Felicity Aston MBE is an explorer, polar scientist, and author whose feats of endurance have involved leading international teams to the ends of the Earth across some of the most extreme and challenging environments on the planet. Her expeditions have filled data gaps, defied stereotypes, and inspired a global audience.... Read more
Felicity Aston MBE is an explorer, polar scientist, and author whose feats of endurance have involved leading international teams to the ends of the Earth across some of the most extreme and challenging environments on the planet. Her expeditions have filled data gaps, defied stereotypes, and inspired a global audience.
She is the author of five books: Call of the White: Taking the World to the South Pole (2011); Alone in Antarctica (2013); Chasing Winter (2014); Life Lessons from Explorers (2021); and Polar Exposure: An All-Women’s Expedition to the North Pole (2022).
The metaphor of exploration has always resonated with business and leadership, as it unites diverse groups of people to strive for a common goal under conditions of extreme stress. In her keynote speeches, Felicity analyzes the qualities required for extreme physical feats of endurance—such as resilience, courage, and ingenuity—and translates them into lessons for the boardroom.
In 2012, Felicity crossed the Antarctic landmass alone on skis. This 59-day, 1,744-kilometre expedition earned her a place in the Guinness World Records and taught her not only how to overcome feelings of loneliness and isolation but also provided deep insight into how successful teams function. Her account of the loneliness she experienced on her solo journey and the challenges of reintegration into society resonated with many during and after the Covid lockdown.
Felicity’s expeditions champion gender equality and cultural diversity, and she speaks candidly about the psychological journey that goes hand in hand with exploration. Her most recent project is the B.I.G. (Before It’s Gone) Expedition, a five-year effort to undertake ski expeditions across the Arctic region to investigate the effects of airborne pollutants on Arctic ice and snow.
Felicity was appointed MBE for services to polar exploration in 2015 and awarded the Polar Medal for services to the Arctic and Antarctic. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London, a member of The Explorers Club in New York, and her research is based at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton (UK).
Felicity recounts how failing to reach the North Pole enabled her team to forge a multiyear, pan-Arctic project far more ambitious in scope and impact than anything they would have dared propose at the outset. The expedition faced unexpected challenges as they ventured into an Arctic environment that is changing...
In 2012 Felicity became the first woman in the world to ski across Antarctica alone. The 1084-mile journey took her 59 days skiing unaccompanied through a monotonous and hostile landscape. Describing her record-making expedition she reveals – with astonishing honesty – the fear, the doubt and the loneliness of the...
It is not unusual in today’s world for a team to be scattered over multiple timezones, incorporating a variety of cultures, levels of expertise and systems of work. How do you manage such diversity effectively? Felicity answers this question in her account of selecting, training and leading a team of...