Eylem Elif Maviş, née Koç, (born November 9, 1973) is the first Turkish

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 woman mountaineer

Mountaineer

-Sports:*Mountaineering, the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains, also known as alpinism-University athletic teams and mascots:*Appalachian State Mountaineers, the athletic teams of Appalachian State University...

 to climb Mount Everest

Mount Everest

Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...

, the highest mountain on Earth.

Elif was born on in Tokat

Tokat

Tokat is the capital city of Tokat Province of Turkey, at the mid Black Sea region of Anatolia. According to the 2009 census, the city of Tokat has a population of 129,879.-History:Tokat was established in the Hittite era....

, Turkey. She received her Bachelor of Science

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 degree in environmental engineering

Environmental engineering

Environmental engineering is the application of science and engineering principles to improve the natural environment , to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms, and to remediate polluted sites...

 and a Master of Science

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 degree in business administration from the Middle East Technical University

Middle East Technical University

Middle East Technical University is a public technical university located in Ankara, Turkey...

 in Ankara

Ankara

Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....

. She holds another master's degree from the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

. A management systems specialist, she works as a software engineer

Software engineer

A software engineer is an engineer who applies the principles of software engineering to the design, development, testing, and evaluation of the software and systems that make computers or anything containing software, such as computer chips, work.- Overview :...

.

On July 22, 2005 she successfully summited Gasherbrum II

Gasherbrum II

Gasherbrum II , also known as K4, is the 13th highest mountain on Earth, located on the border of Gilgit-Baltistan province, Pakistan and Xinjiang, China...

 (8,035 m), the 14th highest peak of the world, with a Turkish team comprising six members. She and her teammate Burçak Özoğlu Poçan

Burçak Özoglu Poçan

Burçak Poçan, née Özoğlu, is a female mountaineer and one of the first Turkish women who climbed over 8,000 m.Burçak was born on January 4, 1970 in Ankara...

 became the first Turkish women to climb over 8,000 m.

Elif reached the summit of Mount Everest (8848 m) as the first member of a Turkish expedition team on May 15, 2006 at 3:00 UTC, followed by three others Haldun Ülkenli, Serkan Girgin and Soner Büyükatalay. The team, sponsored by Petrol Ofisi

Petrol Ofisi

OMV Petrol Ofisi A.Ş. is Turkey's leading fuel products distribution and lubricants company.It was established on February 18, 1941 as a state owned company to import, stock, refine and distribute petroleum products. On July 24, 2000, the company was privatized, and initially 51% of the shares were...

, consisted of 11 mountaineers.