Speakers Biographies
EXPLORE 2015
SPEAKERS BIOGRAPHIES
Ignacio Acosta
Ignacio is an artist working with photography and exploring power dynamics in
minerals, geographies and historical narratives. His practice based PhD Copper
Geographies investigates links between extractive ecologies of the Atacama
Desert, Chile and global centres of consumption and trade in Britain. In
collaboration with Jakub Bojczuk, he is currently developing Mapping Domeyko,
a project trying to reconstruct the adventures and endeavours of pioneering
Polish mineralogist, Ignacy Domeyko (1802-1889). Ignacio is part of the
research project Traces of Nitrate: Mining history and photography between
Britain and Chile, developed at the University of Brighton, in collaboration with
photographer Xavier Ribas and Art and Design historian Louise Purbrick, with
the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Communicating your discoveries: Artists in the Field workshop
www.ignacioacosta.com
Felicity Aston
Felicity's expeditions include a 59-day ski across Antarctica (the only woman to
have done so alone), leading the Commonwealth Women's Antarctic Expedition
involving a team of 8 novices skiing to the South Pole, leading the first British
women's expedition to cross Greenland, a 700km winter crossing of Lake Baikal
and an expedition to trace the footsteps of Victorian Explorer Kate Marsden in
Yakutsk and North-East Siberia Felicity was the leader of the Pole of Cold
expedition, winner of the Society's 2013 Land Rover Bursary a 3-month,
30,000km journey to chase winter across northern Europe and Siberia to the
Pole of Cold - the coldest inhabited place in the world.
Polar workshop
www.felicityaston.com
@felicity_aston
Philip Avery
Phil Avery is Director of Learning & Strategy for the Bohunt Education Trust, but
he's as likely to be found up a hill with students as he is in the classroom. Phil
has led student expeditions to Greenland and the remote Himalayas, which are
focused on scientific fieldwork, media communication and the development of
personal attributes. He is currently planning a remote supervision expedition for
Sixth Formers. He has also taken part in a number of teacher expeditions
(Belarus, Iceland, South Africa and Antarctica), is a Mountain and Mountain Bike
Leader, loves cycle touring and runs an Outdoor Programme that sees over 700
students a year spend two or more nights under canvas. He and his school
believe that fieldwork and the outdoors are central to student development.
Friday night lecture & Education workshop
www.bohunttrust.co.uk
@MrPhilAvery
Speakers Biographies
Dr Arita Baaijens
Arita Baaijens is a biologist, author, photographer. Twenty years ago she gave
up her job as an environmentalist, bought camels and made a solo crossing
across the Western Desert of Egypt. Today she has made over 25 expeditions
(3-6 months at a time) with her own caravan of camels and is the first Western
woman to have travelled the whole of the northern desert of Sudan on camel.
She is also the first Western woman to have travelled the Forty Days Road
twice. One of her discoveries is a hidden valley in the Eastern desert of Sudan
with hundreds of petroglyphs depicting cows. In Mauritania she recently met the
last remaining local female caravaneers of West Africa. This summer she
traveled on
horseback through the Altai Mountains in Siberia, in search for Shambala. Her
most recent book is Desert Songs, a woman explorer in Egypt and Sudan (Auc
Press, 2008, Egypt)
Desert and savannah workshop
www.aritabaaijens.nl
Lawrence Ball
Lawrence recently won a PhD scholarship to continue his research on
rangeland management and biodiversity conservation in the Dhofar Mountains
of Oman. He has also been involved in scientific expeditions to Madagascar, the
Peruvian Amazon and subarctic Finland. He is currently involved in running
an expedition to Madagascar to investigate forest edge-effects. He is
also an avid science-communicator through a number of online and
printed media. His career goal is to manage research-informed
conservation projects using cross-disciplinary approaches to inform
environmental policy in biodiverse regions.
Biological sciences workshop
www.lawrenceballconservation.com
@Lawrence_Ball
Suzy Bennett
Suzy Bennett is an award-winning travel photographer, writer and editor. Her
work is published in national and international titles, including Time magazine,
The Telegraph and The Guardian. Suzy specialises in covering off-the-beatentrack destinations; assignments have seen her diving the World War One
shipwrecks of Scapa Flow in Scotland’s Orkney Isles, tracking mountain gorillas
in Rwanda and meeting tribesmen in Papua New Guinea. She is an editor at
adventure magazine Sidetracked.
Communicating your discoveries: Photography workshop
www.suzybennett.com
@RoamingSooze
Jakub Bojczuk
Passionate about transport links and logistics, Jakub has a Masters in Transport
Planning at the University of Westminster. He currently is a Route Manager
(Revenue Management) at IAG Cargo where he has been specialising in
developing new processes as part of the British Airways and Iberia merger.
Previously he worked at London Borough of Richmond delivering sustainable
workplace travel plans. He is a keen adventurer and has long-standing selftaught practice of drawing imaginary transport maps. He is currently developing
Mapping Domeyko in collaboration with artist Ignacio Acosta, a research project
inspired by journeys of the Polish mineralogist, Ignacy Domeyko (1802-1889) for
an exhibition at Laznia, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Gdansk, Poland in 2017.
Communicating your discoveries: Artists in the Field workshop
www.kubaspassages.weebly.com
Speakers Biographies
James Borrell
James Borrell is a conservation biologist currently studying for a PhD at Queen
Mary, University of London. James has been involved with expeditions and
fieldwork in a diverse range of environments, including Lapland, Madagascar,
Oman, Borneo, Peru and South Africa. His research interest focuses on the
population genetics of rare species, particularly gene flow in fragmented forest
habitats. James is also keen advocate of citizen science and recently launched
Discover Conservation, a social enterprise highlighting the work of field
scientists, whilst raising funds for the next generation of young conservationists.
Saturday lecture, Tropical Forest panel
http://jamesborrell.co.uk/
@James_Borrell
Jamie BuchananDunlop
Jamie is director of Digital Explorer, an organization that creates education
programmes based on expeditions and fieldwork. He is interested in
communicating from the field and is happy to try to answer questions on: using
the web, digital media (including filmmaking), Google Earth and the like, GPS,
remote communications, youth expeditions and how to make your expedition
relevant to the classroom. He has been on expeditions to India, Pakistan, Tibet,
Morocco, Oman, Antarctica and the Arctic. He has been a member of the RGSIBG Council and sat on the Society's Education Committee.
Education workshop
www.digitalexplorer.com
@de_updates
Dr Carl Cater
Dr Carl Cater is a senior lecturer in tourism at Aberystwyth University, Wales
and his research is on experiences and behaviour in travel, with a particular
interest in adventure tourism and ecotourism. He has undertaken field research,
supervision and teaching worldwide, including Australia, China, Nepal, New
Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Tibet and Vanuatu. He is a qualified pilot,
diver, lifesaver, mountain and tropical forest leader, and maintains an interest in
both the practice and pursuit of sustainable outdoor tourism. He is co-editor of
the Encyclopaedia of Sustainable Tourism (CABI, 2015), co-founder of the
Adventure Tourism Research Association (ATRA) and is on the editorial board
of several tourism journals.
Human Sciences field research workshop
www.aber.ac.uk
@AberSMB
Emily Chappell
Emily Chappell worked for several years as a cycle courier in Central London,
before setting off to cycle round the world. So far she has covered Asia, via Iran,
Pakistan and China, and ridden solo from Anchorage to Seattle in winter. This
summer she changed the pace, and competed in the 4,500km Transcontinental
Race across Europe. Well aware that people have been cycling round the world
for over a century, and wanting to make her adventure relevant to the needs and
interests of today's world, she has consistently tried to tell new stories, and to
explore corners of the world and facets of long-distance cycling that usually
remain hidden. Emily's first book will be published by Faber in January 2016.
