Nick has been a maths teacher in the UK for over 10 years, but has also taught in South Korea and Canada. Over the years, he has spent a lot of his holidays exploring various places around the world – trekking in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, canoeing in the Swedish wilderness and camping on remote islets in the South Pacific.
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Since leading on a youth expedition to Tanzania in 2015, he has focused more of his time on developing his outdoor leadership skills and volunteers with a number of youth adventure charities within the UK. He moved to the north of England to be closer to the hills, passing his Mountain Leader Qualification in 2019. Nick has led on five expedition with British Exploring Society after first being a Knowledge Leader on the Dangoor Infinity Land-Sea Expedition to Iceland in 2019. Later that year, he was fortunate enough to team up with the Jubilee Sailing Trust again as a Watchleader on a their transatlantic voyage to the Caribbean. His other expeditions with British Exploring Society have been as an Adventure Leader to Scotland in 2021 and Kyrgyzstan in 2022. He has recently stepped into the DCL role in the Yukon 2023 and Scotland 2024. Particularly partial to a bit of cycle touring, you will find him making plans to spend as much time outside his classroom as possible!
Lydia graduated from university with a degree in Art History, a PhD in Geography and a desire to go on meaningful adventures in wild places.
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She has since worked as a strategy consultant in London and New York, as a cowgirl and wrangler in the mountains of western Canada, and as a trainer of expedition leaders in (amongst other places) the jungles of Belize, Guatemala and Peru. She now works mainly as a freelance book editor but her belief in the potential for outdoor adventures to motivate and inspire young people in all aspects of their lives has not diminished. In her free time she enjoys wild swimming, exploring iron-age hillforts on Dartmoor and trying to keep her drooping houseplants alive.
Joel has worked in the Youth Sector for over a decade combining his passion for youth development with his experience in the music industry. He currently works for Catch-22 as the Studio Manager at Links Studios; a music studio for underprivileged young people in East London.
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He is also a Music Teacher at Links Media College; an alternative education provision for 14-19 year olds. Joel's experience includes duties for projects such as NCS, The Young Urban Arts Foundation and More Than Music, working alongside various London Boroughs to enhance the support on offer to young people in London. Joel was born on a council estate in Essex before moving to London in 2012 to fulfil his goal of breaking through as a Musical Artist. During this time, Joel endured, and survived, 5 years of street homelessness. Whilst accomplishing his personal goals, Joel has put equal focus into developing young people with the aim to give them what he needed as a disadvantaged teenager. Joel states that his purpose is: "To be the person that he needed".
Charlotte is an ecologist who loves all things nature, getting out hiking in the hills and exploring the amazing Island we live on. After studying Ecology & Conservation she has worked all over the North East in woodlands, grasslands, sand dunes and peat bogs with organisations such as Natural England and The Wildlife Trusts.
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A lot of her work involves working alongside communities to help protect and look after their local nature reserves, as well as helping people connect and learn about these beautiful places. She became a Leader with British Exploring Society in 2024 after spending an amazing summer in Yukon Canada as a young explorer in 2019. Being a young explorer on expedition gave her the confidence to start solo exploring, hiking and camping around the Lake District, Scotland, Ireland, and even Madeira. She returned as a Knowledge Leader in the Hartz Highlands expedition in 2024 and is looking forwards to many more adventures.
Rosie is a trainee UK Mountain Leader who enjoys scrambling, hiking and long distance trekking, particularly in the UK, Spain and the Nepalese Himalayas.
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Rosie worked as an Educator in primary and secondary schools in England and New Zealand leading Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, ski trips and camping residentials, and is a passionate enthusiast about outdoor education. She now runs a technology startup company but still likes to find time for adventures in the wild around her home in the Cotswolds.
Clare grew up on an organic dairy farm in the south of England and has always taken her love of the countryside and outdoors with her wherever she goes. She's lived on an off grid island in Aotearoa New Zealand, filmed freedom fighters in West Papua and joined a walk in the Western Australian desert with indigenous leaders.
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She qualified as a Geography teacher after having different SEN support roles in secondary schools and values the learning and development that can happen outside of the classroom for herself and young people. She has recently been milking the cows, enjoying the early morning sunrises whilst getting the cows in. If she's anywhere near water then she'll be swimming, surfing and encouraging others to join her.
Rose is at her core an islander; growing up in Orkney gave her an early appreciation of the natural world but it was a somewhat insular upbringing.
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This all changed when she was went on an expedition with British Exploring Society to Norway in 2009. This had a massive influence on her life, shaping her confidence and her exposure to the wider world. It also inspired her to explore a career in healthcare which led her to become a paramedic and working in diverse environments including remote, humanitarian and within primary care. Rose also has a degree in biology and works as a university lecturer, which allows her to utilise her educational skills on expeditions.
