#women pioneering scientists

Maria Sibylla Merian — Banana Tree Flower with Io Moth from Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium (Insects of Suriname) first published in 1705.

Merian was a German artist and naturalist self funded a trip Suriname to record the entomological life in the region. A somewhat unusual enterprise for a woman even under Dutch Colonial Rule.

Portrait of Merian by Jacob Marrel. 1679.