Transglobe Events 2023

Happy Talk

Date: Thursday, 16 November 2022

Venue: Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), London

Time: Doors open at 6pm for a 7pm start

Price: £35 per ticket

Buy tickets for Transglobe Expedition Trust

This year, we have named our evening “Happy Talk“-the title of a song from the Rogers and Hammerstein musical “South Pacific” with the lyrics: “Happy Talkin’ talkin’ happy talk, Talk about things you like to do, You’ve got to have a dream, If you don’t have a dream, How you gonna have a dream come true” Our four wonderful speakers will inspire you with their talks and the fulfilment of their dreams. It’s going to be another great evening. Join us and be entertained and amazed!

Alex Lewis – Aged 33 Alex thought he had ‘man flu’ but collapsed and was rushed to hospital, he was given just hours to live and less than 1% chance of survival. He had contracted Strep which led to Septicaemia, Toxic shock syndrome and necrotising fasciitis. The result was quadruple amputation and facial disfigurement requiring 140hrs of plastic surgery and 14hrs of facial tattooing. Rejecting self-pity, the story of his adjustment to a new life was the subject of a Channel 4 documentary “The Extraordinary case of Alex Lewis”. Since then Alex has found his lifechanging illness has made him think differently about being a father, a partner, a human being. Recently he set up the Alex Lewis Trust to raise funds to help amputees and to participate in prosthesis design and wearable assistive technology research with Imperial College, Southampton University and others. Alex has kayaked around the southern tip of Greenland, completed a 320 mile expedition along South Africa’s Orange River. In 2019 he became the first quadruple amputee to hand cycle 15,000ft up Ethiopia’s highest mountain in a solar assisted four wheeled vehicle. The documentary of this expedition “Alex Lewis Mountain “ won best Documentary at the London Independent Film Festival 2023. Recently, with the support of TET, Alex made a remarkable journey to Ukraine to offer support with affordable prosthesis for soldiers and civilians wounded in the war there.

Captain Preet Chandi – Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, Preet Chandi will be unable to attend the lecture evening as originally planned.  Our apologies for this, however we are confident that our remaining speakers will seamlessly fill her space with their wonderful stories.

Gina Moseley – Gina is a 2021 Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate, National Geographic Explorer, main protagonist in the giant screen film “Ancient Caves”,and three-times recipient of the Transglobe Expedition Trust ‘Mad But Marvellous’ grant. At the age of 12, Gina became hooked on the underworld during a family holiday to Somerset. Today, as a Professor of Paleoclimatology at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, Gina has followed that passion and now uses caves to investigate Earth’s changing climate over the last half a million years. In 2008, she learned about a huge cave entrance in North Greenland that had been photographed in the Cold War but never explored. She made it her mission to find out what was inside. Gina has led four pioneering caving expeditions to Greenland, including the recent Northern Caves 2023 expedition, which, with TET support, set out to explore the elusive ‘Cold War cave’ and the most northern-known caves in the world.

Helen Czerski – is an Associate Professor at University College London, a broadcaster and writer. Her research topic is the physics of breaking waves and bubbles in the open ocean, and how these bubbles influence the transfer of gases between the atmosphere and the ocean.She has spent months working on research ships in the Antarctic, the Pacific, the North Atlantic and the Arctic, and is an experienced field scientist. Since 2011 Helen has presented many science documentaries for the BBC on the physics of everyday life, atmospheric and ocean science and, as a writer, speaker and performer strives to share a broader perspective on what the ocean itself is, and how this watery engine matters for our planet. She received the 2018 Lord Kelvin Medal from the Institute of Physics for her work on communicating physics to a wider audience. She is an Honorary Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge, has anHonorary Fellowship of the British Science Association and was one of the 2020 Royal Institution Christmas Lecturers. Her latest book, Blue Machine, was Radio 4’s Book of the Week andarguesthat the biggest story on Earth is our global ocean -not the fish, whales or pollution, but the water itself and the way it influences all life on Earth.


