Tim Jarvis AM (b. 1966), environmental scientist, author and adventurer, was the Australian Geographic Society’s Adventurer of the Year in 2013 and its Conservationist of the Year in 2016 – the only person ever to have received both awards. Amongst his expeditions are the all-time fastest unsupported journey to the South Pole in 1999; the retracing of Sir Douglas Mawson’s starving and arduous polar journey in 1913, using the same gear, equipment and (scant) rations as Mawson, in 2007; and the retracing of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 1500km ocean journey on the James Caird and his exploration of South Georgia’s mountainous interior, using the same rudimentary equipment, clothing and technology as Shackleton used, in 2013. Several of these journeys were recorded in documentary films. Jarvis’s books include The Unforgiving Minute and Mawson: Life and death in Antarctica; he is co-author of the academic volume The Frozen Planet, released alongside Sir David Attenborough’s television series of the same name. In 2009 he was inducted into the Yale World Fellows Program for leadership in the field of environmental sustainability. A senior associate of global engineering firm Arus, with English and Australian master’s degrees in both science and environmental law, he acts as sustainability adviser to Australian insurance and housing businesses and an adviser on aid projects in developing countries for the World Bank and Asia Development Bank. He regularly speaks about environmental issues relating to climate change and won the Bettison James Award for documentary filmmaking for 25Zero, about the world’s 25 melting equatorial glaciers, in 2016. Brand ambassador for Kathmandu, he is a global ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund, has spent five years on the board of Zoos SA and works to promote outdoor play and environmental education amongst children. Based in Adelaide, he is a Bragg member of the Royal Institution of Australia (the highest category of membership), for excellence in scientific achievement and commitment to science education.
