To complement the lecture and lab-based learning we offer, we have expanded our teaching to field-based activities as well. The sleep deprivation study on the South Downs in 1998-2003 paved the way for exploring environmental physiology in a more adventurous way. As part of the 50th celebration of the first ascent of Everest by Edmund Hillary and Norgay Tenzing we held a commemorative Operation Everest Event.

From 2004 to 2024 we took students on an expedition to the Brecon Beacons as part of a 3rd year Expedition Physiology Module. This allowed the theory around survival in extremes to benefit from practical survival skills. However, to prepare students’ navigation skills ahead of our expedition we took them out into the South Downs to practice before heading into the mountains.

Our staff who contribute to the environmental physiology modules have themselves embarked upon international expeditions to the Annapurna region of the Himalayas, French Alps, Romanian Cicerone Mountains and had successfully climbed Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro.

In 2013, we went a stage further and took 24 students on an expedition to Peru – Learning Through Adventure that had a cultural, research and final expedition focus to Machu Picchu. It was a truly memorable experience and is a testament to the passion we have to explore how our bodies cope in environmental extremes.

Learning through adventure has been our philosophy for some time now, where we can learn so much more about how our bodies respond to different environmental extremes from experiencing it first hand.

Plans are afoot for the next expedition, so watch this space…