author
1877–1965
A pioneering British scientist who moved easily between zoology, palaeontology, and geology, she helped open space for women in early twentieth-century science. Her published work ranged from marine sponges to fossils, showing a curiosity that crossed disciplinary lines.
Born in Devon in 1877, Igerna Brünhilda Johnson Sollas, also known as Hilda Sollas, became a British zoologist, palaeontologist, and geologist. She studied at Alexandra College in Dublin and at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she later taught.
Her research interests were notably wide. Sources describe her work on marine organisms, genetics, and palaeontology, and note that she collaborated with the geneticist William Bateson. She also contributed to scientific literature on sponges and to larger natural history projects.
Sollas is remembered as one of the early women associated with geology at Cambridge and as part of a generation that expanded opportunities for women in science. She died in 1965.