Jack Dalton is a fourteen year-old Animal Activist, Public Speaker, Author, Educational YouTuber, and Fundraiser by the name Kid Conservationist. His goal is to get orangutans off the endangered species list and to protect the environment through the power of education, inspiration, and action. Jack has raised over $20,000, helped to plant over 15,000 trees in Indonesia, and gained over 1.25 million views on YouTube from 143 countries. His book, Kawan The Orangutan, Lost In The Rainforest, has sold over 3,000 copies, and for every book sold, a tree is planted in the rainforest critical to orangutan survival.

This award is proudly sponsored by Peter and June Felix.

Dr. Paula Kahumbu is a distinguished Kenyan conservationist and wildlife filmmaker renowned for her work in environmental education and advocacy. As the CEO of Wildlife Direct, she has spearheaded initiatives like 'Hands Off Our Elephants', driving significant policy changes in Kenya. An award-winning filmmaker, her documentaries, including Nat Geo's 'Secrets of the Elephants', have garnered international acclaim. Dr. Kahumbu is also a National Geographic Explorer and a passionate advocate for youth engagement in conservation, fostering a new generation of environmental stewards across Africa. Her dedication to preserving wildlife and empowering communities makes her a prominent figure in global conservation efforts.

Ella is a National Geographic Explorer, palaeoanthropologist, evolutionary biologist…and stand-up comic. Her debut book The Handshake: A Gripping History (Profile Books) is a Times and Sunday Times Book of the Year and covers the history and anthropology of the handshake. Holding a BSc in Genetics from University College London, an MSc in Taxonomy and Biodiversity from Imperial College London/Natural History Museum and currently undertaking a PhD in Neanderthal rates of evolution at University College London. Ella is an expert in her field, specialising in Neanderthals and caves. She can be often found on expeditions in hostile, disputed and unstable territories.

This award is proudly sponsored by The de Laszlo Foundation.

Ran is a British explorer, writer and poet, and co-creator of Sir Ranulph Fiennes Great British Rum, who holds several endurance records.

Ran embarked upon his first expedition in 1969 with the help of SES - a journey by hovercraft up the White Nile River that began in eastern Sudan and ended at Lake Victoria in southern Uganda. The following year he left the military and married Virginia (“Ginny”) Pepper, whom he had met as a child and who, until her death in 2004, would be his collaborator in launching a series of record-breaking expeditions that kept them ahead of their international rivals for three decades.Their expeditions include a trip to Jostedals Glacier in Norway (1970), a first north-south traverse of British Columbia, Canada, via water (1971) and by a northward trek into the Arctic (1977).

These expeditions were all in preparation for The Transglobe Expedition, a journey of three years around the globe on its polar axis using only surface transport, making him the only man alive to have done this. In 2009, at the age of 65, he reached the summit of Mount Everest, and through his expeditions and endurance achievements, Ran has raised more than £20 million for charities.

This award is proudly sponsored by Christopher Wright FRGS.

Mya-Rose is committed to saving the planet and everything on it, whilst respecting indigenous peoples, and highlighting Global Climate Justice as it intersects with Climate Change Action.

Proudly sponsored by Peter and June Felix.

Just a Drop is a water, sanitation, and hygiene organisation that works in six countries to deliver life-changing projects. They work in Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Nicaragua, Cambodia, and India.

Proudly sponsored by Craig Cohon.

Preet aims to inspire as many people as possible and share the message that no matter where you’re from or what your starting point in life is, you can smash the glass ceiling into a million pieces by creating your own definition of ‘normal’ on your journey to success.

John Blashford-Snell (JBS), one of the world’s most renowned and respected explorers, has organised and led over one hundred environmental, medical, and scientific expeditions.

Proudly sponsored by Christopher Wright FRGS.

Amy and Ella Meek are the teenage founders of the environmental charity Kids Against Plastic (KAP). They set up KAP back in 2016, after studying the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and discovering the issue of plastic pollution.

Proudly sponsored by Peter and June Felix.

The Black Mambas and their sister project, the Bush Babies, have been holistically tackling poaching and illegal wildlife trade in the Greater Kruger Park landscape for nine years. 36 young women, divided into four specialist teams, have gained the trust and support of their peers and are role models in their villages.

Proudly sponsored by Craig Cohon.

In 1983 Ian Craig, along with his father and the late Anna Merz, started the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy (then called Ngare Sergoi Sanctuary), based in the foothills of Mount Kenya. At the peak of the elephant and rhino poaching epidemic, the rhino sanctuary flourished at a time when few did.

Proudly sponsored by Christopher Wright FRGS.

Aneeshwar is a conservationist and is hoping to change the world through his YouTube videos and paintings.

His dream is to film a documentary about Rainforest and Orca whales along with his hero Steve Backshall. He has already created a number of short documentaries to raise awareness and protect wildlife, from plastic pollution to deforestation.

Erik is best known as the blind man who climbed Mt. Everest and for being a Time Magazine cover story.

