Felicity Aston
Felicity Ann Dawn Aston is an English explorer and former climate scientist.Early life and career
Originally from Birchington-on-Sea, Kent, Aston went to Tonbridge Grammar School for Girls and was educated at University College London and Reading University.
Between 2000 and 2003 Felicity Aston was the senior meteorologist at Rothera Research Station located on Adelaide Island off the Antarctic Peninsula operated by the British Antarctic Survey, monitoring climate and ozone. As was usual at the time for British Antarctic Survey staff, she spent three summers and two winters continuously at the station without leaving Antarctica.Exploration and racing
In 2005 she joined a race across Arctic Canada to the 1996 position of the North Magnetic Pole, known as the Polar Challenge. She was part of the first all-female team to complete this race; they came in 6th place out of 16 teams.
In 2006 Aston was part of the first all-female British expedition across the Greenland ice sheet.
In 2009 she was the team leader of the Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition, which was a Commonwealth of Nations expedition in which seven women from six Commonwealth member countries skied to the South Pole in 2009 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth. "Call of the White: Taking the world to the South Pole" is her account of this expedition. It was published by Summersdale in 2011 and was a finalist in the Banff Mountain Book Competition in that year.
In 2012 she became the first person to ski alone across the Antarctic land-mass using only personal muscle power, as well as the first woman to cross the Antarctic land-mass alone. Her journey began on 25 November 2011, at the Leverett Glacier and continued for 59 days and a distance of 1,084 miles. She had two supply drops.
Aston has also walked across the ice of Lake Baikal, the world's deepest and oldest lake, and completed the Marathon des Sables.Positions and awards
She is an official ambassador for both the British Antarctic Monument Trust and the Equaladventure charity, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by Canterbury Christ Church University for her exploration achievements.
Aston was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire and awarded the Polar Medal in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to polar exploration.
