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 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)