Cycling panel
www.thatemilychappell.com
@emilychappell
Speakers Biographies
Luce Choules
Luce is a visual artist with an international practice working mainly in still and
moving image and the intermedia between sculpture and performance. Luce's
art deals with an exploration of the Earth's surface – unfixed topographical
features and fluent spatial dynamics, envisioned as the activated spaces of
landscape to be surveyed and mapped. Travelling between object and situation,
expeditions form a framework for the artist's itinerant practice of fieldwork –
where a performance takes place, artworks are made and documents are
generated. Luce is a Fellow of the RGS-IBG, and founder/coordinator of
itinerant artist network TSOEG (Temporal School of Experimental Geography).
She has presented academic papers on the subject of artist-led fieldwork,
fieldwork as aesthetic medium and artform, including observations on
geographic and peripatetic arts practice. www.tsoeg.org
Communicating your discoveries: Artists in the Field workshop
www.lucechoules.com , www.guidetohere.com, www.guide74.com
Rebecca Coles
Rebecca Coles is a Mountaineering Instructor, Expedition Leader and Field
Studies Guide based in Sheffield. She also has a PhD in Glacial
Geomorphology from the University of Sheffield. She is keen mountaineer, skier
and climber and this has taken her to all seven continents, and particularly to
Nepal and Central Asia. Her expeditions have included making first ascents in
South Georgia, Antarctica and, more recently, exploratory mountaineering in
Tajikistan and Afghanistan, and an ascent of Peak Lenin (71034m) in
Kyrgyzstan. Rebecca also enjoys travel in general and in 2011 spent 9 months
travelling back from Nepal to the UK overland spending time in Central Asia and
the Southern Caucasus. When in the UK she enjoys rock climbing in North
Wales and the Peak, and Scottish winter routes as well as writing articles on
expeditions and is a contributor to Trek and Mountain magazine.
Mountaineering and trekking workshop
www.allbutessentialtravel.com
@allbutessential
Alicia Colson
Alicia Colson has been an archaeologist since 1990 and has a PhD in
Archaeology from McGill University. She has mapped and recorded US
archaeological sites of White Otter Lake, the Turtle River system, the
Brightsands River system, and conducted the most recent survey of
pictograph sites on the Lake of the Woods in subarctic central Canada.
In Antigua she identified human remains of the sailors of Nelson’s Navy.
She specialises in rock images (called rock art) and draws on research
tools developed in digital humanities and computing science. She was
Chief Scientist for the British Exploring Society Craters and Canyons
2014 Expedition to Namibia to find, survey and record the rock image
sites in the north-eastern valleys of the Brandberg, Namibia.
Human Sciences field research workshop
http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alicia_Colson
Dave Cornthwaite
Dave Cornthwaite left his day job in 2005 to see if he could find a way of
enjoying Mondays. These days he is an adventurer, author and experienced
speaker who has motivated and entertained thousands of people on six
continents. He has completed eleven journeys of Expedition 1000: 25 separate
expeditions of at least 1000 miles in distance, each using a different mode of
non-motorised transport. He has descended the Murray, Mississippi and
Missouri by kayak, SUP and swimming, and has over 19,000 miles of humanpowered overland miles under his belt so far. And yes, he now very much likes
Mondays.
Rivers and other adventurous projects
www.davecornthwaite.com
@DaveCorn
Speakers Biographies
Nicholas Crane
As a young geography graduate, Nick Crane helped to create an award-winning
national cycling network that became the subject of his first book. Since then he
has written another 10 books and presented over 80 geographically-related BBC
radio documentaries and films, including Coast, Map Man, Great British
Journeys, Britannia and Town. He is a recipient of the RGS-IBG Ness Award
and RSGS Mungo Park Medal. Nick has raised money and awareness through
expeditions in Africa and Asia for Intermediate Technology (now Practical
Action) and has worked for Afghanaid on a field project in the Hindu Kush. With
his cousin, Dr Richard Crane, Nick was the first to reach the Pole of
Inaccessibility in central Asia, and first to walk the 10,000-kilometre mountain
watershed of Europe, a solo expedition that led to Clear Waters Rising, which
won the Thomas Cook / Daily Telegraph Travel Book Award.
Opening address (Saturday)
http://bit.ly/1G5kq36
Kieran Creevy
Expedition chef and international mountain leader Kieran Creevy has, over the
years cooked a 6 course tasting menu from a base camp tent, served wild boar
râgu with pumpkin gnocchi on an overnight snow-hole camp, and grilled Arctic
char stuffed with wild mushrooms over an open fire in northern Finland. He has
run expedition cooking workshops for The North Face, Marmot, & Kendal
Mountain Festival. And, for last few years designed cooking wild recipes for
Sidetracked magazine. With 25 years experience cooking in private homes,
industrial kitchens, ski chalets, Scottish bothies, Alpine huts, bivis and on
various expeditions Kieran will demonstrate that not only is it easy to eat well in
the outdoors, but with some imagination and simple tips you can whip up
gourmet one-pot meals to surprise your friends almost anywhere.
Expedition food demonstration
Joe Debens
Jo has been teaching Geography for 6 years and after successfully building a
quality Geography department in Portsmouth is now Head of Humanities at
Eggar's School in Alton, Hampshire. As an Expert Teacher for the Global
Learning Programme Jo is involved with cross-curricular liaison between partner
schools at all phases, including developing international links with real and
virtual fieldwork. Jo is a keen traveller and has led student expeditions to Iceland
and Morocco as well as within the UK. She enjoys climbing and walking her
Border Collie, as well taking part in many educational schemes. Jo is a lead
teacher for the Prince's Teaching Institute for Geography, and is particularly
involved with developing the use of technology in education which has led to
becoming a Microsoft Innovative Teacher award winner, and recently a Google
Certified Teacher.
Education workshop (Sunday)
http://jodebens.com
@geodebs
Shara Dillon
Born and raised in Zimbabwe and South Africa, Shara Dillon has a deep love
for the African wilderness. Primarily a sport and outdoor education school
teacher, Shara builds adventure travel and expeditions around her teaching
career. Following many self-drive journeys around Southern Africa, she recently
undertook a solo overland drive over 8 months from Kenya to Cape Town in her
Land Cruiser. Documenting these trips through photography and keeping an
online journal has allowed Shara to recount her experiences and use digital
media to motivate others to venture outdoors more. In the past, Shara has been
heavily involved with the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, leading walking and
canoeing expeditions, sailing tall ships, and teaching navigation & survival skills.
Vehicle dependent expeditions panel (Saturday)
www.london2cape.com
Speakers Biographies
Hannah Engelkamp
Hannah Engelkamp is a travel writer and ex-outdoor-magazine editor who took
leave of her senses, bought an opinionated donkey called Chico, and set off to
walk 1000 miles around the circumference of Wales. The adventure was
surprisingly tough, but nothing compared to the subsequent excitement of
running a hugely ambitious seat-of-pants crowdfunding campaign. It was
successful, coming in 25% over budget with 831 funders from all over the world.
Come and find out about how crowd funding changes everything, why it is
perfectly suited to adventures, and get the lowdown on running your own
campaign.
Saturday morning lecture & Writing workshop
www.hannahme.com
Seth Ford
Seth has climbed and skied all over Europe, Asia and Africa. This year his
greatest achievements were successfully completing a two day alpine route of
Grade D in the Pyrenees that he had been turned back twice by weather, and
climbing a multi pitch rock route of Grade TD high up in the Pyrenees.
Seth also has experience leading expeditions, having led a spur of the moment,
yet completely brutal expedition to Norway in winter. He is highly driven by
travel and exploration of the unknown, and was particularly inspired for his most
recent expedition inKyrgyzstan after reading ‘Among the Mountains’ and ‘A
short walk in the Hindu Kush’. Seth is currently teaching Physics however
is continuously dreaming up new ventures and plans!
