Expedition Ring of Fire

The Club was treated to an inspiring presentation from two young St Andrews graduates, Kate Monk and Andrew Eglinton. Both have been actively involved with conservation and environmental projects in the UK and abroad, and are now about to start on their biggest challenge yet……. Awarded a significant scholarship from the R&A for a sustainability project, they are about to embark on their ‘Ring of Fire’. This involves a detailed study of wild fires, active volcanoes and earthquakes throughout the world, and how local communities deal with such challenges, as well as examining the sustainability of modern travel and how to improve on the current model. The project involves extensive travel beginning in Japan before flying on to New Zealand and Indonesia from where they will travel to Patagonia in southernmost Chile and make their way through Argentina, Peru and Bolivia. They then fly to San Francisco with onward travel through Canada and Alaska, eventually finishing up in Anchorage. While some flying is involved, the bulk of their travel will be on bike with an estimated distance cycled of 35,000 kilometres. Naturally such a trip involves an enormous amount of planning -Kate and Andrew have been working on this for over eighteen months. Their preparation has involved close liaison with the various environmental groups in the  countries to be visited, including a partnership with UNESCO, the forward dispatch of goods and equipment, raising additional funds for the trip (the budget is £37,466), assessing all the safety aspects including Canadian brown bears and adhering to a rigorous fitness regime to ensure they are able to complete their mission. In addition to a full report on their trip, Kate and Andrew hope to produce a weekly podcast detailing their progress and preliminary results as they go along. Details of this extraordinary challenge were heard with awe and admiration by club members who wished both Kate and Andrew well with what lay ahead. An appropriate vote of thanks was given by Colin Mitchell.