Lois Jones

Lois M. Jones (September 6, 1934 – March 13, 2000) was an American geochemist who led the first all-woman science team to Antarctica in 1969. They were also the first women to reach the South Pole. Jones was well regarded for her contribution to geological research in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, one of the few ice-free areas of Antarctica, and published many papers and abstracts.

Early life and education Jones was born in Berea, Ohio, on September 6, 1934. She completed her Bachelor of Science in 1955 and Master of Science degrees in 1959 in chemistry at Ohio State University before returning to Ohio State in 1966 for her doctoral work in geology, earning her doctorate in geology in 1969. While the samples for her dissertation were provided by male colleagues who collected them in Antarctica for the Institute of Polar Studies (now Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center), Jones wanted to do her own field work in Antarctica and collect more bedrock samples and rock specimens herself in order to evaluate the salt content of a river flowing into Lake Vanda, one of the Dry Valley Lakes.

Career and impact First women at the South Pole Pamela Young, Jean Pearson, Lois Jones, Eileen McSaveney, Kay Lindsay and Terry Tickhill. Rear Admiral David F. Welch is in the middle.

Jones led the first female team to Antarctica with the US Antarctic Research Program in the 1969–1970 season. Colin Bull, then head of the Institute of Polar Studies, attempted over several years to persuade the U.S. Navy to allow female scientists to go to Antarctica. He supported Jones' proposal. Ultimately the U.S. Navy would also agree to support this first female research team to reach Antarctica. Jones' research proposal was accepted with the caveat that her research team was all-female and they would for the most part not be living at McMurdo station but doing field research in the Wright Valley.

The Ohio State team with Jones at the head included geologist Eileen McSaveney, Kay Lindsay, an entomologist, and Terry Lee Tickhill, a chemistry undergraduate lacking a background in geology but skilled with machinery. They spent four months in Antarctica in the McMurdo Dry Valleys collecting data and rock specimens. The team also briefly visited the South Pole. were the first women to reach the South Pole on November 12, 1969. After their expedition, the U.S. Navy officially began accepting women at McMurdo Station. The samples they collected helped reveal insights into the sources and implications of strontium isotopes in Taylor Valley. After retiring, Jones volunteered in the English as a Second Language program in Columbus, Ohio.

The Lois M. Jones Papers were donated by her estate to the Ohio State University Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program. This special collection includes 18,275 35 mm slides documenting Jones' research science with the Institute of Polar Studies and the all-women Antarctic scientific expedition she led in 1969.

Legacy Jones endowed the Lois M. Jones Fellowship Fund in Geological Sciences and the Lois M. Jones Endowment for Cancer Research Fellowships at Ohio State University.