Mountaineering and trekking panel
Oliver Forster
Oliver Forster is an environmental geosciences student at the Edinburgh
University. In the summer of 2015 he was the Scientific Officer & Environmental
Manager on the Karakoram Anomaly project, led by Sergiu Jiduc. Research has
taken Oliver all over the world, from Jamaica’s coral reefs to the Himalayas. In
the Himalayas he studied the role of glacial lake outburst floods in the 2010
‘Cloudburst’ event – the extreme convective storm that devastated the people
and partly the region of Ladakh. He is studying a master’s course with
sustainable development charity Forum for the Future. Through the masters he
has done a series of 6-week sustainability projects with some of the UK’s
biggest companies, including Marks & Spencer and Standard Life.
www.karakoram.co
William Fox
William is the Director of the PAW Conservation Trust, a South African nonprofit organisation. Over the last ten years he has studied wild free-roaming
leopard behaviour. He manages the Ingwe Leopard Research programme,
which has developed a number of human conflict resolution methods and
projects that implement these. With his wife Ann, they manage a research camp
on the Thaba Tholo Wilderness reserve in Mpumalanga, South Africa. As
Operations Director for WildEarth Media, he is developing a number of projects
from virtual tourism, through to extension of our leopard research programs
utilising live camera traps broadcasting to a team of citizen scientists for data
analysis and interaction with field research teams, and in one case antipoaching patrols.
www.ontracksfoundation.org
Speakers Biographies
Rob Fraser
A professional photographer for the past 30 years, Rob has worked on
commissions all over the world. Becoming a guide for KE Adventure in 2003
only helped to open up his horizons to wilder parts of the planet and he has
gone on to lead more than 70 treks during this time. Recent trips have taken
him to the altiplano of Bolivia, the Celestial Mountains of Kazakhstan and Dolpa
in Nepal. A sucker for punishment he often lugs an old-fashioned large format
camera on his travels as well as pro-Nikon digital gear. In 2012 he formed the
collaborative practice somewhere nowhere with his wife, Harriet, a writer, with
the main aim to use creativity as a tool to help raise awareness of the wonder
and the value of the natural world and the cultures that work closely with the
land. They have just started a major project called The Long View, which will
see them journey repeatedly to seven lone trees spread across Cumbria over a
two year period.
Communicating your discoveries: Photography workshop
i-porter.co.uk
Elliot Graves
Elliot Graves is a geography graduate from Durham University and Director of
FOXEP Productions, a creative media production house. Working
internationally, Elliot has professional experience in photography,
cinematography, design and web development. He also has skills in radio
production, receiving awards from Global Radio and BBC Radio 1, recognising
his technical achievements. Beyond his academic and media work, Elliot also
has experience in live event production and is a skilled mechanic, having
worked on various competitive motor racing vehicles.
He was media producer of the Into No Man’s Land expedition.
http://www.intonomansland.org
@elliot_graves
Dr Claire Grogan
Claire is medical doctor with a passion for expedition and remote medicine. She
has provided medical support for expeditions in jungle, dessert and
mountainous environments across the world. She was the lead medic for the
BBC documentary 'Highest Classroom on Earth which saw her support a large
group of students with special educational needs trekking in the Himalaya's.
She has also worked with British Exploring' Project New Horizons in Iceland
with young people engaged with Catch 22's services. Whilst working at a high
altitude rescue post in the Himalayas in Spring 2015, she was caught up in the
7.8M earthquake that struck Nepal, and along with a colleague joined
Australian Himalayan Foundation's relief team to deliver Aid in a remote
mountainous region of the Lower Solukhumbu.
Mountaineering and trekking panel
Justin Hall
With a passion for cultural and environmental issues Justin has spent much of
his life crisscrossing the planet, report on, filming, presenting and producing a
variety of productions for the Discovery and National Geographic channels. His
first expedition in 2000 showed how satellite and web technologies could be
used to track, chart and communicate expeditions as he journeyed among the
tribes of South America. Reporting on illegal wildlife trade, child slavery,
deforestation, gold mining, cocaine production, piracy and more, In recent
years Justin has been on operations in Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Belize, Borneo,
Djibouti, Colombia, Congo and Libya. Justin is also one of the new faces of
National Geographic’s flagship global series ‘Explorer’.
Saturday morning lecture & Communicating your discoveries: Film
www.rippleeffect.co
@ExplorerJustinH
Speakers Biographies
Andrew Harper
Since walking across Australia following the Tropic of Capricorn in 1999,
Andrew Harper has led over 130 camel expeditions in all of Australia’s nine
major deserts. In 2007 he founded Australian Desert Expeditions, conducting
scientific surveys with national research institutions. When not walking deserts,
he takes to the water and kayaks the inland rivers. His next 'project' is to gather
support to make his home town of Deniliquin a 'plastic bag free' community. In
1999 he brought to fruition a 17 year dream of walking across Australia along
The Tropic of Capricorn, a 229 day, 4637 kilometre journey raising funds for the
Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Desert and Savannah workshop
www.andrewharper.com.au
Rebecca Harris
Rebecca Harris began her TV career as a designer for the BBC Natural History
Unit. After assisting in the wilds of Alaska, filming lemmings in the snow, her
career was never quite the same again! She gave up her UK based TV
design job and two expeditions followed – to the Antarctic and Arctic. Her
Arctic expedition, endorsed by RGS-IBG, was fully sponsored by American
Express. Two years later, Rebecca returned to TV as an Assistant Producer
using her expedition skills to compliment her television work. She is currently a
freelance series producer and credits include – Stephen Tompkinson's Great
African Balloon Adventure, ‘Joanna Lumley's Nile’, ‘Brazil with Michael Palin’,
'Noah's Ark with Joanna Lumley' and ‘Wild Australia with Ray Mears’. Most
recently she's been developing a wildlife series in Africa for National
Geographic and her own series ideas for BBC, ITV1 and Channel 4.
Communicating your discoveries: Film
Martin Hartley
One of the world's leading expedition and adventure travel photographers,
Martin Hartley specialises in documenting the most inaccessible places on
earth. He has documented 20 unique polar assignments and is one of the only
professional photographers to have crossed the Arctic Ocean on foot and with
dogs (Adventure Ecology Top of the World Trans-Arctic Expedition 2006, Catlin
Arctic Survey 2009 and 2010). His first book Face to Face: Polar Portraits was
published in collaboration with the Scott Polar Research Institute.
Communicating your discoveries: Photography
www.martinhartley.com
@MartinRHartley
Jason Ingamells
Jason Ingamells is Company Director of Woodland Ways Bushcraft & Survival providing an extensive array of Bushcraft training, overseas expeditions and
expedition support. He has extensive practical applied experience of Desert
Travel and Desert Survival Strategies. Jason is also a stake holder in Wild Earth
Productions Ltd, providing remote location production support to TV,
advertising, moving images and advertising. He is also Director of the charity
Woodland Ways Bushcraft Foundation providing support to a remote Maasai
community in the Rift Valley of Kenya.
Mountain and trekking expeditions workshop
http://www.woodland-ways.co.uk/
Speakers Biographies
Caroline Jackson
Caroline Jackson has just completed her Masters in Disasters, Adaptation and
Development at King’s College, London. Her thesis research involved an
expedition to the Philippines with two coursemates, partly funded by an RGSIBG Geographical Fieldwork Grant. They spent spent four weeks in a small
Filipino city completing theirr research on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
perceptions and participation. She is here to share with you her experiences,
offer any advice and most of all encourage others to realise that these
expeditions ARE possible with a bit of dedication and planning!
