Expedition Staff

Dr Lesley Cadzow

Dr Lesley Cadzow is a Scottish-Australian family doctor and acupuncturist, usually based in Melbourne, but currently employed as a rural locum doctor.

Work in 2010 has ranged from country hospital work in the lush dairy, yet bush fire affected, area of Gippsland in Victoria; to an Aboriginal medical centre in Casino, the beef capital of New South Wales; and a stint as a flying Doctor in Broken Hill. Following graduation and training in Scotland Lesley has experience as a neonatal retrieval paediatrician flying over the volcanoes of the North Island of New Zealand, as a medical educator at Monash University, community radio doctor, medical writer and outback medical practitioner with the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Alice Springs.

She has also lived and worked with the Indigenous communities of Elcho and Bathurst islands and at Cape York. As a ship doctor with Aurora Expeditions she has explored Scotland, the Arctic, Kamchatka and Antarctica and loves returning to the wild wonder that is South Georgia. A trainee surfer on the Great Ocean Road, Lesley is an Iceberger (swimming at dawn in Port Philip Bay), loves to dance and sing and be in the bush.

Rebecca Pirzl

Rebecca has spent time in some outstanding wild places through her career in wildlife ecology and a love of the outdoors and remote areas. From an early age she walked, skied and camped in the Tasmanian highlands, and later made her way through university and a few years of world travel as a bushwalking guide, ski instructor, outdoor gear salesperson and YHA receptionist and manager.

In the 15 years since then her science profession has taken her to far flung places including the arid country of South Australia, the Coral Sea Islands, the Northwest shelf, and the Antarctic, where she has completed five research voyages. Notable among these were a winter trip to the Antarctic Peninsula with the US Antarctic Program for the International Whaling Commission, and a several summers traversing the East Antarctic pack ice on Australian and Norwegian ships.

Rebecca has also worked in protected area management with Indigenous Australians and interpreted science for many different audiences through public lectures, training workshops and education resources. She has a PhD in ecology and runs a small consultancy business in wildlife research and natural resource management from Natimuk, Victoria, where she lives with her husband Kieran. Joining Aurora Expeditions in 2007, Rebecca enjoys combines her background in guiding, ecology and remote area travel to help people explore exciting destinations on Aurora trips.

Judd Hill

Judd has travelled extensively throughout the world, both for fun and working as a qualified chef, hiking guide, and sea kayak guide and Instructor.

He has been a professional sea kayak guide and instructor for almost a decade. Judd started his kayak guiding in Far North Queensland running 7 day Hinchinbrook Island and Cape Tribulation to Cooktown expeditions in 2000, and has since worked in such exotic destinations as Fiji, Panama, Antarctica, PNG and the Russian Far East. He has also paddled on personal trips and expeditions in Scotland, Greenland, Tasmania and Independent Samoa to name a few.

Judd is at equally at home on top or under the water, be it SCUBA diving, sailing or just playing around with boats. He has his commercial coxswains ticket, is a Rescue SCUBA diver and is also trained in Wilderness First Aid.

When back in Australia Judd just loves hanging out in the tropical paradise that is North Queensland

John Palmer

John has been involved with sea and land expeditions for a number of years. He lives in Broome in Western Australia where he works as a local guide. He also leads expeditions along the Kimberley Coast and through the inland heart of the Kimberley. John has also worked for Malcolm Douglas as a crocodile handler and public educator on the species.

During the Northern Australian monsoon John changes his focus to the Antarctic, to where he has traveled many times over the past five years as a naturalist and zodiac driver. He is as much at home driving a zodiac in near freezing conditions in Antarctica whilst discussing the eating habits of a Leopard seal as he is driving a zodiac up Porosus Creek in the Kimberley looking for that elusive five-metre crocodile!

John is also a keen yachtsman, sailing since he was a child, and has competed in many regattas. During January and February of 2008 he was a helmsman and co-navigator onboard a 68 foot racing yacht sailing from Fremantle to Qingdao (China) via Singapore, which was part of a round the world yacht race. John also holds a commercial coxswain’s certificate.

