The History of the OUEC
The Exploration Club was founded in 1929 by a group of undergraduates who saw the importance of overseas exploration and the possibilities it offered. Early expeditions included those to Greenland, Spitzbergen (Svalbard), and the New Hebrides. Since then, the Club has fluctuated in numbers and level of activity, and has supported expeditions travelling to every continent except Antarctica, and every major ocean.
Expeditions have brought back new species of plants, amphibians, and mammals, and have conducted baseline anthropological, geological and biological surveys all over the world. To find out more about any of these expeditions, look into our online archive, which will begin to grow as new material is uploaded over the next few years.
OUEC People
Some of the most famous names in science and exploration began exploring at Oxford or helped the Club to grow and thrive.
Among them were our three founders:
Max Nicholson, an extraordinarily influential figure in nature conservation
Sir Wilfred Thesiger, famed explorer and a regular visitor to OUEC’s annual dinner
Colin Trapnell, pioneer ecologist, explorer and philanthropist
