Rosalind Elsie Franklin (25 July 1920 – 16 April 1958) was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, coal, and graphite. Although her works on coal and viruses were appreciated in her lifetime, Franklin's contributions to the discovery of the structure of DNA were largely unrecognized during her life, for which Franklin has been variously referred to as the "wronged heroine", the "dark lady of DNA", the "forgotten heroine", a "feminist icon", and the "Sylvia Plath of molecular biology".
My previous choice of Rosalind Franklin was because I think her story is historically interesting.
This choice however is a more subjective one for one of my heroines, Dame Jane Goodall. Here is the wikipedia introduction
Dame Jane Morris Goodall DBE (born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall; 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. She is considered the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, after 60 years' studying the social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees.
I became aware of her through the National Geographic articles on her studies in the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania in the 1960s. These generated my interest in primates, especially the great apes, that has grown over the subsequent decades. Her commitment and compassion are inspiring.