Antarctic Medal Winners

Denise Allen, Trainee Technical Officer (Meteorology), was presented with the 1989 Antarctic Medal by the Governor of Victoria, Dr Davis McCaughey at a ceremony at Government House, Melbourne, on 25 October. The medal was established in 1987 as a new award in the Australian Honours system, and is awarded in recognition of outstanding service with Australian Antarctic expeditions. Denise and fellow 1989 medal recipient Dr Lynn Williams are the first women to receive the prestigious award.

Denise commenced with the Bureau in 1982 as a Trainee Observer and was later posted to Queensland. During her stay in the north she relieved at a number of Field Stations in and around Brisbane, and spent six months at Willis Island.

Denise made her first voyage down south in November 1984 as an Acting Observer Grade 2, stationed at Macquarie Island. In December 1985, only six weeks after returning home, Denise packed her kit to spend January through to November 1986 as an Observer Grade 2 at Mawson, where she became the first woman from the Bureau of Meteorology to winter on the continent.

On her return from Mawson Denise worked as an Instructor in the Training Centre. December 1987 saw Denise set sail for Davis in the capacity of Acting Observer Grade 3, and the first woman Senior Observer at an Antarctic base (in fact, a first at any Bureau Field Station).

Apart from her official duties Denise has been involved in many facets of station life.

As part of the 1989 medical team she acted as an anaesthetic assistant during an emergency operation. She carried out a water sampling program in the Vestfold Hills lakes and supported station operations by making safe routes on the ice plateau, establishing fuel dumps for traverses and providing assistance to many scientific programs.

Denise is one of the pioneers for the involvement of women and Antarctica. She was the only female member of her winter expeditions at Mawson and Davis.

Bureau of Meteorology