Human Sciences field research workshop
Gabriel Jamie
Gabriel has been watching birds from an early age beginning in and around
Cape Town, South Africa. His love of natural history has led him to do fieldwork
in many exciting places around the world including Ghana, Zambia, Peru,
Greece and Romania. This work ranges from researching fundamental
processes in ecology and evolution to carrying out surveys of remote and littleexplored areas. Gabriel is currently a PhD student at the University of
Cambridge studying a radiation of finches in Africa that forego their parental
duties and instead lay their eggs in the nests of other bird species.
Biological Sciences field research workshop
http://www2.zoo.cam.ac.uk/africancuckoos/people/jamie/gabrieljamie.html
Sergiu Jiduc
Sergiu Jiduc is a postgraduate student at Imperial College in London. Over the
summer of 2015, he led a 2 month fieldwork expedition called the 'The
Karakoram Anomaly Project' in the Karakoram mountains of Pakistan. He and
his team trekked and climbed, collecting data using GPS surveying techniques,
geomorphic mapping and repeat photography tools, in order to quantify the
likelihood of recurrence of glacial lake outburst floods as a result of surging
glaciers in Shimshal valley. The team also carried out community development
workshops in Shimshal village and in Islamabad in order to aid the natural
disaster prevention and adaptation scheme in the region. In addition, the team
attempted to ascend Yukshin Gardan Sar (7530m) via the unclimbed south
face. This project was awarded a Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)
Geographical Fieldwork Grant for 2015.
Sunday morning lecture
www.karakoram.co
@thekarakoram
Stephen Jones
Steve has worked in Antarctica for nine years for Antarctic Logistics &
Expeditions LLC the company that flies nearly all polar expeditions and
mountaineers into Antarctica. For the last six years he was the manager of their
base in Antarctica with responsibility for the safety and logistical support for all
field parties. He has been on 31 expeditions and has varied experience in
mountaineering, jungle and polar environments. He has organised
mountaineering expeditions to Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Pakistan and
Russia. In the Arctic he has guided expeditions to Alaska, Arctic Canada,
Greenland, Spitsbergen and Last Degree expeditions to the North Pole. He
skied across the Greenland Icecap, has been on mountaineering expeditions to
many cold places and has helped several British polar adventurers to organise
their solo polar expeditions. He was a Country Director for Raleigh International
for seven years in South-East Asia, Africa, Central and South America. He is an
expert on polar expedition planning and the safety management of remote
expeditions.
Arctic and Polar expeditions workshop
www.antarctic-logistics.com
@AntarcticSteve
Speakers Biographies
Sam Jones
Sam Jones is an ornithologist and conservation scientist. An avid birder and
naturalist from childhood, he has wide-ranging field experience across six
continents, primarily in remote biodiversity assessment expeditions in montane
tropical forests and studying the basic ecology of poorly known and threatened
birds. Sam is the senior ornithologist for Operation Wallacea’s longstanding
cloud-forest monitoring programme in Honduras and currently undertaking his
PhD as part of the NERC London Doctoral Training Partnership. Sam is
dedicated to the communication of natural history, producing recent content for
the BBC Natural History Unit (for BBC Radio 4) and Scientific American.
Biological Sciences research workshop & Publishing your results
@samuel_ei_jones
Quintin Lake
Quinton Lake is a fine art photographer with over 20 years of expedition
experience in jungle, arctic and desert environments and travels in over 70
countries. His large format prints based on the themes of harmony and serenity
have been exhibited and published extensively. Photo awards include
categories in Travel Photographer of the Year, Outdoor Photographer of the
Year and International Photo Awards. In 2013 his blog won Wordpress editors
choice. His Latest photo project, The Perimeter, is based on walking 10,000km
around Britain's coast over 5 years.
Communicating your discoveries: Photography
http://theperimeter.uk
@QuintinLake
Neil Laughton
Neil Laughton is a former Royal Marine Commando and Special Forces Officer
currently running Management Training Company, Laughton & Co. He is an
entrepreneur, pilot and adventurer. He has founded eight companies in various
industries, has a passion for aviation holding licences for paragliders,
paratrikes, aeroplanes and helicopters. He has travelled to 85 countries and led
expeditions on seven Continents. Neil has completed the Explorers Grand
Slam, was the first person to jetski around the UK and piloted the world's first
road legal flying car on a 10,000 km journey from London to Timbuktu including
flights across the Straits of Gibraltar and the Sahara Desert. In 2005 he
received the RGS's Ness Award for "Leadership of Expeditions.
www.neillaughton.com
Noam Leshem
Dr Noam Leshem. is a political geographer at Durham University specializing in
geographies of ethnic and urban conflict. He has worked and studied violent
conflicts in the Middle East for over 15 years, and has particular expertise in the
Israeli-Palestinian geopolitical arena. Prior to his academic career, Dr Leshem
was involved in the development of peace education programmes and civil
society organizations. Dr Leshem is regularly consulted by journalists and
policymakers. He is a one of the two lead researchers on the No Man's Land
Expedition, and co-recipient of the RGS-IBG Thesiger Oman Award 2015.
Saturday morning lecture
http://www.intonomansland.org
@NoamLeshem
Speakers Biographies
Caroline Letrange
A passionate traveller, Caroline Letrange became fascinated with Nepal's
diversity and the haunting beauty of the Himalayas when she first visited
Kathmandu 10 years ago. Since then, she has travelled extensively in Nepal,
climbed Everest in 2006, Cho Oyu in 2004 and went to the top of Manaslu in
2013. In East-Africa Caroline travelled to Tanzania and Kenya, sharing unique
moments on Kilimanjaro and Mt Kenya. As a former Art Director, Caroline is the
founder of Eseriani Travel Media, a full-service online marketing agency offering
support to companies in the travel sector, adventure brands and athletes. Her
professional career is now focused on developing Ambassadorship Programs to
deliver one-on-one executive coaching and corporate wellness programs
Communicating your discoveries: photography
www.eseriani.com
@EserianiNews
Ceri Lewis
Ceri Lewis is an experienced marine biologist with expertise in how
environmental change and pollution affects reproductive processes in marine
animals. Ceri currently holds lectureship position at Exeter University, running
the two marine biology modules and is conducting research into how marine
animals adapt and respond to environmental change, such as ocean
acidification, climate change and increasing pollution. As part of this research
Ceri joined the Catlin Arctic Survey in 2010 and 2011 to study ocean
acidification processes in the High Arctic during the winter-spring transition
period, enduring temperatures as low as -40°C in the pursuit of vital scientific
data on climate change. She also helps run a tropical marine ecology field trip
to study the coral reefs in the Bahamas and recently did a research cruise into
marine microplastics off the coast of Maine from a 60ft yacht.
Ocean and marine projects
https://biosciences.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=ceri_lewis
@CezzaLew
Peter Long
Dr Peter Long works as a research fellow in the Department of Zoology,
University of Oxford. His research involves developing web-based decision
support tools for optimal land use planning in future environmental scenarios
taking account of biodiversity conservation goals and ecosystem service
provision. This work involves lots of remote sensing, databases, environmental
modelling and close working with other disciplines, especially e-science,
physical geography and economics. In order to validate global models,
expeditions to collect high-quality field data sets are essential. Peter coordinates long-term biodiversity monitoring programmes in Madagascar and
Honduras in association with Operation Wallacea and develops land
management projects within the voluntary carbon sector for these sites. These
projects also permit conservation capacity building, especially in relation to GIS
and RS.
