{{short description|British geologist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox scientist | name = | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1942}} | fields = Geology | workplaces = British Antarctic Survey | alma_mater = University of London | awards = Fuchs Medal (2001)<br />Polar Medal (2003) | website = }}
'''Janet Thomson''' also known as '''Janet Wendy Thomson''' (born 1942) is a British geologist and the first British woman scientist to complete field research in Antarctica. Thomson Summit and Thomson Glacier are named in her honor. She was a 2001 recipient of the British Antarctic Survey's Fuchs Medal, and in 2003, she was the recipient of the Polar Medal.
==Biography== Janet Wendy Thomson was born in 1942 in Staffordshire, England. She attended Bedford College and later the University of London.{{sfn|British Library|2003}}
Thomson began working for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in 1964,{{sfn|''The Times''|2003|p=43}} but was barred from participating in actual trips to Antarctica because policy forbade women, because of the hardship it would impose. For eighteen years, Thomson pressed to have the restriction lifted.{{sfn|Jones|2012}} Not making headway with the British team, Thomson joined an American expedition in 1976, becoming the first British woman to conduct fieldwork in the Antarctic.{{sfn|Riffenburgh|2007|p=1095}}
In 1983, Thomson became the first British woman scientist working inside the Antarctic Circle on a British team, when the BAS finally lifted their gender barrier.{{sfn|British Library|2003}} Peter D. Rowley who led the United States Antarctic Research Program geological survey during the 1984 to 1985 season, suggested that Thomson Summit, a peak in the Behrendt Mountains of Palmer Land, be named in Thomson's honor in 1986.{{sfn|Alberts|1995|p=744}} Thomson Glacier, is also named for her.{{sfn|Australian Antarctic Data Centre|2003}} Thomson served as head of the Mapping and Geographical Information Center (MAGIC){{sfn|Henderson|2002|p=8}} prior to her 2003 retirement. She then worked on a topographic map of Antarctica with the Committee on Antarctic Research Digital Topographic Database.{{sfn|British Library|2003}} In 2003, she was awarded the Polar Medal for her outstanding service to polar research.{{sfn|''The Times''|2003|p=43}} Thomson and other noted British scientists were interviewed in an oral history project for the British Library in 2013.{{sfn|British Antarctic Survey|2013}}
== References == ===Citations=== {{Reflist|30em}}
===Bibliography=== {{refbegin|30em}} *{{cite book|last=Alberts|first=Fred G. |title=Geographic Names of the Antarctic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D-ADezHGpa4C|year=1995|publisher=National Science Foundation|location=Arlington, Virginia}} *{{cite news|last1=Henderson|first1=Mark|title=Scientists unlock the secrets of Antarctica|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=wes_ttda&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=IF501487296&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|access-date=3 August 2016|issue=67408|newspaper=The Times|date=26 March 2002|location=London, England|url-access=subscription |via=Gale Group}} *{{cite news|last1=Jones|first1=Beth|title='Women won't like working in Antarctica as there are no shops and hairdressers'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/9260864/Women-wont-like-working-in-Antarctica-as-there-are-no-shops-and-hairdressers.html|access-date=2 August 2016|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=20 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111001931/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/9260864/Women-wont-like-working-in-Antarctica-as-there-are-no-shops-and-hairdressers.html|archive-date=11 January 2015|location=London, England}} *{{cite book|last=Riffenburgh|first=Beau |title=Encyclopedia of the Antarctic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fRJtB2MNdJMC&pg=PA1095|volume=1: A-K Index|year=2007|publisher=Taylor & Francis|location=New York, New York|isbn=978-0-415-97024-2}} *{{cite web|ref={{harvid|British Library|2003}} |title=Janet Thomson |url=https://www.bl.uk/voices-of-science/interviewees/janet-thomson |publisher=British Library |access-date=2 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114215447/http://www.bl.uk/voices-of-science/interviewees/janet-thomson |archive-date=14 January 2014 |location=London, England |date=2003 |url-status=dead }} *{{cite news|ref={{harvid|''The Times''|2003}}|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Coming in from the cold—The Register|url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/export/pdf?p=UKNB&docrefs=news/0F85B3C32D53B810|access-date=3 August 2016|newspaper=The Times|date=4 January 2003|location=London, England}} *{{cite web|ref={{harvid|Australian Antarctic Data Centre|2003}}|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Thomson Glacier: United States Gazetteer Id 136375|url=https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=136375|access-date=4 August 2016|publisher=Australian Antarctic Data Centre|date=1 January 2003|location=Kingston, Tasmania, Australia}} *{{cite web|ref={{harvid|British Antarctic Survey|2013}}|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Voices of Science: a new British Library oral history archive|url=https://www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/voices-of-science-a-new-british-library-oral-history-archive/|access-date=4 August 2016|publisher=British Antarctic Survey|date=3 December 2013|location=London, England}} {{refend}}
==External links== *[https://www.bl.uk/voices-of-science/interviewees/janet-thomson British Library oral history interviews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114215447/http://www.bl.uk/voices-of-science/interviewees/janet-thomson |date=14 January 2014 }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Janet}} Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:People from Staffordshire Category:Alumni of Bedford College, London Category:Alumni of the University of London Category:British women scientists Category:British Antarctic scientists Category:English geologists Category:Recipients of the Polar Medal Category:Women Antarctic scientists Category:English women geologists