Missed Images: Women in the Natural Sciences

Who established paleoneurology as a new field of research? Who documented Frankfurt’s first polar expedition through photography? Who secured the financial independence of the Senckenberg Nature Research? Women.

Female scientists, lab technicians, patrons, and illustrators all played a vital role in shaping what Senckenberg Nature Research is today. Now, the Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt wants to tell their stories. This special exhibition highlights selected women and their work—representative of the many others whose contributions have been overlooked in historical narratives. Central to the exhibition are the “Missed Images” by photographer and science communicator Gesine Born. Using AI-generated portraits, Born reimagines these women within the settings in which they might have worked. Real objects from the museum’s collections further illuminate their research and achievements. The exhibition builds on the findings of the research project “Secret Service: Women. Research. Senckenberg”, which is dedicated to uncovering and documenting the biographies of numerous women in science.