We are launching a fun new campaign on our website and social media platforms today called #FascinatingFactFriday!
Every Friday, we will be sharing a fascinating fact about King’s Ely with you. It could be a fact about our history and traditions; about a student, a member of staff, or a former pupil; about our buildings, facilities and grounds; or about Ely itself.
This week’s #FascinatingFactFriday is about Dr Ailbhe Duane, who is our Key Stage 2 Science Coordinator at King’s Ely Prep.
Did you know that Dr Duane, who is from Dublin, was the first Irish female scientist to work in the Antarctic with the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in the early 1990s!
Dr Duane was working for the BAS as a palynologist (someone who studies organic-walled microfossils such as spores, pollen, and alga found in geological and archaeological deposits) at the time. Dr Duane was among a group of female scientists who campaigned for the BAS to allow them to travel to and work in Antarctic during the austral summer. Previously, the BAS insisted that women were not physically equipped to tolerate the Antarctic’s harsh conditions. Dr Duane was one of the first female scientists to ‘go south’ and the first Irish female scientist to do so.
Mother-of-three-sons, Dr Duane has been Key Stage 2 Science Coordinator at King’s Ely Prep for 14 years. She studied Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin, followed by a Masters in Palynology at the University of Sheffield, and then a PhD in Palynology at the University of Plymouth. Dr Duane worked for the BAS from 1990-1996. She did her teacher training in Bury St Edmunds and her first teaching job was here at King’s.
Dr Duane is a shining example of the specialist teaching here at King’s – no wonder so many of our Prep pupils live and breathe all things science!