High in the Peruvian Andes, in a spectacular high-altitude landscape, earth worship and subsistence farming intermingle and the essence of an ancient way of living persists. In 2023 Jack stepped unknowingly into the heart of this culture on a trip to the Andes, which led him to spend a year and a half living in remote Indigenous communities in Ecuador and Peru. Through farming, herding, praying and climbing mountains in traditional ways, he developed a deeper understanding of his own Indigenous Scottish heritage and gained new perspectives on the mountain environments that both Andeans and Scots call home. 

View the full RSGS 2025-26 programme of talks