Professor Dame Jane Elizabeth Francis, DCMG FRS (born October 1956) is the Director of the British Antarctic Survey.

[1] She previously worked as Professor of Palaeoclimatology at the University of Leeds where she also was Dean of the Faculty of Environment.

[7][8][9] Francis was educated at Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School in Canterbury, and received both her undergraduate degree in Geology and her PhD from the University of Southampton.

[1] For five years Francis was a Postdoctoral Research Associate with Larry Frakes at the University of Adelaide.

[17] Francis was described by the Geological Society of London during the awarding of her Coke Medal as playing a "pivotal role in shaping and directing the Earth science carried out in polar regions, through her extensive service on a staggeringly wide range of national and international policy committees.

[15] She is a member of the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Executive Board; member of the Scientific Advisory Group of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat; Executive committee member of the European Polar Board; and UK Delegate to the international Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.