Join Professor Dame Jane Francis for the latest in the Stephen Gray lecture series (March 23)

Join us on March 23 from 16:00 for the latest in the Stephen Gray lecture series.

The Stephen Gray Lectures are a series of talks named after one of Canterbury’s most prominent scientists. Gray had a broad range of interests spanning from solar astronomy to palaeontology but he is best known for his seminal experiments demonstrating electrical conduction and insulation (1729). The lecture takes place annually at the University of Kent’s main campus in Canterbury. It is organised by the university’s Division of Natural Sciences.

This March the series bring to you a talk by Professor Dame Jane Francis. This free hybrid event will be held on Zoom and in person (Covid permitting) with an opportunity to put forward your questions. Join us on March 23 from 16:00-17:30. During this public talk Dame Jane will discuss the topics of ‘Greenhouse to Icehouse: fossils of forests and dinosaurs amid icesheets of Antarctica’.

Submit your questions for Professor Dame Jane Francis

After the lecture, Professor Francis will be joined by a panel of experts from the University of Kent for a round-table discussion of questions posed by audience members. If you have questions for our panel of for Professor Francis, you can forward them to Natsnews@kent.ac.uk in advance of the event. There will also be the opportunity to ask questions during the event itself.

About Professor Dame Jane Francis

Professor Francis is Director of the British Antarctic Survey, a research centre of the Natural Environment Research Council (UKRI-NERC). 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 fossil plants 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.

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 is Chancellor of the University of Leeds, and a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Tickets for this event are free, and you can book an in-person or virtual ticket on our Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stephen-gray-lecture-series-guest-starring-professor-dame-jane-francis-tickets-265079719577