About
Dr. Heïdi Sevestre
Glaciologist, Explorer and passionate science communicator
Heïdi was born in Haute Savoie in the French Alps. She was raised by parents who had a deep love for skiing, climbing, and mountaineering. Her upbringing involved spending a significant amount of time in the mountains and surrounded by nature. When she reached the age of 17, Heïdi found herself contemplating how to transform her passion into a viable career. It was during this period that she crossed paths with a Swiss mountain guide who introduced her to the idea that "some individuals actually get paid to study glaciers." This encounter prompted her to make a resolute decision: she was determined to devote her life to the study of glaciers.
About
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How It All Started
After spending a few years at an agricultural college, Heïdi decided to pursue a bachelor's degree in geography and urban planning at Université Lyon 3. Her three-year program included a semester abroad, which she chose to complete at the northernmost university in the world. For six months, Heïdi was a student at the university center in Svalbard, an experience that deepened her fascination with the Arctic environment.
Subsequently, she continued her studies at the University of Aberystwyth in Wales. During this period, she participated in her first significant research expeditions, both in the Arctic and the Himalayas. Her path eventually led her back to Svalbard for her PhD research focused on the dynamics of surging glaciers.
Her PhD completed, Heïdi joined the MIDAS project in Antarctica, before starting a new position as postgraduate researcher at the university of St Andrews in Scotland. The groundbreaking work conducted by Heïdi and her research teams gained prominent recognition, even making it to the cover of Science Magazine, and resulted in several prestigious publications. In parallel to her research, Heïdi was invited to host science documentaries for public french TV. The series “Extreme Earth” took her around the world to shed a light the men and women who have learned to live in lands where nature is hostile.
Next Step
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Today
Heïdi moves between two worlds: science communication — conferences, films, books, and outreach — and the field, where she leads expeditions to the most remote frozen environments on Earth, most recently completing an 80-day ski-kite traverse of Antarctica in January 2026.
Her work has been recognised with the Shackleton Medal in 2022, the Prix du Rayonnement Français environnement in 2023, a European Young Leader distinction by Friends of Europe in 2024, and in 2026 she joined the Explorers Club 50 — fifty people changing the world.
She is the author of four books in French: Découvre les glaciers avec Heïdi Sevestre (Editions Plume de Carotte), Demain C'est Nous (Editions du Faubourg), and Sentinelle du Climat and Sentinelle - voyage au coeur des glaciers (HarperCollins France).
She features in the National Geographic / Disney+ series Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold (2024), and a 90-minute documentary on the Under Antarctica expedition is currently in production with Gedeon Programmes - France Télévision.