In 2008, he completed his quest to climb the 7 Summits. He has climbed the 3,000' face of El Capitan in Yosemite, the infamous 3,000' frozen waterfall Losar in the Himalayas, completed the Primal Quest and solo kayaked the Grand Canyon. He considers his biggest achievement to be the co-founding of the non-profit No Barriers.

After exploring and hiking the globe for many years, Chaz now lives his life as an Explorer, Expedition Leader, and Survival Guide.

Chaz developed and honed his explorer credentials for more than 17 years – from early days, backpacking on a shoe-string budget around the world, to self-supported arctic camping in Norway to photograph the Northern Lights, to the more ambitious technical source to sea treks along some of Africa's wildest rivers, including the mighty Zambezi. 

Shane has been part of the Royal Geographical Society since 1977 and is still going strong. She is recognised for her lifetime commitment to supporting expeditions and exploration.

From her early start as a zoology graduate, then completing a postgraduate diploma in Information Science, Shane has been involved in assisting, planning and the organisation of the RGS's own research programmes – from the tropical forests of Sarawak and Brunei, to the mountains of the Karakoram, and the drylands of western Australia, Kenya and Oman.

John is a world-record-holding British cave diver who has been at the forefront of underground rescue and exploration over the last two decades. John began caving with the scouts at 14 and continues to push the limits of underwater cave exploration. 

In 2018, John played a key role in the Tham Luang Thailand cave rescue and was awarded the George Medal by the Queen for showing ‘great courage’.

Steve captivates millions with his TV shows and expeditions ranging from the BAFTA-winning Deadly 60 to the critically acclaimed Big Blue Live, Alaska Live, Lost Land of the Volcano, Lost Land of the Jaguar, and the adrenaline-fuelled series Steve Backshall’s Extreme Mountain Challenge and Down the Mighty River with Steve Backshall. 

His great passion is discovery, and he loves investigating new places and new species. 

Dr Jane Goodall is founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a UN Messenger of Peace. She began her landmark study into the lives of wild chimpanzees at Gombe in Western Tanzania on 14 July 1960 and that research continues today. 

Established in 1977, the Jane Goodall Institute has offices in 24 offices countries.  

Dee has sailed around the world six times. She is the first woman to have sailed single-handed and non-stop around the world in both directions and the only woman to have sailed non-stop around the world a total of three times.

Dee led ‘Turn the Tide on Plastic’ – the first mixed gender youth team to compete in the Ocean Race 2017/18; with a strong sustainability message. The issue of single use plastic in our oceans gained huge momentum and has inspired many people to ‘take action’ in their day to day lives. 

Louis served for 34 years in the military. His first trip to Antarctica was in 2011/12 on the Scott/Amundsen Centenary Race Expedition. His team skied 800 miles over 67 days unsupported from the Bay of Whales, up the Axel Heiberg Glacier to the South Pole, following the original route of the Norwegian Roald Amundsen. In 2016/17 he led a team of five Army Reservists on a 67-day, 1,100-mile traverse of Antarctica. 

In 2018/19 he undertook the ‘Spirit of Endurance’ expedition, a 56-day, 920-mile solo unsupported crossing of the Antarctic land mass, becoming the first Briton and second in the world to complete this journey. 

Andrew's association with SES started as a young Bristol University science graduate. First assignment: setting-up projects for Operation Drake, a global two-year expedition.

He co-founded the Earthwatch Institute managing 130 field research projects in 30 countries as Vice President of Programme Development and International Relations, before founding Global Canopy, a ground-breaking non-profit, environmental think-tank based in Oxford striving to influence and enable transformative change towards a global deforestation-free economy.

Emily is an oceans advocate, skipper and artist; a graduate of Cambridge University with a degree in Architecture.

She has organised the largest ever community-led waste cleanup from a tiny Tongan island, trawled for micro plastics on a voyage through the Arctic Northwest Passage, and rounded the planet on the record-breaking biofuelled boat Earthrace.

Emily splits her time between running eXXpedition - a series of all female voyages which focus on the relationship between plastics and toxics and female health.

Vanessa is a mountaineer, explorer, aquanaut, astronaut, author, and public speaker.

She holds six Guinness World Records and  is the first woman to complete the Four Poles Challenge, going the farthest north * south * east * west from the top of Mt. Everest to the bottom of Challenger Deep to skiing the last degree to the geographic North and South Poles. 

Mark cycled into Paris having circumnavigated the globe. He completed the epic Artemis World Cycle in 78 days, 14 hours and 40 minutes, breaking the world record by a staggering 44 days.

It was through his vision, ambition, physical and psychological endurance abilities and the clockwork precision of his logistical planning, that he was able to complete this outstanding achievement. 

An accomplished Polar athlete and explorer since 1996, Rosie has embarked on a series of major polar expeditions. In 2003 she skied solo and without resupply to the South Pole. She smashed previous speed records by 7 days, completing the challenge in 43 days 23 hours.

Rosie holds an Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University of Essex from the department of Biological Sciences, researching into Sports Science and Environmental Biology. She also holds the Explorers Club Medal, The Mirror Pride of Britain medal, is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and our Vice President.