I am the Expeditions Advisor for the Royal Geographical Society and head up the society's centre supporting field research, exploration and outdoor learning, known as Geography Outdoors, where I have worked for nearly 45 years. I am a zoology graduate with a postgraduate diploma in information science, and chair of the BSI technical panel for BS 8848:2014, the specification which benchmarks good practice for the provision of visits, fieldwork, expeditions and adventurous activities outside the United Kingdom.

I have written and edited many books and articles on various aspects of expedition planning, am Editor of the Expedition Handbook (Profile Books, 2004) and one of the editors of the Oxford Handbook of Expedition and Wilderness Medicine (OUP, 2015).

In 1980 my Fellowship enabled me to travel to Pakistan to support an international team of field scientists studying the natural hazards of the region and the impact on local people.