About

Inspired by Maya Angelou's celebrated poem Phenomenal Woman, Theresa McDermott founded the series in 2018 to celebrate women who have made an outstanding contribution in their chosen fields. Each event offers an intimate opportunity to hear first-hand from exceptional women, exploring not only their achievements but also the experiences, resilience and determination behind their success.

The final evening of the 2026 series at The Gainsborough Bath Spa features Dr. Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, Ph.D. chemical biologist, conservation leader and National Geographic Explorer leading the global movement protecting pollinators and the Amazon.

Dr. Rosa Vásquez Espinoza is a Ph.D. chemical biologist, conservation leader and National Geographic Explorer leading the global movement protecting pollinators and the Amazon. Raised between the Peruvian Andes and the rainforest, she bridges cutting-edge science with ancestral knowledge to drive real-world environmental change.

Her work has achieved the world's first legal recognition of an insect's rights, inspired national and local conservation laws, increased the value of native honey by over 500%, and helped launch new models for positive nature-based economies across Indigenous territories. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Amazon Research Internacional, working across the Amazon basin to protect biodiversity, empower communities and build climate resilience.

Her leadership has been recognised by the Rolex Perpetual Planet Award (2026), BBC's 100 Most Influential Women (2024), the UNESCO-Al Fozan Prize for Young Scientists, Peru's Order of Merit, the nation's highest civilian honour, and the New Explorer Award from The Explorers Club (2025). Her work has been featured by The New York Times, Forbes, The Guardian, Vogue, BBC, CNN and National Geographic, and she has appeared in documentary projects with the BBC, Rolex, Discovery Channel and Disney.