Ronne Tupek – Antarctica’s First Lady
  • 10:30-11:00 Claire Parkinson – From Field Work on Deception Island to a 40-year Satellite Record of Polar Sea Ice
  • 11:00-11:30 Rosie Askin – A Journey into the Transantarctic Mountains
  • 11:30-12:00 Ellen Mosley-Thompson – Timing is Everything: From Antarctica to Greenland and Back
  • 12:00-1:00pm Lunch – 1st floor of Scott Hall, Rooms 176, 177, and front porch of Scott Hall if weather permits
  • 1:00-1:45pm Session 3 Keynote Speaker Terry Tickhill Terrell - Once Upon a Time in a Faraway Land Introduction of Terry by Ellen Mosley-Thompson

  Session 4 The Brains and Brawn behind the U.S. Antarctic Program

  • 1:45-2:15 Jessie Crain – Mothers in Antarctica
  • 2:15-2:45 Liz Kauffman - Women Leading Scientific Support at the Bottom of the World
  • 2:45-3:15 Jill Ferris - Achieving Gender Equality in the U.S. Polar Programs Contractor Workforce, and some of the women who paved the way
  • 3:15-3:45 Julie Mueller - IVs on Ice
  • 3:45-4:00 Break - refreshments outside auditorium
  • 4:00-5:30pm Session 5 (Science for All and All for Science)
  • 4:00-4:30 Kathy Welch - Long term science in the dry valleys, and the impact of Jones and Faure
  • 4:30-5:00 Melisa Diaz - Pink Gloves in the Transantarctic Mountains
  • 5:00-5:30 Terry Wilson - Becoming a Polar Geoscientist: Early Adventures at the tip of South America
  • 5:30 Close for the day
  • 6:30-10:00pm Banquet and dinner with speaker at Staybridge Suites, 3125 Olentangy River Road Banquet Speaker is Morgan Seag - Looking Back, Looking Forward: the past, present and future of women on the ice

Friday, October 18

  • 8:45am Welcome by OSU Provost Bruce McPheron
  • 9:00-9:45am Session 6 Keynote Speaker Eileen McSaveney - The Only Tent with Curtains in the Antarctic Introduction by Laura Kissel
  • 9:45-10:00am Break, Refreshments
  • 10:00-11:30am Session 7 Panel Discussion: Polar Research in the #metoo Era: Gender Balance, Diversity and Sexism in the Antarctic. Panel Moderator – Mary Albert Panelists: Amy Leventer, Gretchen Hofmann, Amelia Shevenell, and Marilyn Raphael Panel Introductions and then moderator will introduce topic. Audience will have opportunity to ask questions in advance of the session via notecards or other format.
  • 11:30-12:30pm Lunch, - 1st floor Scott Hall, Rooms 176, 177, and front porch of Scott Hall if weather permits

  Session 8 Learning and Teaching

  • 12:30-1:00pm Carol Landis - Making Connections: Scientists, Teachers and Students
  • 1:00-1:30pm Lindsey McIntosh-Lin - Polar Research and Exploration through the Eyes of a Child
  • 1:30-1:45pm Break
  • 1:45-2:00pm Thank you/Wrap up before final session – Ian Howat, Director, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center

  Session 9 Workshop and Concurrent Poster Session

  • 2:00-3:30pm Generate Excitement about your work: Use of Photography, Videography and prose for engaging storytelling (Rm. 240 Scott Hall). Join us for this exciting interactive session led by Byrd media specialist Pamela Theodotou and facilitated by other conference presenters (Cervenec, Diaz, Landis, McIntosh-Lin). Appropriate for all attendees, the workshop includes an interactive activity.
  • 2:00-3:30pm Poster Session in Rooms 176 and 177 Scott Hall.
  • 3:30-5:00pm Tours of Byrd Center, please meet in Room 177 Scott Hall 5:00pm
  • 5:00pm End of Symposium