In 2015 the United Nations General Assembly declared 11th February as a day to celebrate, recognise and encourage women and girls in STEM fields around the world! This initiative hopes that increased visibility will strengthen interest and support for the next generation of girls who want develop their passions for science.

The Society’s first female member, Helen Harriet Neild (1859 – 1907) was registered as a Member of the Royal Society of Victoria on 10th October, 1889. The second child and eldest daughter of eleven siblings in the Neild household, Nellie had been brought up as a young society woman, notably singing at the Shakespeare Society’s musical gatherings in the late 1880s. She had attended the University of Melbourne to attain a science degree, which in those early years was offered as a Bachelor of Arts under Sir Frederick McCoy’s guidance. She is identified by Dr Allan Madsley as a zoologist.