• The eighth Land Rover Bursary, run by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) on behalf of Land Rover, has been awarded to the "Trail by Fire" expedition
• A modified Land Rover Defender will be used as the world's first 4x4 mobile volcano observatory for the team's groundbreaking field research
• Land Rover will enable the first large scale investigation of volcanic gas emissions along the Nazca tectonic plate in the South American Andes.
• The research is crucial to improving our understanding of how volcanic gas emissions contribute to the Earth's atmosphere and reducing uncertainty in climate modelling
• The Defender will house a suite of cutting edge instruments including a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's) used to collect and analyse volcanic gases

Whitley, UK, 7 October 2015 ‑ Land Rover, in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), is proud to announce the award of the eighth consecutive global annual bursary. This year's winner, "Trail by Fire" went through a rigorous application and interview process for the highly competitive bursary. They will receive funding of up to £30,000 and the use of a specially modified Defender vehicle. 

The international team of six volcanologists are completing the first large scale investigation of volcanic gas emissions along the entire 2,500 mile length of the Nazca tectonic plate which runs from Peru to the southern tip of Chile. 

The expedition is the largest of its kind and will improve our understanding of how volcanic gas emissions contribute to the Earth's atmosphere, and reducing uncertainty in climate modelling. This information is crucial if we want to understand how our atmosphere formed and our planet became able to sustain life. 

The Land Rover Defender will be put through its paces as the group negotiate their way through unpredictable terrain.  The Defender's exceptional off‑road capabilities will allow the team to navigate the South American Andes, which is one of the world's most tectonically and volcanically active regions. The remote locations, high elevations and lack of established routes to the summit of its volcanoes have historically resulted in a scarcity of scientific studies. 

The Defender has been modified by Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) at its Oxford Road facility in the UK to create the world's first 4x4 mobile volcano observatory. Notable modifications include aircraft grade anti‑vibration mounted housing for the team's Delta Ray spectrometer, an uprated power supply, a synthetic winch, increased security, LED lighting and a side deployable tent for overnight accommodation. 

The team have assembled a suite of cutting edge instruments for their mobile volcano observatory with the assistance of colleagues from across the globe, including specially designed gas bags and bottles, chemical sensors, ultraviolet cameras and spectrometers. Using the Defenders off road capabilities and a specially designed UAV fleet, the team will be able to get these instruments to previously inaccessible locations. To enhance the analysis, the team is integrating their observations with satellite images, with the assistance of scientists from NASA. 

The researchers, from some of the world's leading universities, participated in extensive training at the home of Land Rover Experience, Eastnor, under the guidance of expert instructors to ensure they will be able to cope with the challenging conditions they will encounter. 

Team leader, Yves Moussallam, 27 said: "We are overwhelmed that Land Rover and Royal Geographical Society have chosen our project as the winning expedition for this year's bursary. The funding and loan of the Defender make this project possible and we can't wait to get started. There is no doubt that this is an ambitious project but we hope to reveal some ground breaking findings and have an extraordinary adventure along the way." 

Mark Cameron, Jaguar Land Rover Experiential Marketing Director said: "Our partnership with the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) is important to us as part of our commitment to a contribution to research, education and fieldwork expeditions. This year's recipients truly embody the 'Above and Beyond' ethos which lies at the heart of the Land Rover brand and we are excited to see what findings come out of the research. As we mark the final year of production for the Defender, this is the perfect expedition to showcase the model's contribution to research."

The Land Rover Bursary was first awarded in 2007, offering funding and the use of a Land Rover Defender vehicle as part of a partnership with the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) that stretches back more than 30 years. The award is aimed at those who want to go 'Above and Beyond' to complete a journey of exceptional challenge, and for which a Land Rover Defender, with its expert all‑terrain capabilities, is an integral part of the expedition.

More information about the journey can be found by following their expedition on their website (www.trailbyfire.org) and through social media (www.facebook.com/trailbyfire.volcanoes and www.twitter.com/trailbyfire). 

