SHACKLETON MEDAL 2024: THE LONGLIST

Once more, the longlist for the 2024 Shackleton Medal for the Protection of the Polar Regions reveals the extraordinary range of people working in the Arctic and Antarctic today. It includes scientists, explorers, broadcasters, filmmakers, conservationists, engineers and direct-action environmental campaigners.

There’s the Indian astronomer who’s gone to the Arctic to research the birth of the cosmic dawn. The Norwegian biologist running a programme to stop Arctic foxes going extinct. The Sámi musician and actor who has used her profile to campaign against the expansion of the oil industry in the Barents Sea. The Frenchman who’s constructed a Jules Verne-worthy “pod” to take data on biodiversity and the impact of human pollution from the Southern Ocean.

From a record list of nominations, more well-known longlisted individuals include broadcaster David Attenborough and the endurance swimmer and environmental campaigner Lewis Pugh. What unites every single person on the list is the leadership and perseverance against the odds they have demonstrated in their work.

In this third year of the medal, our longlisted nominees come from 12 countries, including Mexico and Ukraine, and the gender split is 15 men and 13 women. Next week, our panel of judges will meet at the Royal Geographical Society to decide a shortlist, and at the end of April we will announce who the winner is for 2024.

 

Longlist For Shackleton Medal 2024 

FELICITY ASTON 

Antarctic explorer and climate scientist (British) 

 

SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH

Broadcaster (British)

 

DR KIERAN BAXTER

Climate change communicator and animator (British) 

 

MARK BRANDON

Polar expert, motivational speaker (British) 

 

VALÉRIE COURTOIS 

Executive Director of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative (ILI) in Canada (Indigenous Canadian) 

 

NINA ELISABETH EIDE 

Senior research biologist and Arctic Fox expert (Norwegian) 

 

JEAN-LOUIS ETIENNE 

French doctor, explorer and polar scientist (French) 

 

DR BS GIRISH 

Astronomer and explorer (Indian) 

 

MARIA GONZALEZ RICO 

Engineer and designer (Spanish)

 

ANDREAS HEIDE (nominated twice) 

Free diver and marine biologist (Norwegian) 

 

ALAIN HUBERT (nominated twice) 

Explorer and engineer (Belgian) 

 

ELLA MARIE HAETTA ISAKSEN 

Sami Musician, Actor, and prominent Environmental Campaigner (Sami) 

 

JENNIFER JACKSON 

Polar marine biologist, expert on whales (British) 

 

MOKI KOKORIS

Ukrainian campaigner for the poles (Ukrainian)

 

FLORIAN LEDOUX 

Photographer (French)

 

HEATHER LYNCH  

Penguin expert (American)

 

PAUL MAYEWSKI 

Leading glaciologist (American)

 

CRISTINA MITTERMEIER & PAUL NICKLEN

Conservationist, marine biologist and photographers (Mexican and Canadian)

 

SUSAN M NATALI 

Permafrost expert (American)

 

ANDREAS ØSTHAGEN 

Geopolitician (Norwegian)

 

RICHARD PHILLIPS 

Seabird Ecologist and Albatross Expert (British)

 

LEWIS PUGH

Environmental advocate and endurance swimmer (British, South African)

 

AUDUN RIKARDSEN

Scientist and photographer (Norwegian)

 

CAPTAIN ALEX CORNELISSEN - SEA SHEPHERD

International direct action ocean conservation movement (Netherlands)

 

DR MARTIN SOMMERKORN 

Head of Conservation for the WWF Arctic Foundation (British)

 

LIZ THOMAS

Head of ice-core research at the BAS (British)  

 

XIMENA AGUILAR VEGA

Glaciologist (Mexican)