Speaker smiling while giving a lecture behind a lectern that says RGS expedition and fieldwork festival.

RGS Explore Weekend speakers and facilitators

Meet the world-leading experts who generously share insights and advice from their deep involvement in geographical exploration.

Find a speaker

Leadership and team building

Zack Coleman

Zack is an Army Reservist who has extensive experience leading military adventurous training expeditions.

Human Sciences

Aleks Vladimirov

Dr Aleks Vladimirov leads Adapt Inc. Research Labs. The lab focuses on decision-making research, exploring the interactions between people, places, and technology.

Marine science and exploration

Alex Keefe

Alex is an Emmy-nominated documentary producer-director, aspiring expedition leader and adventure motorcyclist. Alex has a passion for storytelling, science communication and understanding the impact of adventure on mental well-being.

Oceans and marine

Alexander McMaster

Alexander is a writer, ecologist and professional diver. His work focuses on the intersection of humankind with marine environments.

Mountains and trekking

Amelia Hope-Hawkins

Amelia is a history undergraduate at Lincoln College, Oxford University, currently researching women in the French Resistance. She has spent the last two years in the Oxford UOTC.

Human sciences

Anna (Ania) Sawko

Anna is a conservationist whose work bridges ecology, ethnobotany, and environmental justice to promote ethical, collaborative approaches to conservation.

Expedition and wilderness medicine

Anna Shekhdar

Anna is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, fullfilling her passion for skiing and mountains through her role as Medical Director for Endeavour Medical.

Film and video storytelling

Beki Henderson

Beki is a BAFTA-nominated TV Producer and Director with over a decade of experience capturing stories from the world’s most remote and extreme locations.

Paddling, rivers and oceans

Ben Warnick

Ben Warnick is an experienced sailor and expedition leader whose adventures have taken him across oceans and continents.

Film and video storytelling

Cameron Mackay

Scottish environmental filmmaker and Celtic music producer Cameron Mackay (He/Him) aims to use his media storytelling work to spark new connections between audiences and nature, showcase inclusive solutions to the climate crisis and celebrate contemporary traditional cultural heritage. He currently runs an environmental impact-focused film production company based in Glasgow.

Biodiversity surveys and conservation

Carina de Araújo

Carina de Araújo is a Brazilian PhD student in Plant Biology at the University of Campinas (Unicamp), currently undertaking a nine-month research internship at Uppsala University, Sweden.

Human and social sciences

Carl Cater

Carl is Associate Professor in tourism at Swansea University in Wales as well as Professor at the University of Highlands and Islands, Scotland.

Book your ticket!

Tickets for the RGS Explore Weekend 2025 are now on sale, costing £95 for members and £125 for non-members.

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Two speakers on a stage at the RGS expedition and fieldwork festival. A slideshow with tips on how to be mindful during expeditions is projected on the wall behind them.