Sacha Dench is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

, conservationist and adventurer. In 2016, she set a

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

as the first woman to cross the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

paramotor Paramotor is the generic name for the harness and propulsive portion of a powered paragliding, powered paraglider ("PPG"). There are two basic types of paramotors: foot launch and wheel launch. Foot launch models consist of a frame with harness ...

. She is the recipient of the

Britannia Trophy The Britannia Trophy is a British award presented by the Royal Aero Club for aviators accomplishing the most meritorious performance in aviation during the previous year. In 1911 Horatio Barber, who was a founder member of the Royal Aero Club, wa ...

and winner of the Green Swan Award.

Career

In 2016, Dench flew 7000 kilometres across 11 countries in a paramotor, for the purpose of tracking the migrating

Bewick's swan The tundra swan (''Cygnus columbianus'') is a small swan of the Holarctic. The two taxa within it are usually regarded as conspecific, but are also sometimes split into two species: Bewick's swan (''Cygnus bewickii'') of the Palaearctic and the w ...

from the

Russian Arctic The Extreme North or Far North (russian: Крайний Север, Дальний Север) is a large part of Russia located mainly north of the Arctic Circle and boasting enormous mineral and natural resources. Its total area is about , ...

to the UK. During that time, she was working as a biologist for

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is an international wildfowl and wetland conservation charity in the United Kingdom. Its patron is Charles III, and its president is Kate Humble. History The WWT was founded in 1946 by the ornithologist a ...

. She is the co-founder and CEO of Conservation Without Borders and, in 2020, became a

UN Ambassador A permanent representative to the United Nations (sometimes called a "UN ambassador")"History of Ambassadors", United States Mission to the United Nations, March 2011, webpagUSUN-a. is the head of a country's diplomatic mission to the United Nati ...

for Migratory Species. In October 2018, she gave a

TED talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

entitled "The Human Swan" about finding your own passion. In February 2020, she gave a similar talk to the Scientific Exploration Society. Her career as a biologist focused mainly on

marine turtles Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...

, and she won the Australian free diving championship while diving for her work. In June 2021, it was announced that Dench would be making a , using a battery-powered adapted paramotor, to mark the COP26 UN climate conference. The journey was to start in near

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

on 21 June and take approximately six weeks to complete. July saw Dench flying above

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

before heading towards the coast of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, having received the support, amongst others, of actress

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...

. On 20 September 2021, Dench was seriously injured in a crash in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

, which was caused by two paramotors colliding. The pilot of the other aircraft, a cameraman, was killed. Following a long recovery period due to the extent of her injuries, in 2022 Dench began the Flight of Osprey Expedition.

Media

Dench's biology research and travel has been covered by the BBC, The Guardian and Radio 4. Her work has also been covered by National Geographic.

Awards

* 2018 - Britannia Trophy for Flight of the Swans. Not received by a woman since 1967. * 2001 - British National Depth record for freediving - World Freediving Championships. * 2023 - judging panel for 2023 Shackleton medal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dench, Sacha Australian biologists Australian conservationists Australian women chief executives Australian women biologists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)