Dave Robinson

Dave recognised his desire to travel early and embarked on an wide-travelling career with the Royal Australian Navy. His travels spanned 12 years, four continents and a range of countries throughout Asia and Europe, with one of the highlights being a rescue mission to Antarctica. While travelling the globe, he catered for naval captains and visiting international dignitaries in between stints looking for the perfect wave in Indonesia.

For the past 20 years, Dave has honed his culinary skills working for international five-star hotels, Parliament House and wedding function centres in Canberra. A newcomer to Aurora Expeditions, Dave ventured north to Papua New Guinea in 2009 and was blown away with Rabaul and its impressive erupting volcano.

But it’s the laidback lifestyle on the NSW North Coast which has allowed him to keep both feet on the ground. In between his East Coast surf travels, Dave has endeavoured to walk lightly on the planet and increase the self sufficiency of his family, producing organic vegetables and regenerating 140 acres of over-farmed land into a wildlife sanctuary. Dave is passionate about preserving the diversity of local fauna and flora species within his valley.

Dr Jamin Mulvey

Jamin is an Aussie doctor, currently finishing his training as an Anaesthesia Specialist in Queensland. Graduating from the University of Sydney, Jamin has worked both locally and internationally including Johannesburg, South Africa; The Highlands, Papua New Guinea; Kashmir, Pakistan; and the South Pacific. He has also worked on Ski Patrol carving up the slopes in Utah, USA.

This is Jamin’s second season with Aurora Expeditions, having previously gone to the Arctic and Antarctica in 2008. Since his last expedition, Jamin has been working for Careflight QLD, doing helicopter-based retrieval work of sick and injured patients around Southern Queensland. Currently living on the southern Gold Coast, he’s also a keen surfer, mountain bike rider, rock climber and hiker.

Graham Kirkpatrick

Graham was born and bred in the heart of England, in the County of Leicestershire. Brought up in the countryside, he has a love for the outdoors and whilst at home loves to spend time cycling and has recently completed a 1000 mile bike ride for charity.

Graham has been a chef since 1997 and has worked in a wide range of establishments from restaurants to hotels and pubs to function centres. Another pastime of his is travelling, having spent a lot of the last 6 years visiting many parts of the world.

Graham has been working for Aurora Expeditions since early 2007 having completed seasons both in the Arctic and Antarctica as Head Chef. He feels extremely lucky to have been given to chance to work with Aurora Expeditions and to be given an insight into part of the planet that would have otherwise remained a mystery.

Dr Giles Taylor

Giles was born and brought up in the UK. He started sailing as a small child and has “mucked about in boats” ever since. As a student he spent much of his spare time walking and skiing in the mountains of Europe.

A couple of years after graduating, he and his wife drove a small car 16,000km from London, across the Sahara, through Central Africa to Kenya. He then spent two years working in East Africa before returning to London for further training. Another two years on remote islands in the Solomon Islands made a return to England unappetizing and so he settled on the far north coast of New South Wales.

He has been a doctor for several expeditions and sporting events. He went to the Ross Sea with Aurora in early 2006 and has been travelled to the Arctic and Antarctic every year since then.

When he gets bored, Giles bushwalks, sea kayaks and flies gliders competitively.

Tarn Pilkington

Tarn has made many trips to the Antarctica continent as a guide and scientific field assistant. He is based in Queenstown, New Zealand and works full time as a mountain guide either at home in the kiwi Southern Alps or other locations around the world. Last year he co-led the crossing of South Georgia Island with Tashi Tenzing. He is an internationally qualified IFMGA Guide and has recently finished his accreditation as a Safety Auditor. He is currently studying Digital media and is often seen on our voyages with a video camera in hand.