Current Grant Winners

  • Sarah Outen’s expedition London to London via the World. After setting out from London on 1st April 2011, Sarah has been kayaking, rowing and cycling her way around the world   Although a solo expedition, this is to be a shared adventure – bringing the expedition to classrooms, offices and homes right around the world.
  • In October 2016 Olly Hicks intends to complete his original goal and will set out from Tasmania to row solo around the world. Follow his preparations and epic journey here at www.globalrow.com

Previous Grant Winners: –

  • 5000 Mile Project – Katharine and David Lowrie completed an epic expedition to run the length of South America in a year for the continent’s wild lands and wildlife. They ran without support, whilst pulling a trailer they made from recycled materials.  As well as running, the 5000mileproject helped to connect people from around the world to South America’s precious remaining wildernesses, to illustrate how daily choices affect these areas and how with small steps everyone can conserve them. They have created the “Big Toe Classroom”, which is full of information on the continent and provides a real-life expedition for schools in the UK and around the world to get involved in. In between arduous running sessions, they present to schools in South America about the project, the local habitats and importance of functioning ecosystems. They also carry out a daily bird census and collect data on the wildlife and habitats they pass, reporting their findings to local and international conservationists.
  • Huautla Expedition  – In 2012, Chris Jewell and his team of Cavers and Cave Divers began a two year project to explore further than anyone has before in the Huautla Cave System in Mexico.  Using state of the art technology the team spent many weeks underground, diving through flooded cave passages, camping in the dry passage beyond and exploring the unknown cave. An expedition like this is a fantastic example of ingenuity, perseverance, determination, team-work and triumph over physical elements.
  • Kaspersky One Trans-Antarctic Expedition – Felicity Aston embarked on a 1700km, 70-day ski in order to become the first woman in the world to cross Antarctica alone. By completing the journey Felicity also became the first British woman to traverse Antarctica. Felicity set out from her start point on the Ronne Ice Shelf on 12th November 2011 and arrived on the Ross Ice Shelf (via the Pole) on 31st January 2012. Follow her story here
  • Stewart McPherson’s project, Conservation in Britain’s most remote Overseas Territories, aims to raise public awareness of Britain’s Overseas Territories (initially Montserrat, Ascension Island, Saint Helena, Tristan da Cunha and the Falkland Islands) and through detailed investigations, provide management solutions for the unique conservation challenges they face today. The findings of this research have identified conservation priorities and common strategies for local governing bodies to help secure a sustainable future.
  • The Trans-Papua Expedition went to explore the historic inter-tribal trade connection between the Papuan interior and its coastlines. In the first complete crossing of Papua’s width – from the River Noordoost to the mighty Mamberamo River – the 2 man team travelled on-foot and by kayak. They will map and uncover the sources of the island’s greatest rivers and answer one of Papua’s enduring mysteries: How, long before European exploration, did Papuan products make it out of the highland interior to mainland Asia?
  • The Derewo Descent – a kayaking expedition with a primary aim of exploring previously unvisited upland gorges of Papua’s remote river system. The 3 man team descended the rivers in an expedition that tested both physical skill and determination while encountering new landscapes and people.
  • The Wild Camel Protection Foundation for survey of the critically endangered Bactrian Camel and their 2011 expedition to the Taklamakan Desert, Xinjiang Province, China. John Hare and Chinese scientists went in search of these elusive animals which were previously not known to exist in this region.
  • Adrian McCallum,Tristam Kaye and Hugh Bowring for their parts in assisting in the organisation and operations of The Coldest Journey, the first attempt at crossing the Antarctic continent during the southern winter.
  • Endure Greenland Crossing – Ben Thackwray and Ian Couch’s attempt at a record-breaking ultra-lightweight crossing of Greenland on skis.
  • Walking The Amazon Ed Stafford’s remarkable 2 year expedition to walk from the Peruvian Pacific coast, over the Andes and along a tributary to the Amazon estuary and the Atlantic coast.

The Scientific Exploration Society for a biodiversity research expedition in Ethopia to the Beschillo and Blue Nile gorges which included the first descent of the Beschillo River.

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