Dwayne Fields is a British polar explorer, television presenter, and speaker. He is the first black Briton to reach the North Pole.

Early life

Fields was born in Jamaica and grew up in

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

, London, from the age of six. During his early life, he witnessed violent crime, including one incident where he survived an attempt on his life in a rival London estate because his adversary's gun jammed. He holds a degree in Psychology and Business Management from University of East London.

Career

Fields was inspired to visit the North Pole after watching a breakfast television article about Ben Fogle and James Cracknell looking for a third member to assist in their expedition of Antarctica. Though he was too late to apply, his enthusiasm for the project was noted and he was asked to recreate the 1908–1909 expedition by

Robert Peary Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (; May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for, in Apri ...

and Matthew Henson, which reached what was believed at the time to be the

Geographic North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Magn ...

. As well as the first Black British person to reach the North Pole, Fields is the second black person in the world after Henson. Fields has appeared as a guest on BBC's '' Countryfile'' and '' Springwatch'' with Chris Packham. On his ''Countryfile'' appearance, he said that he believed that some Black British people do not regard the countryside as "somewhere that's for them" and undertook his North Pole expedition to show that things are not necessarily impossible to achieve. He was one of the explorers on the series ''Welcome to Earth'', and is currently presenting his own series, '' 7 Toughest Days'', with

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

and Disney+. His work with youth groups has led him to co-found the WeTwo Foundation, which provides adventure opportunities for underprivileged young people, their inaugural trip to Antarctica was in November 2022, and Fields is a named ambassador for The Scout Association.

Awards

Fields was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fields, Dwayne Black British sportsmen British polar explorers British sportspeople of Jamaican descent Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Jamaican emigrants to the United Kingdom Living people People from Saint Catherine Parish People from Stoke Newington Year of birth missing (living people)