Liz Pope

Raised in the Philippines, USA, and Australia, the ‘travel bug’ has been part of Liz from an early age.  Likewise, Liz’s love of the outdoors was fostered early – intensifying during a year spent in the Victorian Alps at her school’s outdoor education campus.  Since then, Liz has enjoyed travels & adventures throughout Australia, New Zealand, India, Vietnam, Nepal, Mexico, Europe, and Africa.  More recently, Liz has worked for Aurora on their Papua New Guinea and “Across the Circle” Antarctic voyages.

After finishing full-time postgraduate study, Liz worked as a guide in Eastern and Southern Africa, leading overland safaris & exploring the wilder side of camping with elephant, rhino, lion, and the occasional feisty wart hog!  Taking a break from truck life, Liz faced the daily challenges of “hippo dodging” while managing a lodge in the Okavango Delta in northwestern Botswana.  On returning to Australia, Liz satisfied her passion for conservation & animals working at Taronga Zoo as an education officer for their “Roar & Snore” program. 

Liz has qualifications in biological sciences & communications; both of which she currently uses in her work within the medical communications field.  In her spare time, Liz enjoys bushwalking, swimming, skiing and snorkelling, and is studying part-time in order to complete her MBA.  Liz was thrilled to join the Aurora team in 2009, and to have the opportunity to explore and share some of the special places our world has to offer.

Robyn Mundy

Lured by the magic of the ice, Robyn first joined Aurora Expeditions in 1996 on a voyage to the Antarctic Peninsula, and has returned to the polar regions almost every year since. As assistant expedition leader on dozens of our Antarctic, Arctic and Scottish voyages, Robyn brings extensive experience to her role, sharing her enthusiasm and love of nature with fellow travellers.

In the summer of 2003–04, Robyn and her partner Gary Miller spent a season living at Davis Station, Antarctica, where Robyn worked as a field assistant researching south polar skuas. In 2008, Robyn and Gary over-wintered at Mawson Station, Antarctica, working with emperor penguins out on the sea ice at Auster Rookery.

Robyn has a PhD in Writing and is a keen photographer. Her first novel, The Nature of Ice, published by Allen & Unwin in September 2009, reflects her passion for Antarctica and polar history. Robyn lives in Perth, Western Australia where she writes and works as a graphic designer.

Volker Schmitt

Taking an interest in cooking and hospitality as a young boy whilst growing up in his parents restaurant, Volker undertook a three-year chefs apprenticeship in Germany in 1986. Volker has gained a wealth of international experience in the kitchen, having worked in Switzerland, Germany, Bermuda and New Zealand.

After owning his owning and running his own restaurant in New Zealand for four years, Volker decided it was time for a short break before taking up the position as Head Chef at Twelve Trees Restaurant at Allan Scott Wine and Family Estate, located in the poplar wine-region of Marlborough in New Zealand.

Since then Volker has travelled to Antarctica and Papua New Guinea as an Aurora chef, cooking amazing meals for all of our guests, staff and crew. Our Head Chef for the 2010 Antarctica season, Volker will make sure that each and every guest is well fed with wholesome, hearty meals fit for any explorer.

Penny Hirsch

Penny first joined Aurora in our Sydney office in 2003. She has worked in the hospitality industry for many years, enjoying the discipline of serving fine wines complimented by a good meal. The travel industry was a big change of direction for her. She was enthused by the challenge of the unique itineraries enjoyed by our Aurora family passengers as well as the ability to increase her knowledge of our intriguing world.

Penny is an enthusiastic and passionate participant in everything she does, and in 2007 decided to take on the next challenge of a working holiday in the UK. She spent two years travelling and working in Shetland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Southern England and as the opportunity arose to work on board Polar Pioneer she jumped at the chance.

Penny has since been working and travelling to Aurora's wonderful destinations, enjoying both North and South Polar regions.

Travels in South America and the Middle East have kept Penny enthralled in between ship time, along with an extravagant short holiday in Los Angeles to indulge her passion for wine and food a little more. The mix of education and travel which Aurora encourages, renews the challenge in her own life and Penny continues her never ending enthusiasm for work onboard our ships.

