Martyn Betts A life of Derrin-do

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About Martyn

Lecturer and field practitioner exploring war, security, and geography to bridge classroom theory with practice.

From his early days in the Scout Movement, cadets, and the Army, Martyn has spent more than four decades immersed in outdoor and adventurous activities across the UK and overseas. He has planned and led expeditions on mountains, rivers, and remote trails around the world, blending practical fieldcraft with careful risk management and a strong duty of care for those he leads. Now based in the Peak District with his family and teaching at Chesterfield College, he brings this lived experience into the classroom, helping students connect academic ideas about conflict, security, and resilience with the realities of operating in challenging environments.

A pristine, unfolded topographic map of a mountainous border region lies flat on a rugged wooden field desk, its contour lines and shaded relief rendered in muted, realistic colors. Beside it sit a metal military-style compass, a weathered waterproof notebook closed with an elastic band, and a non-branded olive-green GPS device. Diffused overcast daylight from a nearby tent opening creates soft, directional light, highlighting the map’s texture and subtly catching on the metallic compass rim. Shot from directly above with sharp focus throughout, the composition feels ordered and methodical. The atmosphere is calm but purposeful, evoking outdoor leadership, backwoods navigation, and the geographical foundations of military decision-making, all in a clean, photographic, documentary style.
A large, detailed sand-table style terrain model fills the frame, sculpted with ridges, rivers, and miniature non-human markers representing armored columns and defensive positions. It sits on a matte, dark briefing-room table surrounded by blurred map tubes, closed laptops, and neatly stacked field manuals. Overhead fluorescent lights and a single cool-toned spotlight cast crisp, analytical shadows across contour lines and elevation features. Photographic realism from a slightly elevated angle emphasizes depth and strategic vantage points, with sharp focus on the central ridgeline and softer focus toward the edges. The mood is professional and analytical, conveying war studies expertise, operational planning, and serious academic rigor without showing any human presence.

Where Scholarship Meets the Field

I am an FE/HE lecturer, Royal Geographical Society Fellow, and expedition leader, using military history, war studies, terrorism analysis, and geography to help students and professionals understand conflict, resilience, and decision-making in demanding environments.

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Martyn Betts

A close-up, photographic view of a carefully arranged shelf of non-branded military history and war studies volumes, their spines in muted earth tones with abstract symbols instead of text. Between the books rests a small, framed terrain sketch of a battlefield and a scale, unmarked model of a cold war-era armored vehicle in matte green. Soft, warm lamplight from the left creates gentle gradients across the book spines and a slight gleam on the model’s angular surfaces. Shot at eye level with a shallow depth of field, the foreground details are crisp while the background shelving blurs into understated tones. The mood is scholarly and authoritative, suggesting deep expertise in military history, geopolitics, and strategy, with a modern, professional aesthetic.

Aarav Sharma

CEO

FE/HE lecturer specialising in uniformed public services, war studies, and applied military history.

A pristine, unfolded topographic map of a mountainous border region lies flat on a rugged wooden field desk, its contour lines and shaded relief rendered in muted, realistic colors. Beside it sit a metal military-style compass, a weathered waterproof notebook closed with an elastic band, and a non-branded olive-green GPS device. Diffused overcast daylight from a nearby tent opening creates soft, directional light, highlighting the map’s texture and subtly catching on the metallic compass rim. Shot from directly above with sharp focus throughout, the composition feels ordered and methodical. The atmosphere is calm but purposeful, evoking outdoor leadership, backwoods navigation, and the geographical foundations of military decision-making, all in a clean, photographic, documentary style.

Mateo García

CTO

Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and qualified geography teacher linking landscapes to conflict.

A large, detailed sand-table style terrain model fills the frame, sculpted with ridges, rivers, and miniature non-human markers representing armored columns and defensive positions. It sits on a matte, dark briefing-room table surrounded by blurred map tubes, closed laptops, and neatly stacked field manuals. Overhead fluorescent lights and a single cool-toned spotlight cast crisp, analytical shadows across contour lines and elevation features. Photographic realism from a slightly elevated angle emphasizes depth and strategic vantage points, with sharp focus on the central ridgeline and softer focus toward the edges. The mood is professional and analytical, conveying war studies expertise, operational planning, and serious academic rigor without showing any human presence.

Zuri Ndlovu

Engineer

Experienced expedition leader, teaching outdoor leadership and backwoods survival grounded in real-world fieldwork.

A close-up, photographic view of a carefully arranged shelf of non-branded military history and war studies volumes, their spines in muted earth tones with abstract symbols instead of text. Between the books rests a small, framed terrain sketch of a battlefield and a scale, unmarked model of a cold war-era armored vehicle in matte green. Soft, warm lamplight from the left creates gentle gradients across the book spines and a slight gleam on the model’s angular surfaces. Shot at eye level with a shallow depth of field, the foreground details are crisp while the background shelving blurs into understated tones. The mood is scholarly and authoritative, suggesting deep expertise in military history, geopolitics, and strategy, with a modern, professional aesthetic.

Leila Haddad

Designer

Researches terrorism, geopolitics, and security, helping students critically analyse contemporary conflict and global risk.

A pristine, unfolded topographic map of a mountainous border region lies flat on a rugged wooden field desk, its contour lines and shaded relief rendered in muted, realistic colors. Beside it sit a metal military-style compass, a weathered waterproof notebook closed with an elastic band, and a non-branded olive-green GPS device. Diffused overcast daylight from a nearby tent opening creates soft, directional light, highlighting the map’s texture and subtly catching on the metallic compass rim. Shot from directly above with sharp focus throughout, the composition feels ordered and methodical. The atmosphere is calm but purposeful, evoking outdoor leadership, backwoods navigation, and the geographical foundations of military decision-making, all in a clean, photographic, documentary style.
A large, detailed sand-table style terrain model fills the frame, sculpted with ridges, rivers, and miniature non-human markers representing armored columns and defensive positions. It sits on a matte, dark briefing-room table surrounded by blurred map tubes, closed laptops, and neatly stacked field manuals. Overhead fluorescent lights and a single cool-toned spotlight cast crisp, analytical shadows across contour lines and elevation features. Photographic realism from a slightly elevated angle emphasizes depth and strategic vantage points, with sharp focus on the central ridgeline and softer focus toward the edges. The mood is professional and analytical, conveying war studies expertise, operational planning, and serious academic rigor without showing any human presence.
A close-up, photographic view of a carefully arranged shelf of non-branded military history and war studies volumes, their spines in muted earth tones with abstract symbols instead of text. Between the books rests a small, framed terrain sketch of a battlefield and a scale, unmarked model of a cold war-era armored vehicle in matte green. Soft, warm lamplight from the left creates gentle gradients across the book spines and a slight gleam on the model’s angular surfaces. Shot at eye level with a shallow depth of field, the foreground details are crisp while the background shelving blurs into understated tones. The mood is scholarly and authoritative, suggesting deep expertise in military history, geopolitics, and strategy, with a modern, professional aesthetic.