Please meet Klaus Dodds, RSA Board Member and TPG Editor-in-Chief
As my accompanying photo suggests, I am often happiest when I am surrounded by ice. For someone who grew up in southern England, where even in the 1970s an ice-filled winter could not be counted upon, my fascination with ice is somewhat of a mystery. But my parents were avid skiers and my Austrian mother insisted we had to watch Ski Sunday at every opportunity and cheer for the great Austrian skiers of the 1970s and 1980s. For the record, this is me in Svalbard in a fjord close to the small settlement of Ny-Ålesund. If not in the high Arctic, then my other great cryosphere-related passion is Antarctica and I have been blessed to visit the continent on five separate occasions – four by ship and one by air and ship. Nothing can compare to travelling in a small boat and have whales gently surface next to you – and allow you to touch their fins and skin.
Beyond the frozen world, my other passions are cycling and books, especially political biography and crime fiction. There is nothing more enjoyable than travelling around the world, and cycling through those visited cities and surrounding regions. The most memorable cycle trip was in southern Patagonia, in and around Puerto Natales. As with Iceland, the head wind was so strong it felt at times I was being pushed backwards and sidewards. Chileans in particular looked on with bemusement as our little party went on their merry way along the accompanying rugged coastline.
All of which to say is that academic life has in the end allowed me the time and scope to pursue these keenly held interests and every overseas workshop attended has offered opportunities to cycle around the world as well.
What has not gone so well is that my two children share absolutely no interest whatsoever in geography!