Dr Ahmed Alatawi

Dr Ahmed Alatawi is a university professor whose career has been characterised by a sustained commitment to exploration, fieldwork, and environmental engagement.

Dr Alatawi’s scholarly work is complemented by extensive field research incorporating camping expeditions and sustained outdoor immersion. His methodology integrates environmental observation with systematic study, emphasising exploration of remote geographical regions, ethnographic engagement with indigenous communities, and the promotion of sustainable environmental practices.

Dr Alatawi’s professional foundation is rooted in traditional desert ecology and navigation, and environmental assessment from an early age. This formative training equipped him with expertise in route identification, terrain evaluation and the assessment of environmental suitability for human activity.

Dr Alatawi has demonstrated leadership in organising and executing field expeditions, including a three-day research journey through the Hisma Desert. In this capacity, he managed operational logistics, provided expert guidance to participants, and delivered educational presentations on regional environmental systems and cultural heritage.

Troy Sternberg

Dr. Troy Sternberg Academic Researcher - Tokai University, Japan.  Is a member of the Center for Climate and Security’s Advisory Board, and British Academy Post-doctoral Research Fellow in the School of Geography, Oxford University. His research focuses on the interaction of natural hazards with societies and the environment in the Gobi Desert, including hazard identification, social exposure and resilience and the evolving climate and hazard impact on human systems. In particular, he explores how drought, dzud (extreme winter) and climate influence human opportunity and security in the Gobi region of northern China and southern Mongolia. His interests center on desert processes – natural hazards, water, drought, climate, degradation, pastoralism, livelihoods, development and expanding dryland knowledge. He has contributed to a number of peer-reviewed journals, including the International Journal of Climatology and the Forced Migration Review. Troy holds a Doctorate in Philosophy (D.Phil) from Oxford University.

Incense Route Expedition Environmental Research Advisor. Troy will be supervising and advising on water research.

Dr Chris Crowe

Astronomer. This eminent astronomer will guide Rosie and the team in exploring the desert night sky—renowned for its clarity and minimal light pollution, making it an ideal natural laboratory. His expertise links the ancient desert environment with cutting-edge space science, highlighting the region’s importance for understanding cosmic phenomena and future resource exploration. This collaboration enriches the expedition’s educational and regenerative travel mission by deepening appreciation of Earth’s skies and beyond.

Dr Maria Gauguin

Research Associate Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology.

Dr Gauguin joined the Department of Archaeology as a Postdoctoral Researcher for the Palaeodeserts Project in 2016 and recently held a Dahlem Research Fellowship at Freie Universität Berlin (2017-2019). She previously also held a postdoctoral position with the Palaeodeserts Project at the University of Oxford (2014-2016).

Dr Gauguin carried out her doctoral research at the University of Edinburgh (2005-2010), where she focused on the rock art and Holocene environment on the central Sahara. Her thesis is entitled 'From Savanna to Desert: Animal Engravings in the Changing Prehistoric Environment of the Wadi al-Hayat, Libyan Sahara.'

Currently her research interests focus on prehistoric settlement patterns and rock art in northern Arabia. She has developed a range of new research methods that integrate methodologies from animal conservation studies, climate modelling, archaeozoology, and rock art research – and she has used these methods to reconstruct Holocene ecosystems and to identify cultural memory and population dynamics across periods of subsistence change.

Dr Gauguin co-directed the Project "Dating and conservation of ancient camel sculptures in northern Saudi Arabia" with Dr Guillaume Charloux (CNRS), which was supported by a grant from the Gerda Henkel Foundation (Grant No AZ 43/Z/18).

She is currently directing a project that explores the potential for Epipalaeolithic and early Holocene rock art and archaeology in Saudi Arabia, funded by a BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grant (SRG2223/231473)