Heidi Sevestre glaciologist and member of the Climate Sentinels expedition received the Shackleton Medal 2022.
Heidi Sevestre recently received the first Shackleton medal, named after the British polar explorer, hero of the Endurance Expedition, Ernest Shackleton. Along with the medal she also received a prize of £10 000 as a contribution to her work in the polar regions.
Winner of the Shackleton Medal, Dr. Heidi Sevestre was unanimously selected by an international panel of polar experts. The judges were particularly convinced by Dr Sevestre exemplary scientific work, achievements as an expedition leader in extreme environments, her work as a founder member of with Climate Sentinels and most impressively her outreach campaigns, documentaries and lobbying with geo-political groups, national leaders and governments.
Dr. Heidi Sevestre is a glaciologist, fellow international of the Explorers Club, working at AMAP (the Artic Monitoring and Assessment Program). In April 2021, she had the opportunity to lead a scientific expedition across Svalbard, named Climate Sentinels with 5 other fellow women.
The goal of this expedition was to study the sediment of carbon black on snow and ice and to confirm satellite data with the main purpose of improving the understanding of the melting of the Artic. During this expedition, the Climate Sentinels used skis as only mean of transportation, they achieved the first carbon neutral expedition in the polar regions and doing so, they were able to take samples without tainting them with additional pollution.
To finance this project, she received a grant from the French Institute of Norway in 2020.
The Climate Sentinels ski trip across Svalbard
The Climate Sentinels were associated to schools in France and all over the world with the aim of transferring knowledge on the polar environments and climate change.
Since this expedition in Svalbard, she joined an expedition in December 2021 in Colombia called “The Last Tropical Glaciers” with the goal of capturing disappearing landscapes using 360 degrees videos for public education.