Our team has extensive experience across the worlds of exploration, education, technology and media production

Jamie Buchanan-Dunlop
Founder & Director

Jamie is the founder of Digital Explorer and an educator and expedition leader. Interested in how exploration could inspire young people to make a difference, Jamie trained to be a teacher and taught for five years. He was part of the government’s Fast Track Teacher programme after receiving his PGCE and was appointed Head of Citizenship at Eastbury Comprehensive, before leading on multimedia approaches to learning at London’s largest comprehensive, Crown Woods School.

His innovative approach to education has been recognized by the Royal Geographical Society, European Schoolnet and used as a UK case study as part of the government Next Generation Learning campaign.

Oliver Steeds
Director

Oliver is a critically acclaimed independent broadcast journalist and works with Channel 4’s Unreported World, Discovery Channel, ABC News, Travel Channel and Al Jazeera English, amongst others, travelling to nearly 100 countries including most nasty places. Most recently Oliver’s presents Solving History/ Mystery Investigator on the Discovery Channel.

He has been nominated for the Livingstone Award for Young Journalists, Emmys and Overseas Press Awards.

John D Wells
Web Architect

Originally from Virginia, USA, John got his professional start during the Internet’s first “browser wars” of the late 1990s. Leveraging open-source technologies and aligning with the emerging web standards community, he worked at a number of local advertising and design agencies, designing and programming for the web.

In 2005 John moved to London and received a Masters in Internet Applications Development from London Metropolitan University. He has since spent his time in London working for a London-based digital agency, giving university lectures on Web 2.0 technologies, and assembling Digital Explorer’s web technology stack.

Jonny Madderson
Head of Production

Jonny is an award-winning filmmaker with a varied body of work that includes documentaries, music videos, short films and adverts. His films have won him a BBC New Talent award for young directors and a Channel 4 mini-doc award.

Since Web 2.0 he has begun to focus his energies into online video content, excited by the opportunities that come with audience interaction and the lack of any boundaries or borders. He is behind the Black Cab Sessions – an online music series filming performances of artists in one take, in the back of a black cab. There have been over 50 Sessions so far, with acts such as Brian Wilson, Benjamin Zephaniah, My Morning Jacket and Laura Marling. The series is watched in over 150 countries around the world.