Terry Hart

Terry made his maiden voyage aboard the Ross Sea Explorer as he took a slight detour from his usual annual migration pattern of ski instructing at a resort in Colorado, backpacking a variety of destinations from Tokoyo to Guatemala, squeezing the most out of those US dollars before returning to Australia to lead school children through camp based programs as an outdoor education instructor.

Following 12months in Calgary as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student, Terry completed a Business degree at the University of Newcastle, but has till this point managed to avoid officially entering the corporate world as a marketer, instead choosing his current lifestyle and being unashamed of being paid to ski and being able to have such a positive influence in the lives of many children.

For 3 seasons in Colorado Terry was a Resident Advisor in the resort's employee housing facility, which is inhabited by over 500 staff from a multitude of nationalities. Part of his duties there included organising events to encourage socialisation and add some variety to the entertainment available.

Allegedly a nice guy and not shy of a conversation with, well, pretty much anyone. Terry is excited by the prospect of a new adventure, new challenges and new friendships.

Dr Jaye Martin

Jaye is a Specialist Physician based in the remote Kimberley region of the north west of Western Australia, where she provides care to patients throughout the whole region. This involves extensive travel by 4WD from her base in Broome to the other main Kimberley towns and many of the Aboriginal communities. The remote and varied nature of her everyday work means that she is used to having to be resourceful and adaptable! She grew up and graduated from Medical School in the UK, but immigrated to Western Australia in 1991. Since then she has worked throughout WA, including time in the Goldfields, Central Desert and wheat belt regions and outer metropolitan Perth before moving up to the Kimberley.

Jaye also works part time in the Expedition cruise industry, and has been visiting Antarctica annually in this capacity since 2003. Expedition Medicine is one of several of her particular medical interests. She has taken on several additional roles over the years, including Assistant Expedition Leader, zodiac driver and helicopter logistics. She has also worked as Expedition Leader on cruises along the Kimberley coast.

Jaye has always had a love of travel, and in her spare time enjoys exploring remote areas of Australia by 4WD. She is also a keen sailor, in 2008 having spent 2 months sailing from Fremantle to China via Singapore as navigator on board a 68 foot racing yacht.

Dr Ann Ward

Ann has been practising for over 25 years and spends most of her time working as a rural doctor in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, based in Kununurra.

Ann spent three years in the centre of Western Australia working for the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Meekatharra and was responsible for an area covering 390,000 square kilometres. For the past 18 years she has worked in the spectacular Kimberley region, flying weekly to service the Warmun Aboriginal community.

Ann has also worked in the Himalaya both as a doctor and trek leader to remote areas. In 1990, she was expedition doctor for a successful expedition to Mt Everest. In 1992, she worked as a volunteer doctor for the Himalayan Rescue Association in Manang at 3,400 metres in the Annapurna region of Nepal.

Ann has spent nine summer seasons in Antarctica working both inland and on ships to the coast of Antarctica. She has also worked with Aurora in the Arctic and in Papua New Guinea.

Her passions are bushwalking, yoga, kayaking and being in wild places.

Colin Monteath

Colin, a freelance photographer, writer, mountaineer and adventurer, is widely travelled in the polar and high mountain regions of the world. His photographs and stories have been published in a wide variety of magazines and books. He has a BSc from the University of Sydney.

With more than 50 wide-ranging assignments to Antarctica spanning 22 seasons, Colin has seen more of the Seventh Continent than any other New Zealander. For ten seasons (1973-83) Colin was based at New Zealand's Scott Base.

Since 1983 Colin has worked as an expedition leader, lecturer and guide for various polar cruise companies. He has been an active mountaineer for 30 years plus, and has been on numerous trekking and photographic assignments throughout the world. He has also skied/dog sledged across Greenland and has authored three Antarctic books. His most recent publication is, "Hall and Ball: Kiwi Mountaineers".

Steve Bell

Steve Bell has been climbing since the mid 1970s, and has completed many ascents around the world, including the north faces of the Eiger and the Matterhorn. He has worked for the British Antarctic Survey, spending four months under canvass on James Ross Island, and served with the Royal Marines Commandos.

