Cornelia Lüdecke

Cornelia Lüdecke is professor for History of Natural Sciences at the University of Hamburg. She focuses on the history of polar research, meteorology, and oceanography. Since 1991, she is leading the German History of Polar Research Working Group. 1995-2018 she chaired the German History of Meteorology Specialist Group. 2001 she was Vice President and 2006-2009 President of the International Commission on History of Meteorology. In 2004 she founded the Action (later Expert) Group on History of Antarctic Research within SCAR, which she led until it merged with the Expert Group Humanities and Social Science in 2018. In 2012 she became one of the Vice Presidents of the International Commission on History of Oceanography. In the same year she became corresponding member of the International Academy of the History of Science in Paris. She received the Reinhard Süring Medal in 2010 and the Paulus Award in 2019 both from the German Meteorological Society.

Her current research focuses on various aspects of the Heroic Age of Antarctic research.

Research projects / interests:

• History of Antarctic research
• Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration
• First German South Polar Expedition

Areas of interest:

• History
• Meteorology
• oceanography
• International co-operation
• German polar expeditions