Keynote conference speaker talks on adventure and environment

Event and keynote conference speaking

I can offer entertaining talks to mark special occasions, give a thought provoking keynote talk, or provide an end of day focus for a training event or conference. I have been used by organisations holding anniversary celebrations, banks wanting to provoke creative thinking in their staff, companies using my energy talk to reflect on their energy efficiency focus, and by IT companies who want to finish a hard days training by sending everyone home with a smile on their face.

Below are just some of my 'off the shelf' talks. For conferences, my wide background and experience allow me to create talks to draw out specific themes such as: energy efficiency, sustainability, environmental ethics, wilderness appreciation, and nature conservation.

Our Energy Future

Where our energy comes from is a topic of vital importance for security, cost and environmental reasons. this entertaining and visually appealing talk, based on my university course, looks at our energy options and evaluates their feasibility. It also looks at the political issues, and what are the devastating consequences when societies have their energy curtailed. Finally, it explores the human rights and foreign policy considerations that devolve from how we choose to source our energy. The talk ethically examines the choices ahead of us and the impacts on societies around the world.

Living with the Environment

Our lifestyles are having profound impacts on the Earth's ecosystems. How much of nature are we prepared to sacrifice to sustain our lifestyles, and does it matter? Are we living sustainably? Is it possible for everyone in the world to enjoy a decent material quality of life without losing the simple pleasure and wellbeing that having nature in our lives brings? What are the conservation challenges? I explore how 'progress' is measured and what environmental costs we are prepared to pay to maintain current living standards.

Surviving the volcano

"Volcano threatens to erupt” was the newspaper headline greeting me as I arrived on Montserrat to participate in a biodiversity survey of what was thought to be a volcanically dormant island. I was close to the volcano when it first erupted and thought I was going to die: I decided my last act would be to photograph it. This talk explains how I survived and went on to witness the evacuations and the disruption to this idyllic island and its friendly people. Over a two-month period I saw the island transformed from a relaxed, beautiful Caribbean paradise into an evacuated and dangerous landscape.

'Why is there a grizzly on our glacier?'

This, my most requested adventure talk from my time as an expedition adviser for the Royal Geographical Society, is based on my exploits along the Alaska Highway; looking for wilderness adventure and getting more than I bargained for. Encounters with gold prospectors, dancing with a police chief's wife, getting drunk in haunted log cabins, flying in to remote icefields in dodgy planes, and meeting some very strange communities make this trip one to enjoy while taking away a message on the importance of friendship and making the most of opportunities.

"I wanted to write formally to thank you very much indeed for not only acting as a judge at the Festival of Postgraduate Research, but for your superb keynote speech at the award ceremony. Student presenters, academics, and external sponsors alike, have said how impressed they were with both the content and the delivery of your talk. To use the words of the Graduate Dean, your presentation was "exemplary". I know the brief had presented you with some challenges, but hearing your presentation on Friday made me realise just how much thought, hard work and commitment you had given it, and for all of that, I am incredibly grateful. Above all, just as it was back in 2000 when I first heard you present in Chester, it was your sheer passion and belief on Friday that once again left the greatest impression. My sincere thanks once again for contributing to the success of the Festival, and I hope that it's not another seven years before I have the pleasure of working with you again."

Elizabeth Newall, Postgraduate Events Manager, University of Leicester