TS
Tectonics and Structural Geology

Influential Women of TS

Josefa Cuevas de Sansores (24-02-1920 – 2010) – Mexico’s first woman geological engineer

March 26, 2021
Josefa Cuevas de Sansores (24-02-1920 – 2010) – Mexico’s first woman geological engineer
An artists illustration of Josefa Cuevas de Sansores (credit: Annique van der Boon)

Josefa Cuevas Sansores was born on the 24th of March, 1920 to Andrea Aguilar Argüello. Andrea was a professor herself and graduated in 1929 specializing in ‘Instrucción Primaria Inferior y Superior’. She used the knowledge she had gained during her studies to found several kindergartens in Yucatán, one still carrying her name). Josefa had three older sisters, two of which became school teachers, w ...[Read More]

Janet Vida Watson (1 September 1923 – 29 March 1985): The woman who could translate the story of Precambrian rocks into a crystal-clear message

January 29, 2021
Janet Vida Watson (1 September 1923 – 29 March 1985): The woman who could translate the story of Precambrian rocks into a crystal-clear message
An artists illustration of Janet Watson (credit: Annique van der Boon)

On a late summer day in September 1923, Janet Vida Watson was born. With a father working in palaeontology and a mother who did research in embryology until her marriage, Janet grew up with science all around her. She went to South Hampstead High School, known for its science teaching and continued her education in General Science at Reading University. She graduated in biology and geology in 1943 ...[Read More]

Maria Vasilyevna Klenova (12 August 1898 – 6 August 1976): The polar scientist who was known as the mother of marine geology.

December 21, 2020
Maria Vasilyevna Klenova (12 August 1898 – 6 August 1976): The polar scientist who was known as the mother of marine geology.
An artists illustration of Maria Klenova (credit: Annique van der Boon)

  On the 12th of August 1898, Maria Vasilyevna Klenova was born to a working-class family in Irkutsk1. This city started as a military outpost in 1652, but had become a bustling city around the turn of the 20th century with around half a million inhabitants. In the year Maria was born, Irkutsk became connected to Europe by the infamous Trans-Siberian Railway. Maria did not stay in Irkutsk ver ...[Read More]

Franciszka Szymakowska (05/02/1927 – 2007): the woman whose drawings unraveled the geological history of the Carpathians

November 27, 2020
Franciszka Szymakowska (05/02/1927 – 2007): the woman whose drawings unraveled the geological history of the Carpathians
An artists illustration of Franciszka Szymakowska (credit: Annique van der Boon)

  Franciszka Szymakowska was born on the 5th of February in 1927 in Krakow. She was lovingly known as “Niusia” (Antoni 2007). About her early life, not much is known. Franciszka did her studies at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the Jagiellonian University and graduated in 1952. During her studies, she started to work at the Polish Geological Institute. She remained affilia ...[Read More]

Chi Jishang (1917-1994): the diamond hunter who shaped her own future

October 27, 2020
Chi Jishang (1917-1994): the diamond hunter who shaped her own future
An artists illustration of Chi Jishang, (credit: Annique van der Boon)

Chi Jishang was born on the 25th of June 1917 in the Anlu County in the Province of Hubei, central China, but she moved to Beijing when she was four years old. Because her family was poor and she had three older siblings, her parents did not allow her and her younger sibling to go to school at the age that they should go to school. As a child, Chi was bright and very curious. She would ask her sch ...[Read More]

Ana Margarida Neiva – A woman as hard as granite

September 24, 2020
Ana Margarida Neiva – A woman as hard as granite
An artists illustration of Ana Neiva, (credit: Annique van der Boon)

  Ana Neiva was born on May 7 1941 in Cedofeita, Porto, northwest Portugal – a city carved in granite. Her childhood and youth were spent in Coimbra, where her father worked. João Cotelo Neiva was an eminent geologist and professor at the University of Coimbra, one of Europe’s oldest universities. His influence was decisive for her interest in geology and her scientific career.     ...[Read More]

Marguerite Thomas Williams: The US’ first black person to obtain a doctorate in Geology

August 26, 2020
Marguerite Thomas Williams: The US’ first black person to obtain a doctorate in Geology
An artists illustration of Marguerite Thomas Williams (credit: Annique van der Boon)

    On the day of Christmas Eve, five years before the turn of the century, Marguerite Thomas Williams (December 1895 – August 1991) was born. She was the youngest of her five siblings born to her parents Henry and Clara Thomas. We don’t know much about her early life. Perhaps her older brothers and sisters would take her by the hand when walking to school, maybe the family would g ...[Read More]

100 years of Marie Tharp – The woman who mapped the ocean floor and laid the foundations of modern geology

July 30, 2020
100 years of Marie Tharp – The woman who mapped the ocean floor and laid the foundations of modern geology
An artists illustration of Marie Tharp (credit: Annique van der Boon)

Marie Tharp (July 30, 1920 – August 23, 2006) would have turned 100 on this very day and she continues to live through her legacy of having mapped the world’s oceans. Similar to famous painters, some of whom only gain appreciation after their death, Marie Tharp is one of the most underappreciated scientists in the history of the earth sciences. Marie was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Due to h ...[Read More]

Patience Anne Cowie (1964 – 2020): A Geology Superhero

June 23, 2020
Patience Anne Cowie (1964 – 2020): A Geology Superhero
An artists illustration of Patience Cowie (credit: Annique van der Boon)

Welcome to the first post in a new series being hosted on the TS blog! This series “Influential women of Tectonics and Structural Geology” is aimed at highlighting women who have had a key contribution to the field of tectonics and/or structural geology. Patience’s contribution to the field of faults changed the way geologists looked at faults. Her work continues to be used to an ...[Read More]