'Forget Boaty McBoatface - this ship should be named after my amazing scientist sister who died'

The British public have a choice. Do they want a £200 million Royal Research Ship to be named ‘Boaty McBoatface’ or would they rather it was named after Dr Katharine Giles, a scientist who tragically died aged 35?The National Environment Research Council (NERC) has asked Britons to name their latest ship, and to the delight of the
nation, the current forerunner is the ridiculous RRS Boaty McBoatface with 113,688 votes.
But there’s another option for the public to consider: RRS Katharine Giles, in honour of the Stansted-born scientist who was a research fellow at UCL and a prominent member of the polar research community.
She died exactly three years ago this Friday after a traffic accident whilst cycling in Victoria, London. Her family are hoping to honour her anniversary this year by campaigning for her name to grace the side of the ship that will set off for Antarctica in 2019.
“It was devastating for us all when Katharine died,” says Nikki Giles, Katharine’s 36-year-old sister. She remembers the day she found out about her older sister's death clearly. On 8 April 2013, she was at work in her London office when the police called early in the morning.
"I just had a gut feeling that something was very wrong," she tells me. "Then they said that Katharine had been in an accident and they were coming to see me. I remember it so clearly even now because I suddenly felt this panic. I just knew."
Katharine died at 8am on her way to work after being hit by an HGV truck whilst riding on her bicycle. She left behind her parents, boyfriend, friends, family and obviously her younger sister Nikki.

"It’s been incredibly hard ever since," says Nikki. "Especially this time of the year as both of our birthdays are in March. Katharine would have turned 38 this year, but now I'm 36 - older than she was when she died. I still think about her every day - she was my best friend.
“The anniversary is always a particularly difficult time but it’s so nice that this year we’re doing something positive to celebrate what she achieved. It’s a way to really remember her and keep her memory alive in a very positive way.”
It's also very appropriate. Much of Katharine's research into sea ice interactions was funded by the NERC - the same organisation that is running the competition to name the new ship. She had been on similar expeditions to the type of research trips this new ship would be used for, and had spent time in both the Arctic and Antarctic.
Her ground-breaking research meant she was the first person to recognise that altimeter observations between sea ice floes were more than just a stepping stone to measuring sea ice thickness - she discovered they could also show how winds affected the newly-exposed Arctic Ocean. This led to her being awarded a personal Fellowship from the NERC.

"I couldn't ever imagine I'd lose my older sister, and that loss will always be there."

Nikki Giles

“The work that will be taking place on this ship is really a continuation of work she did," explains Nikki. "It would be really relevant to name the ship after her.”
Nikki, who now works for the YMCA in Brighton, only heard about the boat-naming competition last week when a relative suggested she enter Katharine’s name. To her surprise she found out that there was already an entry for her sister - created by an anonymous friend whose identity she still doesn't know.
She started to publicise the entry, and has since spent the last seven days campaigning for more votes. Katharine’s page now has 2,709 votes – almost 2,000 times more than it did a week ago – though there’s still a long way to go before it beats Boaty McBoatface.
But Nikki is keen to keep campaigning for Katharine - not just to ensure her pioneering work is recognised but to create a tribute to the "extraordinary woman" she knew as her older sister.
"She wasn’t your typical scientist. She was full of life, fun, liked dancing, fashion, music. She was very popular, supportive and a loyal friend and sister. We were very close. We'd squabble, as siblings do, but always make up. We lived together in our twenties in Maida Vale, and walking around that area now I still think of her. There's so many fond memories, but at the same time it's sad because I know they'll never happen again.

"We were both really different when it came to our careers - I worked in charity and she was always very good at science and maths - but we'd get on so well. She was the person I'd tell everything to - the good and the bad. I've got great friends now, but no one to replace her. There's a big hole that will never be filled.  I couldn't ever imagine I'd lose my older sister, and that loss will always be there."
The one consolation for Nikki is that she knows her sister would love what she's doing to try and have the £200m ship named after her: "She wasn’t someone to blow her own trumpet – she never would have been big-headed enough to suggest this herself. Yet I know that if her name did end up on that ship, she’d be proud of herself. She was so passionate about what she did and I think it would be really important to her, and it would make her happy.”
The final decision on the ship’s name will lie with the NERC, meaning that the Boaty McBoatface may never surface again, but Nikki admits it would be disappointing if a jokey name beat her sister’s. 
“I think it’s great to bring humour into this and some of the entries are really funny,” she says, “but it would be a shame if one of them won. I wouldn’t be outraged, but I’d be sad because I really want it to be named after Katharine. It would mean such a lot to me and it would be a really lasting tribute to her."