Rachael Mary Upjohn Light Meader (April 15, 1916 – March 16, 2008) was an American aerial photographer and explorer.

Heir to the Upjohn Company fortune, she is best known in aerial circles for her 35,000-mile (56,000 km) flight in 1937–1938, during which she photographed unprecedented images of South America and Africa.

[1] During the planning of the trip, many points on Earth had not been captured on film from the air and the American Geographical Society promoted these photographic flights, as they were trying to build an aerial collection.

[1] The Lights were banned from photographing all of Central America except Guatemala, Ecuador, and Colombia, as a safety measure against the gathering of strategic knowledge.

[3] They took advantage of the Peruvian government's allowal to take pictures in the air by capturing the earliest photographs of the Nazca Lines.

[1] The couple's original plan was to fly into Asia; however, this was not accomplished due to the damaging of the plane and Meader's pregnancy with a second child, Timothy.

[4] Three hundred twenty-three of Meader's African photos were included in Focus on Africa, a 1941 book written by her husband and published by the American Geographical Society.

[4] Meader was a member of the Society of Woman Geographers since 1942, whom granted her the Outstanding Achievement Award for her pioneering aerial photography in 2005.

On November 21, 2006, Meader was awarded the title of honorary member of the American Geographical Society and was invited to sign her name on its Fliers' & Explorers' Globe.

[1][4] Other signers of the globe include Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Sir Edmund Hillary, Robert Peary, Richard Byrd, and the astronauts on Apollo 8.

[1] Survivors include sons Christopher, Timothy, and John, of Kalamazoo, and Rudolph, of Ukiah, California; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.