 During this time he became acquainted with the Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander, who employed him as a personal clerk for a time.In 1768 Spöring was enlisted as a clerk, assistant naturalist and personal secretary in the entourage of Joseph Banks, a wealthy young botanist who was preparing for an expedition sponsored by the Royal Society to the Pacific Ocean.This expedition had as one of its principal goals the observation of the transit of Venus; however it was also intended to make scientific studies of the flora and fauna of any new lands encountered.