Cumbrian resident Kate Rawles cycled the length of South America following the spine of the Andes – the longest mountain chain in the world – on Woody, a bamboo bike she built herself with bamboo from the Eden Project in Cornwall.
The aim of her largely solo ‘adventure plus’ ride was to explore and champion biodiversity - what it is, why it matters, what’s happening to it and above all, what can be done to protect it.
Her route took her through an astonishing range of landscapes and ecosystems, from the Caribbean coast to the classic high, spikey white mountains of the Peruvian Andes; from rain and cloud forests to the Atacama desert and the Bolivian salt flats.
Throughout the journey she met with those at the frontlines of nature conservation, including a school whose entire curriculum was based on turtles; a project to save the smallest monkeys in the world; local forest champions; anti-gold, copper and lead-mining activists; an ancient, sustainable fishing fleet and a member of the Peruvian senate.
Kate returned inspired, shaken and hopeful, convinced that biodiversity loss is as important as climate change and that deep systemic change is needed to tackle these interconnected challenges to people and planet.
About the speaker
Dr Kate Rawles is passionate about using adventurous journeys to help raise awareness and inspire action on our most urgent environmental challenges.
Her most recent ‘adventure plus’ journey, The Life Cycle, involved cycling the length of South America on a bamboo bike she built herself, exploring biodiversity – and why losing it is as great a threat as climate change. Kate is a former university lecturer in philosophy at Lancaster University (with a focus on environmental ethics) and in Outdoor Studies at the University of Cumbria (with a focus on sustainability.)
She now works freelance as an activist/author/speaker. She is a regular guest lecturer at the University of Surrey and a popular public speaker, appearing at a wide range of literature festivals, mountain festivals, cycling festivals and green gatherings.
She runs occasional Outdoor Philosophy events, harnessing the power of (relatively) wild places to inspire and support sustainable ways of living and working; and is a sea-kayaker, hillwalker and bookworm as well as a long-distance cyclist.
Kate is a Fellow of the Society a member of the Adventure Syndicate, an eco-ambassador for the Lake District Foundation and a regular on-stage interviewer for the Kendal Mountain Book Festival.
Her first book, The Carbon Cycle; Crossing the Great Divide was shortlisted for the Banff Mountain Festival Adventure Book Awards, 2012. The Life Cycle; 8000 Miles in the Andes by Bamboo Bike came out with Icon Books on 1 June, ’23. It was shortlisted for the Banff Mountain Festival Adventure Book Awards that year and was chosen by the Smithsonian Magazine as one of their top ten books about travel, 2023.
She lives in Cumbria with her partner, Chris, and rescue dog, Carter.
Booking information
- Advance booking for this event is required.
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This event has been organised by the North West regional committee in partnership with University of Lancashire Westlakes campus.
Venue information
This event will be held in the John Fyfe Building at University of Lancashire, Westlakes Campus, Westlakes Science Park, Moor Row, Whitehaven, CA24 3JY.
Doors open at 6.30pm. The lecture will begin at 7.00pm.
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