NAME: Florence Bascom (American)

BORN/DIED: 14th July 1862 – 18th June 1945

Jobs: Geologist

KEY FACTS: Florence Bascom was born in Massachusetts, USA. Her father was a university professor and her mother was a women’s rights activist so they both encouraged her to get a good education. She became the second woman in the world to gain a PhD in Geology and the second woman elected to the Council of the Geological Society of America (a global society for earth scientists). She went on to have a long and influential teaching career as a geologist.

ACHIEVEMENTS: The second woman in the world to gain a PhD in Geology. The second woman elected to the Council of the Geological Society of America. Associate editor of the magazine American Geologist.