People & Culture
Royal Canadian Geographical Society Awards 2020
Award recipients honoured in the first virtual Annual General Meeting and Fellows Show.
- 2630 words
- 11 minutes
Exploration
How one explorer is using film to connect people with place, history, and culture — plus, one-of-a-kind insight into the world of underwater archaeology and more
“I think that’s a common thread for explorers — the desire to feel small and insignificant in something much larger. There’s this serene, peaceful other-worldliness to the North. You go up there once, and it just gets under your skin. And you don’t really ever stop wanting to go back.”
Award-winning expedition filmmaker and RCGS Fellow Trevor Wallace joins Explore podcast host David McGuffin to talk about exploration, archaeology, and insights into his expeditions around the world.
In this conversation, Wallace goes into detail about his decades-long career working in Greenland and the Arctic, reflecting on Inuit knowledge systems, sovereignty, and why the North is so often misunderstood — and impossible to forget. He also discusses his latest documentary, Among Thieves, an investigative film that exposes the global black market for looted antiquities, following an undercover trail from remote burial sites to international art markets.
The conversation also highlights Wallace’s underwater archaeology work in Menorca, where his team is excavating rare 13th-century medieval shipwrecks, and how hands-on field schools are bringing new generations into archaeological research.
A member of the Explorers Club and an RCGS Fellow, Wallace has led and documented expeditions across the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, Antarctica, Central Asia, Siberia, and the Mediterranean — using film to connect people with place, history, and culture.
People & Culture
Award recipients honoured in the first virtual Annual General Meeting and Fellows Show.
Environment
The uncertainty and change that's currently disrupting the region dominated the annual meeting's agenda
People & Culture
"The point of all this is to make history intimate"
People & Culture
In celebration of its 90th year, the RCGS handed out awards to a diverse and star-studded roster of honourees