Biological sciences field research workshop
http://www.peterlong.net
Helen Lloyd
Helen Lloyd has cycled 45,000km through 45 countries on 4 continents. On her
first long ride from the UK to Cape Town, she cycled across the Sahara, Sahel
and tropics of West Africa, paddled down the Niger River in a pirogue, hitchhiked to Timbuktu and spent three months traversing the Congo. Her most
recent and challenging journey was three months spent cycling across Siberia
in winter. This was part of a longer journey in Asia, where she also cycled
through Russia, Mongolia and the Silk Road cities of central Asia. She has also
cycled through North and Central America, and made remote journeys by river
and horse.
Desert Snow is her debut book about her Africa ride. Her second book, A
Siberian Winter’s Tale, will be published in December 2015.
Cycling workshop
www.helenstakeon.com
@helenlloyd
Speakers Biographies
Cameron Mackay
Cameron is a third year undergraduate of Geography at the University of
Glasgow. Over the last three years he has joined and organised expeditions to
Greenland to study impacts of climate change and Tanzania to study
volcanology and environmental interactions. Throughout all of these trips, he
has developed a strong interest in documentary filmmaking and has produced
two short films outlining environmental issues in the Arctic and in Africa. He is
currently working on setting up more opportunities for UK youth expedition
projects in producing and communicating their discoveries through film and
other medias.
Communicating your discoveries: film and video
changingplanet.co.uk
@CameronJMackay
Mac Mackenney
Mac founded Max Adventure, a company with 18 years' experience in providing
consultancy, planning and logistical services for expeditions and adventures.
Mac is a consultant to Sir Ranulph Fiennes and acted as his right-hand man on
his last North Pole expedition. The Max Adventure team have created, planned,
led, supported and filmed expeditions around the world, including the Land
Rover Global Expedition; Xtreme Everest medical research expedition; the first
amphibious crossing of the Bering Strait; 4 long-distance driving records
including the prestigious London to Cape Town record and 'Driven to Extremes',
a global extreme driving series for Discovery Channel. He has recently returned
from leading a 20,000km overland drive to far eastern Siberia in 3 new Vauxhall
Vivaro, 2WD vans - another world first.
Vehicle expeditions and Route planning
www.maxadventure.co.uk
@MaxAdvExp
Leon McCarron
Leon McCarron is an adventurer and filmmaker. Since attending Explore in
2009, Leon has cycled 14,000 miles from New York to Hong Kong, walked 3000
miles across Mongolia and China and trekked 1000 miles through the Empty
Quarter desert. Last year he followed the longest river in Iran from source to
sea and crossed Argentine Patagonia on horseback. In December he is headed
back to the Middle East to walk through Palestine, Israel, Jordan and Egypt in
search of stories of hope and understanding. More information on films, TV
show and book at the website below.
Communicating your discoveries: Film and video
http://www.leonmccarron.com/
@leonmccarron
Sam McConnell
Since 1997 Sam has led over one hundred teams in deserts across Africa, from
the Namib & Kalahari to the Sinai in the Eastern Sahara. In 2002 he walked
solo and unsupported across the Dune Sea of the Namib Desert. In 2007 he
traversed the Sinai desert with a group of nine bereaved children. In 2012 he retraced this epic journey across the Sinai desert with 40 underprivileged young
people. In 2011 he found himself back in Namibia and the coast of wreck and
bones, leading a group of nine people 500km on foot and unsupported up the
Skeleton Coast For the last three years Sam has worked for the British
Exploring Society as Chief Leader on a series of three expeditions to Namibia.
Desert and savannah expeditions
www.sam-mcconnell-expeditions.com
Speakers Biographies
Nicholas McWilliam
After a geography degree, Nick's first use of Geographic Information Systems
was in modelling large mammal distributions in Tanzania, where he has
remained involved in mapping, research and training in the country's National
Parks. He has worked for the RGS's Expedition Advisory Centre (now GO), the
British Antarctic Survey's GIS team, the UN in South Sudan, and Médecins
Sans Frontières. Since 2003 he has worked on mapping and GIS for disaster
response with the UK humanitarian charity MapAction. This involves continual
development and, about once a year, an emergency-response mission, most
recently in Nepal following the earthquake there. He co-edited the RGS's GIS
Fieldwork Manual and regularly helps with the RGS's fieldwork workshops. After
GIS lecturing for Life Sciences and Geography at Anglia Ruskin University in
Cambridge, he's now based in Stirling - closer to the hills. Nick's first expedition,
studying medicinal plants in Sumatra, started at 'Explore' in 1986.
GIS, GPS and field mapping workshop
www.mapaction.org
David Measures
David leads CARLA International’s Social Development department. He has
over 12 years of field experience and has been responsible for designing and
implementing international development projects across Asia Pacific, Africa and
the Middle East. He has extensive field expertise leading small teams
conducting social development analysis, consultative and participatory
approaches in the design of sustainable livelihood projects.
Human Sciences field research workshop
www.carlainternational.org
Mel & Michelle
Inspired by Explore in 2014, Mel and Michelle paddle boarded the length of the
River Thames from the source to sea, 206 miles over 11 days, incorporating
citizen science, testing the quality of the water, raising awareness about the
health of our river and inspiring others to create their own paddle board
adventure. In 2016 we will be co-organising the first River Thames source to
sea stand up paddle relay for the Totally Thames Festival. We will be
championing citizen science, water conservation and adventure.
www.melandmichelle.com
Duncan Milligan
Duncan runs Tour de Force, an adventure logistics company, specialising in
overland travel. After many years backpacking around SE Asia, he worked for 5
years as a tour leader / driver for a well-respected Overland company. During
this time he spent a year in South America, drove from the UK to Cameroon
and back, Nairobi to Cape Town, Kathmandu to the UK via China, Tibet and
Central Asia- as well as many trips to the Sahara region. Since setting up Tour
de Force, Duncan has been a team member on an expedition to take a flying
car to Tomboctou, and travelled as support crew on numerous classic car rallies
including, Peking to Paris and London to Cape Town. He has also project
managed The Africa Rally, The Mototaxi Junket and The Icarus Trophy for The
Adventurists. He has led numerous schools expeditions to rural Lesotho and
townships in South Africa. He recently joined a team training BBC journalists on
hostile environments and travel safety advice. He also advises numerous clients
wanting to complete their own overland adventures.
Vehicle Dependent expeditions & Route Planning
www.tourdeforceuk.com
@Tourdeforceuk
Speakers Biographies
James Moore
James Moore is a specialist in Travel and Expedition Medicine. As an
expedition medic he has worked in locations such as the jungles of Borneo and
Papua New Guinea, the deserts of Sudan and Ethiopian mountains, through to
remote islands in the Southern Ocean. He has taught expedition medicine to
medics and lay people alike, for organisations such as the BBC, Tiger
Productions and the Zoological Society of London and the Met Office. He is part
of the RGS Medical Cell, an Editor of the Oxford Handbook of Expedition and
Wilderness Medicine and co-Director of the International Diploma in Expedition
and Wilderness Medicine.
Expedition Medicine & Tropical Forest workshop (Saturday)
http://www.travelhealthconsultancy.co.uk
Tim Moss
Tim Moss has supported over 100 expeditions across all seven continents. He's
organised large-scale Arctic and Himalayan expeditions, climbed new
mountains in Siberia and recently spent 16 months cycling 13,000 miles around
the world with his wife Laura. He runs adventure website The Next Challenge,
where he offers free advice and an expedition grant.
www.thenextchallenge.org
@NextChallenge
Laura Moss
Human geography undergraduate; currently working as a solicitor but looking to
get back into geography related work / development work. Laura Moss
organises the UK's Cycle Touring Festival, which brings together all those
people interested in exploring the world by bicycle. Her own adventures include
a 16 month, 13,000 mile bike ride through 27 countries around the world, as
well as walking across Patagonia, swimming from Europe to Asia and, closer to
home, running the length of every London Underground Tube line. In her
normal life, she works as a solicitor for charities and social enterprises and
firmly believes in fitting adventure into the everyday.
