Jane Francis

Jane Francis
Born (1956-10-00)October 1956
Nationality Britain
Fields Palaeoclimatology
Institutions
Alma mater University of Southampton
Thesis The fossil forests of the basal Purbeck formation (upper jurassic) of Dorset, Southern England (1982)
Notable awards Polar Medal (2002)
Website
Jane Francis at British Antarctic Survey

Jane E. Francis 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 female to receive the Polar Medal for outstanding contribution to British polar research.[7][8]

Education

Francis received both her undergraduate degree in Geology and her PhD from the University of Southampton.[9]

Career

Francis remained at Southampton until 1982 as a NERC research student in Geology/Biology. She continued on as a NERC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Bedford College, London, until 1984. She was appointed to a position as Palaeobotanist at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), from 1984–1985.

For five years Francis was a Postdoctoral research Associate with Professor 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 Francis was awarded the Polar Medal, becoming only the fourth woman in history to receive the award.[10] 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,[7] 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 Professor Francis took up her post as Director of the British Antarctic Survey, becoming the first woman Director of the institution.

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:[11][12] for example, understanding past climate change during greenhouse and icehouse periods.[13] 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.[14] She has undertaken more than 16 expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic.[15]

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."[16] 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.[17]

Francis holds a number of memberships of national and international scientific bodies.[13] 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; Council Member and Research committee member of the Council of the Scottish Association for Marine Science; Executive committee member of the European Polar Board; and UK Delegate to the international Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.

Awards

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.[18] She received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Leeds in 2014,[19] as well as an Honorary Doctorate of Environmental Science from the University Of Plymouth, also in 2014.[20] In that same year she was named "Explorer Scientist" among 100 leading UK scientists by The Science Council.[21] She also has been awarded the Coke Medal from the Geological Society of London (2014);[22] the President's Award of the Paleontological Society;[23] the Antarctic Service Medal from the US National Science Foundation;[23] and the Workplace Achievement Award from the BBC's 'eve' magazine, sponsored by Nivea.[23]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Jane Francis". www.bas.ac.uk. British Antarctic Survey. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  2. ↑ Frakes, L. A.; Francis, J. E. (1988). "A guide to Phanerozoic cold polar climates from high-latitude ice-rafting in the Cretaceous". Nature. 333 (6173): 547. Bibcode:1988Natur.333..547F. doi:10.1038/333547a0.
  3. ↑ Dettmann, M. E.; Molnar, R. E.; Douglas, J. G.; Burger, D.; Fielding, C.; Clifford, H. T.; Francis, J.; Jell, P.; Rich, T.; Wade, M.; Rich, P. V.; Pledge, N.; Kemp, A.; Rozefelds, A. (1992). "Australian cretaceous terrestrial faunas and floras: Biostratigraphic and biogeographic implications". Cretaceous Research. 13 (3): 207. doi:10.1016/0195-6671(92)90001-7.
  4. ↑ Francis, J. E.; Poole, I. (2002). "Cretaceous and early Tertiary climates of Antarctica: Evidence from fossil wood". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 182: 47. doi:10.1016/S0031-0182(01)00452-7.
  5. ↑ Woolfe, K. J.; Stewart, L. K.; Francis, J. E.; Arnot, M. J. (2000). "PC99: A new freeware for manipulating and graphically displaying palaeocurrent data". Sedimentary Geology. 133: 1. Bibcode:2000SedG..133....1W. doi:10.1016/S0037-0738(00)00034-8.
  6. ↑ "Jane Francis interviewed by Jim Al-Khalili". BBC.
  7. 1 2 "University of Leeds". University of Leeds Faculty of Environment. 2011. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  8. ↑ Jane Francis's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database, a service provided by Elsevier. (subscription required)
  9. ↑ Francis, Jane E. (1982). The fossil forests of the basal Purbeck formation (upper jurassic) of Dorset, Southern England. (PhD thesis). University of Southampton.
  10. ↑ "Reporter 480, 22 April 2002 -". reporter.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "The Geological Society of London – 2014 Awards: Citations and Replies". www.geolsoc.org.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  12. ↑ "Impact of global disturbances on evolution of polar life – Project – British Antarctic Survey". www.bas.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  13. 1 2 "Jane Francis – British Antarctic Survey". www.bas.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  14. ↑ Francis, Jane; et al. (2008). "100 Million Years of Antarctic Climate Evolution: Evidence from Fossil Plants" (PDF). Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  15. ↑ "2014 list of leading UK practising scientists – The Science Council". The Science Council. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  16. ↑ "The Geological Society of London – 2014 Awards: Citations and Replies". www.geolsoc.org.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  17. ↑ "ATS – The Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM)". www.ats.aq. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  18. ↑ "The Reporter, Issue 480". University of Leeds. 22 April 2002. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  19. ↑ "News Inner: Earth and Environment". www.see.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  20. ↑ "Legends of music and dance take to the Graduation stage at Plymouth University". Plymouth University. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  21. ↑ "2014 list of leading UK practising scientists – The Science Council". The Science Council. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  22. ↑ "The Coke Awards". The Geological Society. 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  23. 1 2 3 "Jane Francis – British Antarctic Survey". www.bas.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2016.

External links

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