Jon is an Intensive Care and Expedition doctor based in Birmingham. He spent the last decade in New Zealand working on the medical helicopters and aeroplanes, and hiking, mountain biking and snowboarding in the hills.
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He now splits his work time between the hospitals, mountains, and aeroplanes of the UK and Europe and jumps at the opportunity to try his hand at a new sport. This year it was ice climbing!
Elliot is an Environmental Scientist based in Cornwall. Originally from Wellington, Somerset, he studied for an MSci in Environmental Science at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus, focusing on understanding the impacts that humans are having on the world’s oceans.
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His research took him on an expedition to the Arctic Circle, where he studied marine microplastic pollution in Svalbard. For his master’s dissertation, he combined his passion for surfing with environmental research by leading a project that used surfers to measure marine phytoplankton—work that was later published as a scientific paper! With experience as a Surf Mentor for The Wave Project—a surf therapy charity for children—and involvement with Reclaim the Sea—a non-profit helping people reclaim the sea as a safe space after trauma—Elliot is passionate about making nature accessible to everyone. He strongly believes that a connection to nature can change your life for the better. This is his second year as a leader for British Exploring Society and is even more excited for round two! In between his day job as an RNLI Beach Lifeguard in Cornwall, he is eager to continue to inspire Young Explorers to engage with the world around them and develop their curiosity of the natural world. As an Environmental Science tutor, he is also excited about the opportunity to take learning outdoors, where he believes that life’s best lessons are taught!
Andrew is a keen adventurer, with high altitude climbing & trekking experience across Scotland, Europe, Africa, Nepal, Argentina and Chile
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A keen runner & triathlete, London Marathon twice and recently completed his first ultra Marathon. He has also competed in a round the world yacht race, and the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. He enjoys yoga, cooking and lake swimming. Recently retired, he brings to British Exploring Society a wealth of project management and logistical experience from a long career in global sports events, including Olympics, Football, Rugby and Formula One.
Graham has spent the past 17 years working with humanitarian agencies to reach vulnerable people in some of the world’s most challenging and least hospitable places. As such he has witnessed the best and the worst of life, be it through war, epidemic, natural disaster or all of the above. His expertise lies in helping organisations and individuals make sense of what initially may seem to be chaotic or threatening in order to make meaningful change and decisions of consequence.
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When not working Graham can be found on, in or under the sea, in the mountains or sitting beside a broken down landrover or motorbike considering how bad decisions often make for the best stories.
Steven lives in Scotland and spends much of his time exploring the highlands. Either walking, climbing or bike-packing, he has visited some of the most remote parts of Scotland wilderness. He is also a Mountain Leader and enjoys sharing his passion by leading walks in the outdoors. He volunteered for British Exploring Society three times before, in Kyrgyzstan and the Cairngorms. Steven is a research physicist, he has a PhD in quantum optics and studies atomic clocks.
Ellie first got involved with British Exploring Society in 2024 as a Young Explorer on the Pinnacle Wild Leadership programme. After a month trekking through the wilds of the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia, Ellie wasn’t put off and applied to be a Leader almost as soon as returning home. Ellie works as an Engagement Ranger in the West Highlands of Scotland, carrying out conservation work on the UK’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis, and engaging with visitors in the Glen below.
Al has previously led groups to Costa Rica, Borneo, Mongolia and Ghana after getting a taste for adventure as a young person on an Ecuador expedition. Al has enjoyed personal travel including South-East Asia, working in international development in Afghanistan, overlanding from London to Mongolia and summiting Kilimanjaro.
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Al is a Mountain Leader and has worked with young people for over 20 years. He has volunteered with the RAF Air Cadets and Lowland Rescue. His volunteer role now directly works with the Police to manage Search and Rescue operations looking for missing persons and is trained to command volunteer responders used as part of major incidents. Al is also a Trustee with the Young Explorers’ Trust, a national charity dedicated to promoting safe and responsible expeditions for young people. He volunteers in these roles in addition to his day job developing mapping technology and cartography for the Defence Sector.
Simon is the Head of Geography and Lead Professional Mentor at a secondary school in West London. He is a qualified Mountain Leader and passionate advocate for the power of outdoor learning, and is frequently found leading field-trips and Duke of Edinburgh expeditions to the South Downs, Snowdonia and the Lake District.
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In his spare time Simon sates his wanderlust with wild camping trips in the UK mountains and multi-day cycling adventures. He has been on trekking expeditions in the Himalayas, Iceland, and Patagonia, and has managed to make it to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro and a 6000m peak in the Himalayas. His next goal is a trip to the Mountains of the Moon in Uganda.
