Tim Jarvis
Explore, advise, sustain.
Profile
Tim Jarvis PhD (Hon) MSc, MEnvLaw is an environmental scientist, adventurer, author, public speaker and film-maker with more than 30 years of environmental experience. He is committed to finding pragmatic solutions to environmental issues related to climate change and biodiversity loss and uses his public speaking engagements, films and books to progress thinking in these areas. He strongly advocates applying outcome-focused, systems thinking approaches learnt from his successful expedition career to the management of complex issues related to the environment and applies lessons learnt to talk to corporate organisations and educators about purposeful leadership, problem-solving, teamwork, change management, goal setting and sustainability.
Awards: Yale World Fellow 2009 for sustainability leadership; Member of the Order of Australia (AM) 2010 for services to environment, community and exploration; Australian Geographic Adventurer of the Year 2013 & Conservationist of the Year 2016 – the only person to have received both awards; Sydney Institute of Marine Science Emerald award for services to the environment; Royal Institute of Navigation’s Certificate of Achievement, Leader of the Shackleton Epic Expedition; Bragg Fellow of the Royal Institution of Australia 2017; Bettison James award 2016 for documentary film-making (for the 25Zero project that highlights climate change via equatorial glacier melt); Completed the course: Leading Sustainability: High Impact Leadership, Cambridge University, Institute for Sustainability Leadership – 2023; Australian of the Year 2024 for South Australia. Honorary Doctorate Edith Cowan University 2024.
Current Roles: Adviser to the Pew Foundation on marine conservation issues (helped secure the 475,000km2 MacQuarie Island Marine Sanctuary declared by Minister Plibersek in July 2023), Working to secure Sanctuary status for Heard and McDonald Islands in 2024; Marine advisor Patagonia Outdoor Co; Vitality Ambassador – AIA Health Insurance (role is to show co-benefits of a healthy environment for individuals mental and physical wellbeing), Environment Ambassador – BGIS global facility manager; Biodiversity legislation Champion – Government of South Australia (tasked with helping establish a Biodiversity Act, SA in 2024). Former roles: Global sustainability role – Arup, Sustainability specialist AusAID, the World Bank, the Murray Darling Basin Commission and Dept of Agriculture Fisheries and Food.
Honorary Roles: Vice-President – Fauna & Flora; Global Ambassador and Governor – WWF; Ambassador to Koala Life; Board Director of the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife. Head of the adventure advisory panel of the Australian Geographic Society. Professor of Leadership Practice Edith Cowan University.
Current Projects: Founder and presenter Thin Ice VR – a ground-breaking VR film showing climate change in Antarctica (winner of best VR film at Cannes and LA film Festivals 2022); Founder of the Forktree Project that through rewilding a degraded former Australian pastoral property provides insights on how to combat the twin threats of climate change and biodiversity loss by delivering experiential sustainability education, trialling and showcasing innovative land and water management practices and providing guidance to organisations, landowners and individuals to enable them to make a positive contribution to combatting these issues.
Expeditions/film highlights: Tim has undertaken multiple unsupported expeditions to the world’s most remote regions and has a long history of working with sponsors and the media. Highlights include to the South Pole, the high Arctic, across Australia’s largest desert, the Great Victoria and retracing the polar journey of Sir Douglas Mawson using only the same gear, equipment and starvation rations as Mawson did in 1913. The documentary – Mawson Life and Death in Antarctica was the flagship of the Film Australia ‘Making History’ series, and fronted Channel 4’s highly acclaimed ‘Edge of Endurance’ series in 2007. Expedition patrons were Australian Prime Minister the Hon John Howard and Sir Ernest Shackleton’s grand-daughter the Hon. Alexandra Shackleton.
In 2013, Tim led the first authentic retracing of polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s “double” – sailing a replica James Caird boat 1500kms across the Southern Ocean from Antarctica to South Georgia and climbing over South Georgia’s mountainous interior using the same equipment as Shackleton. It is the first time that anybody has been able to authentically recreate what is regarded by many as the world’s greatest survival journey. A highly successful Discovery Channel/PBS documentary film was made about the expedition.
Shackleton: The Greatest Story of Survival, 2023 – a documentary outlining the story and leadership lessons associated with Shackleton’s incredible journey of survival.
Media
Feedback
“Tim Jarvis is a wonderful speaker and story teller. He brings to life his incredible achievements in a truly humble manner that captivates his audience from the first minute. Crucially Tim relates his experiences to the world of business and shares practical insights and lessons to enable individuals, teams and business units to take immediate and effective action. He is a force for good who makes a difference in every sense.”
“The perfect opening speaker to our workshop. He inspired our group with his personal polar projects and experiences, showing them that big ideas can be made into reality. His key message stayed with the participants throughout the workshop, enabling them to channel the ‘thinking is good, doing is better’ philosophy into innovative thinking in sustainability.”
“It was wonderful to have Tim to deliver the closing plenary of our conference. He proved a fantastic drawcard and his session was named by many delegates as their favourite. His presentation was fabulous - such entertaining and fascinating stories set against amazing images of the Antarctic, combined with powerful messages about sustainability and climate change. Thanks Tim for inspiring our delegates!”
“Tim spoke to our senior management team at Alliance Trust with such enthusiasm and passion that it was possible to visualize the enormity of the challenges and achievements of his expedition. What made our session with Tim all the more beneficial was his ability to draw such clear parallels between his expedition and the everyday challenges faced in running an investment management business. His narrative is inspiring and he is able to captive the audience as a storyteller of a truly epic adventure, but also make it relevant and a learning experience for all. I have no reservation in recommending Tim as a motivational speaker and leader in performance management.”
“Tim Jarvis AM, adventurer, environmental scientist and author, enthralled his audience at the British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce (BSCC) in Geneva, Switzerland, with stories and details of his 2013 recreation of Sir Ernest Shackleton`s epic crossing of the Southern Ocean described by many as the greatest survival journey of all time. My colleagues and I of the Geneva Committee wholeheartedly recommend Tim to those who seek a better understanding of the qualities of exceptional leadership, the demands of exploration in extreme conditions, the critical importance of teamwork, a better appreciation of our fragile environment and the deeper understanding of ‘Self’ through exertion, effort and achievement of great survival journeys.”
