These prestigious awards were presented by : Monty Halls

Monty Halls is an adventurer in the finest traditions of British exploration.  A former Royal Marines Officer and trained marine biologist, Monty has led teams through some of the most demanding environments on land and at sea.   His adventures include discovering pre-historic settlements amid great white sharks, avoiding the bullets of poachers, and photographing a dangerous and rare crocodile underwater for the first time.

Monty first made the news in early 2002 when he led a multi-national team of adventurers and scientists on an expedition to South East India to discover the ruins of a lost civilization beneath the sea. This was a discovery of global significance and established Monty as a new star of British exploration.  The ruins, nicknamed the Indian Atlantis, are in the news again as they have become partially visible for the first time in more than 1,500 years after the Asian Tsunami in December 2004 cleared some of the sand that was covering it. 

Other expeditions include: leading a team of divers to the top ten sites on earth, swimming with great white sharks, investigating caverns and caves, and seeking out the best reefs on the planet (2002).  In late 2003, Monty led another team to the ten greatest shipwrecks in diving, an expedition that included penetrating deep wrecks around the globe, swimming with wild killer whales off New Zealand, and exploring an ancient Maori cave system

What is unusual about many of Monty’s expeditions is that he often has to turn inexperienced individuals into effective teams that will cope with projects in extraordinary environments.  Taking disparate groups, identifying a clear aim, and then creating the momentum and techniques to overcome any obstacle to achieve results – this a challenge Monty Halls has undertaken with characteristic gusto during a decade of projects.  People tend to react to the team environment in certain ways, regardless of the setting or circumstances.  Monty believes that understanding these group dynamics are key to effective leadership, and Monty’s presentations reveal just why we behave the way we do when stress is applied, and how to manage such behaviour. His teams operate in some of the most rapidly changing environments on earth, and yet must learn to flex, evolve and adapt to their surroundings.