Gardner Inlet is a large, ice-filled inlet at the southwest side of
Bowman Peninsula, on the east coast of
Palmer Land,
Antarctica. It was discovered by the
Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition, 1947–48, under
Finn Ronne, who named it for
Irvine Clifton Gardner, a physicist at the
National Bureau of Standards, and member of the American Antarctic Association, Inc., the organization set up to make plans and preparations for the expedition. His work in the field of optics as applied to aerial photography has been an important contribution to this technique in polar exploration.