Internationally renowned natural navigator and wayfinding expert Tristan Gooley in conversation with SDS co-chair Dr Colette Jeffrey. In an era when we increasingly rely on technology to navigate – and get lost when it fails – Tristan’s fascinating knowledge of navigation using natural cues and signs gives us ideas to incorporate into wayfinding system design and help us find our way on our walks.
About our speaker
Tristan Gooley, nicknamed ‘the Sherlock Holmes of Nature’ by the BBC, is an author, natural navigator and educator with his own natural navigation school. He is the author of award-winning and internationally bestselling books, including: The Natural Navigator (2010); The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs (2014); and The Secret World of Weather (2021). Tristan has written articles published by The Wall Street Journal and The Sunday Times amongst other publications, as well as making appearances on programmes such as The Today Programme, Countryfile, BBC Stargazing Live and The One Show. In pursuing the art of natural navigation, Tristan has travelled the five continents of the world, walked with and studied the methods of the Tuareg, Bedouin and Dayak in some of the remotest regions on Earth. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN). In 2020 he was awarded the Harold Spencer-Jones Gold Medal by RIN in recognition of his outstanding contribution to navigation. He is also Vice-Chairman of the independent travel company, Trailfinders. Find out more about The Natural Navigator.