Dan was a member of the Great Britain rowing team as a Junior, between 2002 and 2004, during and after which time he also coached professionally and voluntarily, working with beginners through to international athletes.

Dan subsequently worked within the aviation sector as a flying instructor, and ultimately, for 10 years as an airline pilot. His decision to leave this profession was due to a strong internal conflict between his love of flying and his deep concern for the impact of aviation on our climate and the natural world. Becoming a Father deeply intensified this concern and his motivation to contribute to a liveable future. This personal journey is strongly connected to Dan’s transition to veganism in 2017. Around this time, he co-founded Rowers Against Rubbish; a movement aimed to harness the energy of the rowing community to make a positive environmental impact. This was something that began a process where he started to connect various dots regarding his own choices and decisions at an ethical level. On the day that Dan realised he would not eat his animal companions, Duke and Luna, he made the decision to stop eating meat and within a few months transitioned fully to a vegan life.

Having joined these dots, Dan’s willingness to openly explore other areas through an unfiltered lens (rather than one biased by conditioning and desires) became easier and allowed him to examine and engage with climate science in an entirely new way.

His connection to sport (and to the river) remains very much at the heart of a journey that has been profoundly influenced by veganism. Sport is also an area that is loaded with the possibility for internal conflicts. Within a sports team, there is often an expectation to eat a certain diet or conform to traditions/practices that are inconsistent with beliefs associated with issues such as animal rights or the environment.

Dan is passionate about supporting people with their own internal conflicts associated with issues such as veganism, the climate emergency, or anything where we perceive there to be a disconnect between the life we live/have lived and our deep-rooted values.