PRESS RELEASE : Dame Jane Francis appointed Royal Society Trustee of the Natural History Museum [January 2023]

Dame Jane Francis

Appointed for a four year term commencing 1st February 2023.

Jane Francis is Director of the British Antarctic Survey, a research centre of the UK Natural Environment Research Council. She is involved with international polar organisations, such as the Antarctic Treaty and European Polar Board, and on several advisory boards of national polar programmes.

Jane Francis is a geologist by training, with research interests in past climate change. She has undertaken research projects at the universities of Southampton, London, Leeds and Adelaide, using fossils to determine the change from greenhouse to icehouse climates in the polar regions over the past 100 million years. She has undertaken over 15 scientific expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica in search of fossil forests and climates of the past.

Jane was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (DCMG) in recognition of services to UK polar science and diplomacy. She was also awarded the UK Polar Medal by H.M The Queen, the Royal Geographical Society’s Patron’s Medal and the 2022 Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Award for Planetary Health. Jane is Chancellor of the University of Leeds and a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Remuneration and Governance Code

Trustees receive no remuneration, except for expenses reasonably incurred in performance of their duties. This appointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election. Dame Jane Francis has not declared any significant political activity.