María Adela Caría (12 February 1912 – 1987) was an Argentine

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology -- a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically Pathogenic bacteria, pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learnin ...

, head of microbiology at the

Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences The Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Argentine Museum ( es, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia) is a public museum located in the Caballito section of Buenos Aires, Argentina. History and overview The museum owes it ...

, and a CONICET researcher. She was part of the group of scientists known as the "Four of Melchior" who participated in the first fieldwork in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

. Because of her work in Antarctica, a cape bears her name: Cape Caría. She was born in

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from th ...

Career

In November 1968, Caría participated in the expedition to Antarctica together with Elena Martínez Fontes,

Irene Bernasconi Irene Bernasconi (29 September 1896 – 7 July 1989) was an Argentine marine biologist specializing in echinoderm research and best known for her work in the Antarctic. She was the first echinoderm specialist in Argentina and spent 55 years condu ...

and Carmen Pujal. After embarking on the ''ARA Bahía Aguirre'', it was transferred to the

Melchior Base Melchior Base ( es, Base Melchior or, seldom, ''Estación Melchior'') is an Argentine Antarctic base and scientific research station. It is located on Gamma Island (which the Argentines call ''Isla Observatorio''), Melchior Islands, Dallmann B ...

, where they worked during the summer collecting specimens from Antarctica. During the expedition they travelled a thousand kilometres by boat around Antarctica, making landings to take samples. Her research contributed to the knowledge of marine algae, siliceous

sponges Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through ...

starfish Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish ...

sea urchins Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

and other invertebrates, as well as to the understanding of

environmental microbiology A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

.«.: VillaOcampoSF :. - Tribute to the first Argentine scientists in Antarctica.» . ''.: VillaOcampoSF :'' . Retrieved 24 April 2019 .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caria, Maria Adela 1912 births 1987 deaths 20th-century Argentine women scientists 20th-century Argentine biologists Bacteriologists Women bacteriologists Women Antarctic scientists People from La Plata Women microbiologists