Our History

The seeds of Geo Mission were first sown in 2006, when renowned polar explorer Pen Hadow recognised the potential scientific value of explorers working in partnership with the scientific community to address some of the biggest environmental questions of our time.

But this partnership was to be a three-way one because the essential third party was to be business. Business, through sponsorship of the endeavours, would facilitate both the core funding and, by working with the explorers and scientists, also enable global public outreach about the work.

There is some environmental data which, if only it could collected from otherwise inaccessible environments, would have a disproportionately high value for science, despite its relatively small volume (temporally and spatially). Inaccessibility for scientists could be due to natural hazards and risks, technical skill requirements, extremity of living conditions, or even cost. This is where explorers can play a role in advancing scientific understanding.

In 2007, Pen decided to demonstrate the potential of this proposed three-way partnership by undertaking a long-range surface survey of the Arctic Ocean, measuring the thickness of the sea ice, to help geo-physicists and modellers forecast more confidently when this major surface feature of our planet would no longer be present year-round.

Initially, armed with just a laptop and a telephone, he soon built up a remarkable team of operations and communications experts who brought about Catlin Arctic Survey (2009-2011). These Arctic Surveys are now an ongoing international research endeavour which, in the modern tradition of scientific exploration, have scientists collaborating with explorers in the quest to understand better the unexpectedly fast environmental changes taking place in the Arctic.

Geo Mission has since received international recognition for its work:

* European Sponsorship of the Year Finalist (European Sponsorship Association)

* World Technology Environment Award Winner (World Technology Network, New York)

* Heroes of the Environment Award (Time magazine)