In 1987 he was a co-founder of Himalayan Kingdoms, which introduced the concept of commercial mountaineering expeditions to British climbers.

He led the UK's first guided ascents of a 7000m peak in 1989, an 8000m peak in 1991, and Everest in 1993. This last expedition remains the most successful British Everest expedition ever, with 16 summiteers.

Since then he has gone on to complete the seven continental summits and has edited a book about the Seven Summits. An IFMGA mountain guide, he is now the proprietor of one of the world's leading mountaineering companies, Jagged Globe, which works closely with Aurora Expeditions for its Antarctic programmes.

In early 2004, Steve emigrated from the UK to Australia with his wife and three children, and lives near Melbourne.

Simon Sharpin

Simon has worked as a professional sea kayak and whitewater-rafting guide for more than two decades, leading trips throughout Australia, North and South America the Polar regions, Europe and the South Pacific.

In 1985 he did a raft guides course with a large Australian adventure travel company. He spent the next five years working as a guide and river manager on all the major commercial raft runs in eastern Australia, from the Franklin River in Tasmania to the Tully and North Johnston in North Queensland.

He worked as an operations manager and rafting trip leader for rafting companies in British Columbia and Norway for 5 years and has guided rafts on private and commercial trips in Alaska, USA, Canada and Chile.

Simon started leading Hinchinbrook Island sea kayaking tours in the early 90’s and went on to manage and lead seven and ten-day sea kayak programs in the Yasawas in Fiji for 7 years. He has been guiding kayak trips in the polar regions with Aurora Expeditions for 6 years from Antarctica and South Georgia in the south to Spitsbergen, Norway and Greenland in the north.

He has completed several Wilderness First Aid courses and is a qualified swift water rescue technician.

Tashi Tenzing

Tashi is the grandson of Tenzing Norgay who, with Sir Edmund Hillary, made the first ascent of Everest on 29th May 1953. Tashi was born in Darjeeling, India and gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of New Delhi. But his first love has always been the outdoors, especially climbing and, since leaving University, Tashi has been almost solely employed in leading trekking and climbing trips in the Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, Kashmir, and Indian Himalaya, as well as some stints as a field training officer and mountain guide in Antarctica. Tashi also graduated as an instructor from the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling. In 1993 Tashi led the 40th Anniversary Everest Expedition to mark the first successful expedition by his grandfather. His team was successful, getting two members to the summit on May 10th. Some four years later, on May 23rd 1997, Tashi reached the summit of Everest himself. With this dream fulfilled, Tashi's road was clear to embark on new adventures.

In 1998/99 Tashi first worked for the Australian Antarctic Division, at Mawson Station in East Antarctica. The past three years has seen Tashi again in the Antarctic, guiding alpine ascents on climbing trips for Aurora Expeditions, including a crossing of South Georgia. He also worked on a filming a project in 2002/3, spending a month in Scott Base and two months in the Antarctica Peninsula.

In August 2001 Tashi and his former wife Judy published his first book - Tenzing and the Sherpas of Everest - which pays tribute to the immense contribution the Sherpas, including his grandfather, have made to Himalayan exploration and mountaineering. On May 16th, 2002 Tashi made his second ascent of Everest with the Swiss Rolex 50th Anniversary team - to commemorate the gallant attempts made in both spring and autumn 1952 by Tenzing Norgay and his dear friend, Raymond Lambert.

Al Bakker

Al has paddled whitewater and sea kayaks for 36 years in North America, South America, the South Pacific, Japan, Australia, NZ, Antarctica, South Georgia, the High Arctic and Greenland, Russian Far East and all across Europe. He has led commercial sea kayak tours for the last 21 years and developed sea kayak, rafting and cross country ski programs in many countries.

Al has organised and led sea kayaking adventures in the Polar Regions with Aurora Expeditions for the past eleven years.