ENDS

For further information log onto www.media.landrover.com or contact: 

Land Rover
Lydia Haley
Senior Press Officer
+44 2476564147/ +44 7730 923507
lhaley1@jaguarlandrover.com

Editor's Notes:

Land Rover Defender:

The Defender is Land Rover's most iconic vehicle and one of the world's most recognisable four‑wheel drive vehicles. Enduring and capable, it is a legend on seven continents for challenging expeditions and humanitarian support.  The Defender has played a crucial role in previous expeditions including the last year's Bursary recipients The Grand Alpine Tour. www.rgs.org/LandRoverBursary

As the last year of production for the Defender, 2015 has been a year of celebrating the iconic vehicle.  Ambassadors recently joined Land Rover to assemble the two millionth vehicle built on the Defender production line in Solihull. The one‑of‑a‑kind vehicle will be the star attraction at an exclusive charity auction and Land Rover exhibition held at Bonhams, London, on 16 December 2015.  All funds raised will be donated to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the Born Free Foundation.

Land Rover

Since 1948 Land Rover has been manufacturing authentic 4x4s that represent true 'breadth of capability' across the model range. Defender, Discovery, Discovery Sport, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover and Range Rover Evoque each define the world's 4x4 sectors with 80% of this model range exported to over 170 countries. www.landrover.com

Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) is the learned society and professional body for geography. Formed in 1830 for 'the advancement of geographical science', today we deliver this objective through developing, supporting and promoting geographical research, expeditions and fieldwork, education, public engagement, and geography input to policy. The Society aims to foster an understanding and informed enjoyment of our world. The RGS‑IBG holds the world's largest private geographical collection and provides public access to it. www.rgs.org

Trail of Fire Expedition team 

Dr. Yves Moussallam: Research fellow, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA

Team leader Yves has extensive experience planning and running expeditions on active volcanic systems. Yves' expertise is in negotiating and planning trip logistics which will be crucial to this expedition. Yves is also the team medical officer, a role he previously assumed in past expeditions including during an Antarctic field season.  Yves's previous expeditions have taken him all over the world to Indonesia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Slovakia, Sicily, Iceland, Antarctica and Far North Canada. 

Dr. Nial Peters: Postdoctoral fellow, University of Cambridge, UK

Nial has experience of three Antarctic field seasons working on an active volcano. If anything breaks, Nial can fix it in the blink of an eye, he also has extensive experience in off‑road driving. Nial's research has taken him all over the world with past expeditions in Chile, Ethiopia, Sicily, Iceland, Antarctica, Russia, China, and Norway. 

Dr. Philipson Bani: Volcanologist Institute of Research for the Development, France/ Indonesia

Philipson has seen more volcanoes than the rest of the team put together. Among other achievements he provided the first gas measurements at several active volcanoes of the Vanuatu archipelago. He has extended experience with off road driving and expeditions on active volcanoes and is currently exploring volcanic degassing across the Indonesia archipelago (78 active volcanoes). 

Dr. Ian Schipper: Lecturer, University of Wellington, New Zealand

Ian is a self‑taught mechanic, his skills will be put to good use during the expedition. He will join the team for the most challenging part, in the Altiplano. Ian has driven Land Rover Defenders on past expeditions to Mt. Etna, Sicily. He has experience in direct sampling of volcanoes ranging from submarine Hawaiian seamounts to Japanese volcanoes. He is an expert in magma‑water interaction and eruption dynamics using textures in volcanic rocks.       

Aaron Curtis: PhD Candidate, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, USA     

Aaron is the expedition UAV pilot. He has extensive volcano fieldwork experience including geophysical and geochemical investigations at Yellowstone, USA, Ecuador, Chile, and six Antarctic field seasons. He has worked at Los Alamos National Labs developing and operating UAV's as a faculty guest researcher. He has previously flown multirotor UAV's at volcanoes including Erebus, Villarrica and Cotopaxi. 

Dr. Talfan Barnie: Postdoctoral researcher, The Open University, UK      

Talfan is the expert in remote sensing of volcanoes using satellites. He will be the team's "eye from the sky" and work on linking our surface measurements to satellite estimates so that the activity of each volcano can be tracked back in time. Talfan has past experience on active volcanoes in Ethiopia, Iceland and Sicily and will join the team on the last part of the trip in Chile.   

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