Website: www.cycletouringfestival.co.uk
Twitter: @lauralikeswater
Cycling workshop
www.cycletouringfestival.co.uk
@lauralikeswater
Dr Mark Mulligan
Mark Mulligan, Reader in Geography at King's College London considers field
research as fundamental to understanding and managing environments and
ecosystems. He has led successful field teaching and research programmes
throughout Europe, Latin America and South-east Asia including RGS-IBG
sponsored fieldwork in Colombia, Brunei and Nepal and has supervised more
than 15 successful student expeditions at undergraduate, masters and PhD
levels. Mark has been Honorary Secretary to the RGS-IBG Council with
responsibility for expeditions and fieldwork and is currently senior fellow of the
UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Mark currently leads research
projects on: water, food and poverty in the Volta for the CGIAR Water Land and
Ecosystems Programme (supported by DfID); desertification in Southern
Europe and North Africa (supported by the European Commission); and the
ecosystem services provided to humanity by the world's protected areas.
Talk: Designing a research project, GIS & Mapping workshop (Sunday)
www.policysupport.org
@markmulligan
Speakers Biographies
Toby Nowlan
Toby Nowlan organised and led several research expeditions including to
Borneo's lowland rainforests and to Mexico in search of the world's rarest
marine mammal. He has supervised carnivore research in Madagascar,
monkey research in West Africa, bird conservation in South Korea, narwhal
research in the Canadian Arctic and was zoologist for a further expedition to the
Canadian Arctic. Toby was a finalist for the Rolex Young Laureates of the Year
Award 2011 for plans to develop a coral reef research centre in Indonesia. He
now works as a researcher at the BBC's Natural History Unit on One Planet, the
sequel series to Planet Earth. Over the last three years he has filmed across the
world including Namibia, Botswana, Peru, Bolivia, and Madagascar.
Communicating your discoveries: Film & video
http://www.tobynowlan.com/
@tobynowlan
Fearghal O'Nuallain
Fearghal has spent the last ten years exploring the world by pedal, foot &
paddle. He spent 18 months completing a 31,000km circumnavigation of the
globe by bicycle to prove the world is round and two weeks walking across
Rwanda to research an MSc thesis in Environment & Development. He also
likes roads & spent a month cycling, hitching & hiking the Via Egnatia from
Istanbul to Albania. Fearghal is currently working on ALTIPLANO the first in a
trilogy of adventure films exploring the Geography of Water & teaching
Geography at St Paul's Academy in Abbey Wood.
Communicating your discoveries: Film & video
fearghalo.com
@Re_Ferg
Adrian Parker
Professor Adrian Parker is a geographer / archaeologist specialising in desert
geomorphology, geoarchaeology and climatic change in the sub-tropics. He is
the co-author of Global Environments through the Quaternary (OUP 2007) and
has published over 70 articles in learned journals, monographs and book
chapters. His field research has largely been spent in the Middle East (UAE,
Oman, Saudi Arabia) and occasionally in to North Africa. In his spare time he
tinkers with Land Rovers.
Earth Sciences field research workshop
http://www.palaeodeserts.com/
John Pattison
John Pattison is a PhD student at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) at the
University of Greenwich and Project Manager of an international collaborative
research project on food security in India. He has lived and worked in India and
East Africa on international development projects focusing on the environment
and food security. Over the last several years he has spent time exploring the
Canadian Arctic by canoe, Outer Mongolia by horseback, the Rocky Mountains
on foot, and Pamir Highway in Central Asia by whatever means available. He
volunteers his time on the Board of the Battle River Watershed Alliance and is
the Director of the Biodiversity Grants Program for the Alberta Conservation
Association in Canada.
Human Sciences field research workshop
Speakers Biographies
Emily Penn
Emily Penn is an oceans advocate, skipper and artist; a graduate of Cambridge
University with a degree in Sustainable Architecture; and Director of global
organisation Pangaea Explorations. Prior to 'Sailing the Line' she rounded the
planet on the bio-fuelled Earthrace boat; spent 6 months living on a tiny Tongan
island organising the largest ever community led rubbish clean-up; and
discovered previously unknown oceanic gyres - huge areas of plastic pollution
accumulation.
Oceans & Marine projects
http://emilypenn.co.uk/
Harriet Pike
Harriet was part of her village's bike gang as a child, buy didn't get into cycle
touring until inspired by a chance Caspian Sea ferry encounter with a cyclist in
2007. A bike trip across Europe followed and then a few years in the Andes and
Himalaya, during which time she fell in love with riding on traffic-free dirt roads.
With husband Neil she's updated the Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook, and
written Peru's Cordilleras Blanca & Huayhuash: the Hiking & Biking Guide, both
for Trailblazer.
Cycling workshop
www.pikesonbikes.com
@pikesonbikes
Neil Pike
Neil's first trekking experience was with Raleigh International in Patagonia in
2002 and he was soon hooked. He's since hiked in Turkey, Kyrgyzstan,
Pakistan and India, and across Nepal in winter, but is continually drawn back by
the lure of the Andes. His favourite trips have been exploring the Cordilleras
Blanca and Huayhuash in Peru, and cycling to and climbing the highest
volcanoes in the world on the Puna de Atacama in Argentina.
With wife Harriet he's updated the Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook, and
written Peru's Cordilleras Blanca & Huayhuash: the Hiking & Biking Guide, both
for Trailblazer.
Mountain and trekking workshop
www.pikesonbikes.com
Alasdair Pinkerton
Dr Alasdair Pinkerton, is a political geographer at Royal Holloway University of
London who has worked extensively in South America, South Asia and Cyprus.
He has published widely in academic journals and regularly appears in print and
broadcast media as a commentator on geopolitical and diplomatic issues.
He is a one of the two lead researchers on the No Man's Land Expedition,
recipients of the RGS-IBG Thesiger Oman Award 2015.
Into No Man’s Land expedition
http://www.intonomansland.org
@ AlPinkerton
Speakers Biographies
Sally Povolotsky
Sally works for the Special Projects team within Jaguar Land Rover Special
Vehicle Operations. As Project Manager she is responsible for the concept and
delivery of special projects and vehicles, including the 2015 RGS Bursary
Winners' vehicle conversion for the Trail by Fire.
Prior to joining Jaguar Land Rover, Sally spent a number of years building
expedition vehicles and advising explorers in vehicle outfitting, expedition gear
and bush craft mechanical skills. She has also travelled to many far flung places
and is now trying to share the passion with her children and planning to take
them on a mini adventure to the Scottish Highlands. But the Silk Trail remains a
constant daydream. Sally can often be found sitting round a fire pit dreaming up
ideas for new vehicle adventures.
Vehicle dependent expeditions workshop
www.landrover.co.uk/special-vehicle-operations/special-vehicles.html
@landrover_uk
Tariq Qureshi
Tariq enthusiasm for expeditions began during his school days some 20 years
ago. Since then, he has participated in a range of expeditions, primarily
mountaineering, in the Arctic. He is currently based at Oxford University where
he has regular teaching commitments, both within the medical school and
through running a wide range of first aid courses, and is a faculty member for
the Acute Life-threatening Events Recognition and Treatment (ALERT) course.
Tariq is the Medical Adviser to Oxford University Expeditions Council and is a
contributing author to the Oxford Handbook of Expedition and Wilderness
Medicine. He has worked with Wilderness Medical Training for over 12 years,
was recently appointed Head of Student Liaison for the company, and recently
completed the Diploma in Mountain Medicine, administered by Medical
Expeditions and the University of Leicester. He is a qualified mountain leader.
