“Isabella’s Footsteps” (360G-NLHF-HA-25-00424)

“Isabella’s Footsteps” will celebrate the life and legacy of the remarkable Marine Biologist Isabella Gordon O.B.E. (1901-1988), fostering knowledge, inspiration and connections across local communities in Moray, Aberdeenshire and the scientific world. We will increase awareness of the legacy of women in science and music in the UK, using the music of Gordon’s contemporaries and providing impactful encounters with our contemporary female scientist and composer. Open-source materials online at Natural History Museum and Electric Voice Theatre will give long-term access to the research, recordings, videos, archival documents, learning materials and an illustrated children’s booklet. A wider impact will result from the spread of information in local communities, connecting them to their environmental heritage, and internationally through academic, scientific and musical networks. A recently discovered paper by Isabella Gordon will increase the relevance of her work, particularly to the study of soft corals in negatively affected reefs worldwide.