Al is a qualified SCUBA diver, Nordic ski instructor and examiner, swim instructor and examiner and holds swiftwater rescue and national lifeguard certification. He has worked as a helicopter ski guide, rafting guide and wilderness first aid consultant and is a keen photographer. He has managed his own kayak tour company for the last two decades.

Dr. Jenny Scott

During the past 24 years, Jenny has spent extended periods of time on subantarctic Macquarie Island, Heard Island, Campbell Island and South Georgia with ANARE (Australia), Department of Conservation (New Zealand) and the South Georgia Government working as a field biologist and geographer. In the 1970s she spent four years working in Scotland on various nature conservation projects for the Nature Conservancy Council, and in Iceland leading extended walking trips in remote areas.

Her main areas of field research include subantarctic vegetation, ecology and the effects of feral animals. She has also worked on population dynamics of albatrosses and giant petrels, marine conservation issues, planning for feral cat eradication on Macquarie Island and visitor site surveys on South Georgia. She has also been involved in a number of seal and seabird programs as a field assistant.

Since 1998 Jenny has worked for eight seasons as a naturalist/lecturer/guide for Aurora Expeditions in the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands, and one season in the northern hemisphere in Scotland and Spitsbergen.

Pete Gill

Pete is a whale researcher, writer and photographer who has Antarctic exploration in his blood. Like his great, great, great grandfather, Sir James Clark Ross, he has spent many seasons in icy seas.

His early life was spent working in the Australian bush. Pete then began studying the song and migration of humpback whales in 1983, using yachts in such areas as the east and west coasts of Australia, New Caledonia, the Coral Sea, and the Antarctic.

During 1994-96 he was involved in southern right whale research in the Great Australian Bight and southwest Australia. He helped to initiate the first Antarctic cetacean research program motivated by the principles of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, participating in ANARE's first winter sea ice voyage in 1995, and in ANARE whale surveys along the Australian Antarctic Territory in 1996 and 1998. He is the founder of the independent group Australocetus Research, and has represented Australia on the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling

Commission. Since 1998 he has been involved in an ecological study of blue whales in a southern Australian feeding ground, near his home in southwest Victoria.

He has participated in three Antarctic sailing expeditions: the 1986 'Riquita' Ross Sea voyage, the 1988 Mount Minto expedition, and the 1993 'Iniquity' whale research expedition along the coast of the Australian Antarctic Territory. For two years he worked in marine mammal conservation with Greenpeace Australia, while continuing humpback research. Among his writings are the Reader's Digest book of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, the Nature Company Guide to Whales and Dolphins, and Whale Watching in Australian and New Zealand Waters.

Dr. John Kirkwood

John¹s career has taken him from Antarctica to the tropics, and has involved research on animals ranging from microscopic crustaceans to dugongs and whales.

He worked as a marine biologist with the Australian Antarctic Division throughout most of the 1980's, then moved to Monash University where he completed a PhD on the ecology of an Antarctic fjord in 1993. Having developed some expertise in Antarctica, John somehow found himself working for the Queensland Government as a fisheries scientist and teaching marine biology on the Great Barrier Reef. Being a Naturalist with Aurora Expeditions has enabled John to combine some of his great passions: Antarctica and its charismatic wildlife, travelling to interesting places, and messing about in boats.

Santiago Imberti

An ornithologist, photographer and writer, Santiago was born and raised in southern Patagonia, Argentina. He obtained a degree in tourism while devoting its time mostly to ornithology and the recording of natural sounds. This allowed him to combine his love for nature and the outdoors with his work as a bird watcher, naturalist, fly fisher and a mountain guide. During the off-season he volunteers time to conservation work, mainly for ‘Ambiente Sur’ a young NGO that seeks to protect the environment and educate the new generations on a sustainable way of life.

He also spends as much time in the field as possible researching birds in southern Patagonia. His articles and stories have been published in scientific journals and popular travel magazines, two books on birds have seen the light and he has been appointed teaching assistant on wildlife management at the University of Austral Patagonia. More recently he has produced a cd of bird sounds of Patagonia and Antarctica.

