First Kiwi woman to set foot on Antarctic mainland
Marie Bu¨ chler scientist b August 2, 1940 d October 10, 2019
Marie Bu¨ chler could well be the most interesting woman you have never heard of. Known for much of her working career as Marie Darby, she was the first New Zealand woman to set foot on the Antarctic mainland.
A noted marine biologist, she had a life-long interest in Antarctica and science, but the authorities of the day refused to send her south to do research.
It was environment deemed unsuitable for a woman, no matter how well qualified she was.
Instead, Bu¨ chler, who at the time was working for Canterbury Museum as a marine zoologist, went as a lecturer and honorary ranger for Lands and Survey on one of the first tourist boats to the region.
In January 1968, she made history by being the first New Zealand woman to step on to the mainland and reach Scott Base.
She subsequently worked three more seasons on tourist boats, the last in 1998, as a lecturer and Antarctic expert.
It was an achievement that should have made her name well known but, though she has her own entry on Wikipedia, Bu¨ chler largely faded from history.
Her son, Sefton Darby, describes her trips south as ‘‘the defining experience of her life’’ and she liked to talk about it right until the end.
Although it was something to be proud of, it was only one of many notable achievements. She wrote her first published children’s book as a 10-year-old and had hundreds of research papers and articles published.
Later in life she switched careers and became a successful educationalist, influential in the Rudolf Steiner movement.
She was born in Lower Hutt, to a mother, also called Marie, who was a GP.
Her mother always regretted her own career choice, but imparted a love of nature and science that stayed with her daughter all her life.
Bu¨ chler went to Hutt Valley High School and Victoria University before heading to Canterbury and completing an MSc.
In 1962, she took a position at Canterbury Museum, always harbouring a desire to join other pioneering New Zealand scientists and head to Antarctica.
‘‘She had a long, long bureaucratic battle with authorities, who were adamant that a woman should not go to the Antarctic,’’ says Sefton, who has his mother’s unpublished autobiography.
Her only option was to sail on the Magga Dan, a tourist ship run by Swedish-American entrepreneur and explorer Lars-Eric Lindblad.
The Magga Dan took 50 tourists, and Bu¨ chler’s job was to help them understand what they were seeing.
Science and exploration at the time were dominated by men, in a way that might today be hard to understand. The condescending tone of the
Antarctic Bulletin, published by the New Zealand Antarctic Society, gave a good indication of how women were viewed at the time.
Not only did it refer to her as a ‘‘Wellington girl’’, but most of the article was about her husband John Darby, who was also in Antarctica taking photos.
By the time she did her last trip in 1998, she was becoming uncomfortable with the scale of tourism and its potential impact on the fragile environment.
Throughout her life, Bu¨ chler continued to study and write. In 1980 she did a diploma in education after earlier getting a qualification in journalism. That led to an entirely new career in teaching, first at Dunedin Teachers’ College and then at Otago University.
Eight years later she went to Germany to study Rudolf Steiner methods and, in 1990, she helped establish a Rudolf Steiner secondary school in Lower Hutt.
In 1996 she was the founding principal at Te Ra Waldorf School, then at Paeka¯ ka¯ riki and now at Raumati South.
Her later career included starting up a bilingual children’s magazine and acting as a science adviser to primary schools.
By the late 1990s, she could boast of a career that included being a successful scientist, Antarctic pioneer, journalist and teacher.
It is her extensive CV that provides the best indication of how far-reaching her interests were. She had had articles published all over the world in scientific journals and newspapers.
Subjects ranged from yellow-eyed penguins, New Zealand butterflies and seabirds, mangrove swamps, tube-footed marine animals and children’s education. She also published widely in educational publications and edited a huge range of scientific publications.
Perhaps her greatest legacy came in 2004, when the New Zealand Geographic Board named Mt Darby, in Antarctica, in her honour.
Sefton says his mother was a very private person, who could be very shy.
Her lack of fame reflected her reluctance to promote herself, but he hopes one day to publish her autobiography.
In 2012, Bu¨ chler withdrew from a doctorate when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and melanoma.
Her final years were spent in Eastbourne, where she loved walking on the beach and doing bush walks.
She died in Te Omanga Hospice, and her memorial service was at Staglands nature park.
She is survived by her children Sefton, Gretel and Simon. –