Adventure calls

The John Muir Trust administers the Des Rubens and Bill Wallace Grant to give people the opportunity to seek out life-changing experiences in wild places of the world, in ways which will benefit both the person and the wild places themselves.

The grant commemorates two former presidents of the Scottish Mountaineering Club who each led inspiring and adventurous lives.

This year the grant will fund six dedicated conservationists to undertake adventures with a scientific or education focus. We are delighted to announce recipients of the 2024 grant are as follows: 

• Phoebe Sleath plans a sketching tour of the Alps to capture glaciers (or lack of), plants and geology.
• Caroline Pakenaite’s grant will fund ice climbing and other training courses to support her goal to be the first DeafBlind person to summit Everest.
• Richard Adams hopes to make wild places bloom through a scholarly and artistic exploration of food sustainability on the Western Isles.

• Scott Pallett will join a human-powered ski expedition to northeast Greenland to test diagnostic disease kits in polar regions.
• Paul Bartlett plans an expedition to northern Mongolia to study native flora, habitat and companion species.
• Lizzie MacKenzie will produce a film which studies the ecology of Eriskay ponies which are endemic to the Western Isles.