Andrew Ranville
Andrew received his MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art in 2008. Ranville’s
work describes the relationship of the body to space inhabited, interacted with,
and navigated. His research and arts practice underlines interests that include
environment, cartography, community, and rigorous fieldwork as a medium. His
installations, sculptures, architectural interventions, photographs and films
explore ideas related to site-specificity as well as the viewer’s interaction with
the work. The balance between the formal and functional aspects of the work
often elicits those interactions, and are realized using ecologically sensitive
methods which emphasize notions of sustainability and resilience. His recent
research and projects include a collaboration with the crees Foundation in Manu
Biosphere of the Peruvian Amazon; an art and conservation exhibition on Isla
del Coco in the Pacific as a TBA21 Academy Fellow; and working as the Rabbit
Island Foundations Executive Director and residency administrator on a
wilderness island in Lake Superior, Michigan.
Communicating your discoveries: Artists in the field
www.andrewranville.com / www.rabbitisland.org
Kate Rawles
Kate Rawles is passionate about using adventure travel to communicate major
environmental issues - and inspire positive action. Her book The Carbon Cycle;
Crossing the Great Divide (Two Ravens Press 2012 & Rocky Mountain Press
2013) is based on a 4553 mile bike ride from Texas to Alaska, following the
spine of the Rockies and exploring climate change. It was shortlisted for the
2012 Banff Mountain Festival Adventure Travel book awards and a runner up in
the People's Book Prize. Kate has worked as a 'mission leader' on Pangaea
Exploration's yacht Sea Dragon, exploring values and worldviews and
supporting science and activism on ocean plastic pollution. She's now planning
another environmental bike ride - this time in South America, focussed on
biodiversity. Kate's background is environmental ethics. She runs occasional
Outdoor Philosophy sea kayak trips and was a university lecturer for many
years before going fully freelance in 2014.
Cycling panel
www.outdoorphilosophy.com
@CarbonCycleKate
Speakers Biographies
Spike Reid
Spike is a photographer, adventurer, public speaker and designer. He grew up
on the edge of Dartmoor having many adventures up on the hills, with Scouts,
Naval Cadets, Ten Tors and climbing. He studied BA Design for Industry at
Northumbria University in Newcastle, where he was also an active member of
the Officer Training Corps, undertaking adventurous training with them in the
Yukon, the Alps, Picos de Europa and East Africa. In 2008, with two friends,
Spike won the first-ever Land Rover Go Beyond bursary, and spent seven
months circumnavigating the globe along the line of 50° north, He has
organised and led an independent climbing and trekking expedition to
Afghanistan and Tajikistan. He has been a leader on a British Exploring
expedition to Svalbard, Norwegian Arctic, and is now an international mountain
leader (UIMLA certified) and works as a Leader for Wild Frontiers and Camps
International. His most recent passion is Stand Up Paddle boarding.
River journeys and other adventurous projects
http://www.spikereid.com
@SpikeReid
Ben Saunders
Ben Saunders is one of the world’s leading polar explorers, and a recordbreaking long-distance skier who has covered more than 6,000km (3,700 miles)
on foot in the Polar Regions since 2001. His accomplishments include leading
The Scott expedition, the longest human-powered polar journey in history, and
the first completion of the expedition that defeated Captain Scott and Sir Ernest
Shackleton, a 105-day round-trip from Ross Island on the coast of Antarctica to
the South Pole and back again. Ben is the third person in history to ski solo to
the North Pole, and holds the record for the longest solo Arctic journey by a
Briton. He is also the founding editor and publisher of Avaunt Magazine and a
global brand ambassador for Land Rover.
Polar panel
http://www.bensaunders.com
@BenSaunders
Richard Scrase
Richard is a radio and video producer. He regularly pitches ideas and is on the
look-out for expedition based stories for radio. Whether you want to record your
journey from the back of a horse, underwater, or in a hot-air balloon, he can
suggest what equipment to use and more importantly, what to do with your
recordings once you get home. Richard is currently Head of Online
Communication at Understanding Animal Research where he runs websites,
social media and makes videos - and he would like to be invited to join your
expedition!
Communicating your discoveries: Sound & radio.
www.scrase.eu
@rscrase
John Shears
Dr John Shears is the Course Director of the Cambridge Polar Leaders
Programme at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge. He
is a geographer and environmental scientist with over 25 years’ experience
working in the polar regions. Before joining the Scott Polar Research Institute in
2015, he worked for the British Antarctic Survey in a variety of senior
management roles, including Head of Operations and Engineering. John was
also an expert adviser to the UK government in Antarctic Treaty discussions. He
has significant knowledge and expertise in polar operations and logistics, field
safety and environmental management. Over the past decade, John has
worked closely with the RGS-IBG on many education and expedition projects,
and is currently the Vice-President for Expeditions and Fieldwork and Co-Chair
of the Field Research Programme Steering Committee..
Arctic and Polar panel
Speakers Biographies
Corinne Silva
Artist Corinne Silva’s practice is concerned with landscape as a complex
interrelation of culture and geography, politics and botany, living beings and
inanimate matter. The artist explores these interrelations through a direct and
immediate engagement with the territories she visits, on journeys through
Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The effect of human activity on land,
geographic and political borders, migration and ecology are among the issues
that are investigated in Silva’s works. Silva explores these themes by means of
photography and video, often combined in the format of an installation, as well
as integrating the elements of performance. Corinne Silva is a Postdoctoral
Research Fellow at the Photography and the Archive Research Centre,
University of the Arts London. Instagram silva.sajovic
Communicating your discoveries: Artists in the field
www.corinnesilva.com
@Silva_Sajovic
Dr Nathan Smith
Dr Nathan Smith is a lecturer and researcher in sport and exercise psychology.
Primarily, his research is focused on understanding motivation-related
processes and how to promote well-being and psychological health. Related to
this interest, Nathan has conducted research with a diverse array of expeditiongoers, including those visiting the Arctic, Antarctic and Greater Ranges in an
attempt to better understand how individuals adjust when returning from their
respective journeys. Nathan is also the co-founder and director of Psyched for
Sport (www.psyched4sport.com), a creative psychology publication that
communicates scientific findings via the medium of art.
www.psyched4sport.com
@PsychEd4Sport
Catherine Souch
Dr Catherine Souch is Head of Research and Higher Education at the RGSIBG. Catherine has a BA (Hons) from University of Cambridge and an MSc and
PhD in Geography from The University of British Columbia. Before returning to
the UK, she was Associate Dean and Professor of Geography at Indiana
University Indianapolis. Catherine's own research focuses on records of
environmental change from lake and wetland sediments. In her role at the RGSIBG, she oversees the grants programme along with a range of other activities
related to Higher Education and Research.
Earth Sciences field research workshop & RGS-IBG Grants advice
www.rgs.org/research
@RGS_IBGhe
Stephen Spencer
Manchester based doctor and founder of the Manchester University Expedition
Society and Madagascar Medical Expeditions (MADEX; schistosomiasis
research and treatment in rural Madagascar). He has been expedition medical
officer on trips through the Bornean, Amazonian, Madagascan and Indonesian
rainforest, and searched the Sea of Cortez for the rare Vaquita porpoise. Last
year Stephen worked as a dive doctor in Mexico, where he led research into the
subaquatic sea cucumber fishing trade.
Oceans & Marine panel
https://expeditionmadagascarblog.wordpress.com/
Speakers Biographies
Oliver Steeds
Oliver Steeds is an investigative journalist, TV presenter and documentary
maker. He's reported for UK's leading international investigative series,
'Unreported World' and 'Dispatches' and his reports and documentaries have
featured on ABC News, ABC Nightline, NBC, Channel 4 and Al Jazeera
amongst others. Oliver also presented major adventure, historical, currentaffairs series internationally for Discovery Channel. He’s a Director of Digital
Explorer (bringing the world to the classroom) and Founder and Mission
Director of Nekton (a marine research organisation), and formerly a director of
the communications agency, Brunswick.