Dr. Alan Burger

Born and raised in the bushveld of South Africa, Alan has a life-long passion for wild animals and wild places. After a year in Portland, Australia as an exchange student, he studied Zoology and Botany at the University of Cape Town, culminating with a PhD on Lesser Sheathbills in the sub-Antarctic.

Alan made three expeditions, totalling 2 years, to sub-Antarctic Marion Island. In addition to sheathbills, he worked on albatrosses, petrels, penguins, and terrestrial invertebrates. Alan emigrated to Canada in 1980 and is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.

Wildlife conservation is a key element of Alan's professional and private life, and he is heavily involved with the biology and management of the Marbled Murrelet. He has published numerous scientific papers, which include studies of whales, seals, oceanography, and Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems. Alan's research has taken him to many remote seabird colonies and islands in South Africa, Galapagos, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and British Columbia. Recently, Alan and his wife Andrea spent a year in the Seychelles, studying seabirds, publishing a handbook for monitoring tropical seabirds, and establishing a seabird working group for the Seychelles archipelago. Interpreting science and helping others enjoy the wonders of nature is one of Alan's main interests and he has given many slide shows, written newspaper and magazine articles, and led groups on nature trips.

Sergey Frolov

Sergey Frolov is a Russian-born mariner, explorer, sled dog musher, teacher and businessman. He lives and works between Seattle and the isolated Russian port town of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, where he was raised.

Born into a long line of seafarers, Sergey graduated Marine Engineering and Design at the Far East Marine Academy in Vladivostok. Throughout his career, he has undertaken dozens of unique voyages and explorations. Between 1987 and 1991, Sergey lived in the Russian Arctic where the Siberian Yupik Eskimos taught him to build traditional skin boats known as "umiaks". During this time, he and the Eskimos elders put their skin boats to the ultimate test, retracing the historical Bering Strait crossing to Alaska three times and reuniting Eskimo families split by the Cold War.

When Russia was opened up to the outside world in the early 1990s, Sergey began to bridge cultural differences between Russia and the USA. He formed his own company Pacific Network and brought the first foreign flag expedition ship and foreign tourists to Kamchatka in 1992. Now operating from Seattle and Petropavlovsk, he has single-handedly opened the Russian Far East and Siberia as a destination for adventure travelers for the first time.

Nancy Sullivan

Nancy is a PhD anthropologist who has been living and working in Papua New Guinea for nineteen years. She will be a special guest lecturer on board our Papua New Guinea voyages.

Having first arrived as a tourist in 1988, she decided to stay and started out by establishing a film production company with a local Western highlands woman. After some time out to completer her graduate degree at New York University, Nancy returned to PNG where she now runs an ethnographic consulting company with her former local students. Her company conducts social impact assessments and other kinds of research for aid and development projects.

Speaking Tok Pisin (pidgin) has enabled Nancy to gain a unique insight into the various cultures she has come across throughout her extensive travels to the remote corners of this incredibly diverse country.

She's also been involved in tourism for most of her time in PNG, from running remote lodges and small cruise boats, to organising custom tours and escorting photojournalists and documentary film teams. In 1994 she authored a popular travel handbook and she has authored several academic publications on various PNG subjects: media production, nationalism, social and economic change, conservation and new social movements. Her vibrant family home in Madang is filled with two sons, adopted from the Karawari region of the Sepik River various in-laws and students.

Rosanna Angus

We are thrilled that Rosanna can join us for some of our Kimberley coast voyages. Based at One Arm Point, Rosanna is an active member of the Bardi Community where her duties include maintaining social harmony and social justice. In addition to her vibrant, sparkling personality, Rosanna brings a wealth of knowledge about the Aboriginal history, bush tucker and bush medicine of that area. Rosanna delighted us all last year with her fresh, insightful approach to interpreting cultural aspects of the voyage.

