Polar explorer Felicity Aston is Silver Endeavour godmotherPolar explorer Felicity Aston is Silver Endeavour godmother

Aston is a polar explorer, author, television presenter and climate scientist who made her solo ski trek across the White Continent in 2012. She has been awarded the Polar Medal and appointed MBE for services to exploration.

Antarctica naming ceremony

Aston will officially name Silversea Cruises' new expedition ship as part of an intimate ceremony in Antarctica to be held in the days before Silver Endeavour's inaugural voyage on Nov. 21.

In a career that has spanned more than 20 years, Aston has undertaken many challenging expeditions in the world’s most extreme environments, often as the leader of groundbreaking trips. Among those were the first British women’s team to cross the Greenland ice sheet and record-breaking teams of women on ski expeditions to both the South and North poles.

Meteorologist for the British Antarctic Survey

Aston’s longest and most formative tenure in Antarctica involved a 39-month stint at the Rothera Research Station from 2000, where she monitored climate and the ozone layer as a meteorologist for the British Antarctic Survey. Now based at the National Oceanography Centre and University of Southampton in the UK, she is investigating airborne microplastic pollution on polar sea ice.

B.I.G. North Pole expedition

In 2023, Aston will be continuing her leadership of the B.I.G. (Before It’s Gone) North Pole expedition, a long-term project to collect material for crucial Arctic Ocean sea ice research. She has published five books about exploration and her expeditions, co-presented two BBC documentaries and been featured in top publications, including National Geographic.

She is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London and the Explorers Club in New York, as well as an elected member of the Society of Women Geographers.