Communicating your discoveries: Film & video
www.nektonfilms.co.uk / www.oliversteeds.com / www.digitalexplorer.com
@OliverSteeds
John Sullivan
John Sullivan is a former Royal Marines Commando of nine years’ experience.
He has operated in some of the world’s most challenging environments Jungle, Desert and Arctic. John’s passion in life is to explore with a sense of
purpose. Working alone, this has taken him to some of the
remotest corners of the world to research and set up factual programmes for the
BBC and the National Geographic Channel. He has also led numerous lifechanging conservation expeditions for young people to Namibia, Belize and
Borneo. He currently runs Elite Survival Training which provides courses for
people wishing to learn the art of survival in every environment.
Tropical Forest workshop
http://elitesurvivaltraining.com/
@EliteSurvival
Tim Taylor
Tim Taylor is a professional photographer and adventurer. His passion lies in
exploring and photographing the remote regions of our planet, combining
science, art and adventure. Tim was the official photographer for the 2015
Karakoram Anomaly Project, led by Sergiu Jiduc . Tim has visited over forty
countries. His first expedition was as a member of a three-month long diving
project gathering scientific data on the Mesoamerican barrier reef and diving the
Cenotes of the Yucatan. This was followed by a Himalayan expedition to climb
the peaks of Tharpu Chuli (5663m) and Singu Chuli (6501m). He has since
climbed throughout the United Kingdom and Europe and spent months working
deep inside the Arctic Circle. In 2014 I returned to the Himalaya as the official
photographer for an expedition to climb the world’s fifth highest mountain,
Makalu (8463m), via the South East Ridge.
Karakoram Anomaly project
www.timtaylorphotography.com
@TimTaylorPhoto
Richard Teeuw
Richard Teeuw is a lecturer in applied geomorphology and remote sensing at
the University of Portsmouth’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences. His
first expeditionary fieldwork was with Brathay in Iceland and Kenya. Richard's
PhD focused on geomorphology and diamond prospecting in Sierra Leone.
Since then he has used remote sensing for many projects, mostly in the tropics:
water resources in Ghana and Sierra Leone; biodiversity surveys in Guyana;
soil erosion assessment in Zambia; mineral exploration in Borneo, Burkina
Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Mauritania. His enthusiasm for technology
transfer and low-cost remote sensing applications has recently been focused on
the disaster risk reduction sector: he now runs a Masters course in Crisis &
Disaster Management.
GIS, GPS and Field Mapping workshop (Sunday)
http://bit.ly/1GFDxLS
@Chewwy_Teeuw
Speakers Biographies
Craig Turner
Dr Craig Turner is a conservation ecologist, part-time expedition leader, writer
and photographer. In addition to undertaking independent expeditions, he more
recently co-ordinated several EDGE of Existence expeditions for the Zoological
Society of London (ZSL). Whilst at ZSL, he also co-ordinated the Erasmus
Darwin Barlow Expedition Grant fund. He now co-runs an environmental
consultancy with his partner, from the Highlands of Scotland, splitting his time
between projects in the UK and overseas. And when time permits he continues
to expand his writing and photography work, with past work featuring in titles
such as BBC Wildlife, Asian Geographic and Adventure Travel. Craig is a
Fellow of the RGS and the Linnean Society of London.
Biological Sciences field research workshop
www.wychwoodenvironmental.com
@cst_craig
Matt Traver
Matt Traver is a filmmaker and creator of content relating to adventure, travel
and culture. He has worked on ten independent documentary films as a selfshooting producer/director and editor. His productions have taken him from the
deserts of Uzbekistan, steppes of Kazakhstan/Mongolia, the high mountains of
Iran and Tajikistan, the Tuvan taiga forest and rivers of Siberia. As of 2015 his
work has screened at twenty-five international film festivals and events in the
UK, Europe, USA, Australia and to over 45 countries via Wild Spirits TV. He is
currently in the pre-production phase of a TV series on Siberia.
Communicating your discoveries: Film & video
http://www.matthewtraver.com/
@MatthewTraver
Tuur Van Balen
Revital Cohen and Tuur Van Balen are a London based artist duo working
around broad meanings of material and production. Through objects,
installation, film and photography they explore manufacturing processes as
cultural, ethical and political practices. They are currently making work in the
coltan mines of Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Communicating your discoveries: Artists in the field
www.cohenvanbalen.com
@rc_tvb
Tim Van Berkel
Tim is co-founder and Scientific Director of the Heart of Borneo Project, a charity
aiming to conserve Borneo's rainforests and its inhabitants through a
multidisciplinary and innovative approach. His main interests are tropical
biodiversity research and conservation. Tim has carried out ecological and
biodiversity research using a wide range of survey techniques in a variety of
environments and continents. This includes biodiversity expeditions in Borneo,
Peru and Honduras. Unsurprisingly, his main drive is to conserve the world's
dwindling rainforests by providing the knowledge base to do so. He holds an
MSc in Conservation & Biodiversity from the University of Exeter and runs the
Cornish Seaweed Company. He has recently written the RGS-IGB Camera
Trapping Manual.
Biological Sciences Workshop
www.heartofborneo.org
@heart_of_borneo
Speakers Biographies
Sarah-Jane Walsh
Sarah-Jane is a coral reef ecologist, expedition leader and more recently,
natural history television researcher. In 2014 she completed a PhD with the
Coral Reef Research Unit (CRRU) alongside the University of Essex,
investigating the physiological reasons as to why some coral species are more
tolerant to increases in sea surface temperatures than others. Sarah-Jane‘s
research was supported by organisations such as Earthwatch and Operation
Wallacea and in return she helped to lead expeditions to her study sites in both
the Seychelles and South-East Sulawesi, overseeing conservation volunteer
opportunities and university research programmes. More recently Sarah-Jane
has worked within the prestigious BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol on series
such as Shark and Big Blue Live.
Oceans and Marine projects
Andrew Welch
Andrew Welch cycled across Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus, Iran and Pakistan
to India and Nepal over a 2 year period and biked across Mongolia writing,
photographing, blogging and filming about the experience. He founded
Georiders in Georgia (georidersmtb.com) providing mountain bike tours and
supporting the local biking community. He has written 'Weave of the Ride'
(weaveoftheride.com) and 'Between Worlds' (betweenworlds.bike) about his
cycle travel experience and 'Prepare, Pack, Pedal' a practical guidebook to
going on an adventure bicycle tour and the 'The Wilderness Open Guiding
Book'- an open source guidebook for city exploration. He is part of 'Joya - Arte
Ecologiá' (a project to enhance the cultural value of semi-arid environments)
based at RGS Field Centre Cortijada Los Gazquez in Almeria, Southern Spain
(www.losgazquez.com). Andy completed an MA Design Critical Practice
(distinction) at Goldsmiths University and blogs at www.andrewwelch.info.
Communicating your discoveries
www.andrewwelch.info
Nigel Winser
Nigel Winser has had a career directing interdisciplinary research and learning
programmes in Africa, the Middle East and Asia to support conservation and
sustainable development priorities at a local and regional level. He was Deputy
Director of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), responsible for
developing and managing some 11 major field programmes with governments
and the international science community. This included the Oman Wahiba
Sands Programme in 1986/87 and the Jordan Badia Research and
Development Programme, both with Dr Roderic Dutton as the lead Science
Director. In 2005 Nigel joined Earthwatch as its Executive Director, heading its
European ‘citizen science’ programmes and later overseeing its international
programmes in Africa, India and the Middle east. This included the HSBC
Climate Partnership and working with the Oman Government to establish their
new National Field Research Centre for Environmental Conservation.
http://eu.earthwatch.org/