Roz Savage
Roz Savage is an ocean rower, speaker, author, sustainability advocate, and thought leader on the big existential questions of the 21st century. Her feats have been described by Sir Richard Branson as “Heroic, epic, inspiring, historic.” Best known as the first (and so far only) woman to row solo across the world’s “Big Three” oceans - the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian - Rosalind Savage inspires audiences to think again about what is possible, and encourages them to step up fully into the potential of their highest selves.
She has spoken to tens of thousands of people across six continents, including Google, eBay, Hershey, Disney, Kaiser Permanente, National Geographic, the Royal Geographical Society, TED and TEDx, plus numerous schools, universities and corporations.
Roz has appeared on numerous TV channels including CBS, ESPN, Fox News, Channel Four and the BBC, and has been a frequent guest on various radio stations including NPR, BBC (Radio Four, World Service), and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
She has been featured in a wide range of newspapers including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, The Financial Times and the Evening Standard. Magazine features include Sports Illustrated, Grazia, Red, Outside Magazine and Fortune Magazine. She has written for numerous magazines and websites including Forbes and the Huffington Post, and contributed to over a dozen books on conservation, adventure, lifestyle and women
A documentary based on her Atlantic voyage, “Rowing the Atlantic”, was screened in 32 countries as a finalist in the prestigious Banff Mountain Film Festival.
She has authored two books: “Rowing The Atlantic: Lessons Learned on the Open Ocean” (Simon & Schuster, 2009) and "Stop Drifting, Start Rowing” (Hay House, 2013).
In 2010 Roz was named Adventurer of the Year by National Geographic. In 2012 she was a World Fellow at Yale. In 2013 she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to fundraising and the environment. In 2017 she took up a position at Yale, lecturing on Courage in Theory and Practice.
3 words to describe Nature?
Awe-inspiring. Nourishing. Vital
3 things Nature taught you?
Respect
Humility
Confidence
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Holy Isle, Scotland
Californian Redwoods
The beaches of southwestern Australia
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Sad, because they’re in such trouble
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Happy – I love being around trees
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
That the Earth is not as solid or as static as we like to pretend
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Joy
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Energised
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
11!
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
My mother, sister and I walked the Sandstone Trail when we were living in Cheshire. I especially remember a stretch of the path near Alderley Edge, where there was a row of craggy and scarred Scots Pines fringing the top of a hill. I just loved those trees. They looked like they had experienced so much in their lifetimes. Even now I get that sense when I’m around an old tree – I wonder what changes they have already seen, and what further changes they will see in the future.