Peter Hall

Peter Hall has been a major presence in South African galleries for the past fifteen years. Starting out as a watercolourist, he soon acquired the reputation of one of this country's best, being represented by leading galleries and sought after for teaching courses and demonstrations. He went on from there to experiment with mixed media and oils, and constantly draws on his experience as a watercolourist to create the light and vibrant colour that has become his trademark.

Peter is also an internationally award-winning photographer, and considers himself blessed to be able to combine his passion for painting and photography with his other great loves, wilderness areas and wildlife. Through his art, he hopes to promote a greater appreciation of the beauty inherent in our unspoiled natural areas, as it is only by loving and appreciating nature that humanity will learn to value and conserve it.

As a dedicated bird-watcher, Peter is particularly passionate about the plight of the albatrosses. A whale-watching expedition a few years ago brought these legendary birds to his attention. Aware of the endangered status of the albatross, Peter became horrified at the thought of this species being systematically wiped out as an entirely avoidable by-product of long-line fishing. He became determined to assist Birdlife International with their 'Save The Albatross' project, and so created "The Wanderer". Now available as a limited edition print, this painting captures the grace and elegance of this global roamer as he soars above vast and lonely Southern Oceans.

Chris Done

Chris was a special guest lecturer on our very first Kimberley voyage in 1998, so we are pleased and honoured to have him back on board. He has been a resident of the Kimberley region of Western Australia for over 20 years and has had a long and respected career as the Regional Manager for the state's conservation and land management authority.

During his career he has been involved with management of the many conservation reserves as well as the wildlife of the region. He is considered an expert on the eucalypts of the Kimberley and has a very good understanding of the ecology and land management issues in general. He has travelled extensively in the region and has become familiar with the geology, Aboriginal culture, art and history. He has been involved in guiding both coastal and land based tours for many years where his detailed knowledge is used to give guests the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the area.

Early in his career Chris also spent more than seven years in Papua New Guinea where he was also able to travel widely. This background gave him insights to both lowland rainforests and also montane areas.

Andrew Denton

Denton first came to public attention in 1988 as the writer/presenter of the ABC TV series 'Blah Blah Blah' and since then has written, presented and produced numerous comedy shows, including 'The Money or the Gun' and 'Andrew Denton Live & Sweaty'.

In 1993 he co-produced and featured in 'World Series Debating', again for ABC TV. He also produced 'The Money or the Gun on Ice', focussing on a group of Australians forced to come to grips with isolation -- and each other -- during a winter in Antarctica.

Throughout 1994 - 5, Andrew hosted and co-produced his own late night, live chat show for Channel 7 called `Denton' (where does he get his titles?).

For 5 years, between 1997 -- 2002, he hosted the modestly-titled 'Andrew Denton Breakfast Show' on Sydney radio's 2MMM. For Channel 9, Andrew co-produced, hosted and totally re-worked the Logies, Australia's television awards, in 1999 & 2000. In 2002, Andrew acted as executive producer and script editor for The Chaser on 'CNNNN', a 9-part series for ABC TV satirising cable television.

Andrew is currently Executive Producer and Presenter of ABC TV's popular 'Enough Rope' and he will once again EP the ABC series CNNNN.

Andrew has also written for newspapers, acted in the theatre; and collected numerous awards along the way for his work. Most importantly, he once won the 'Sale Of The Century -- Comedy Series' quiz, a moment many (himself included) view as his crowning achievement.

Dr Garry Darby

Dr Garry Darby is an art historian, lecturer and author. Garry lectures at the University of Sydney and Macquarie University and has three degrees in fine arts. He has studied at the University of New England and the University of Sydney. He specialises in Aboriginal art and has led flying study tours into Central Australia, Arnhem Land and the Kimberley for the past ten years.

Garry acts as consultant for corporate collectors and Sydney galleries and regularly teaches courses about all aspects of Aboriginal and western art history at Sydney institutions and colleges. In 1999 Dr Darby was part of a team which staged the outstanding exhibition "Desert Dreaming" at the United Nations Building, New York.

He has curated a number of exhibitions of Aboriginal art in Sydney including 'Desert Dreamtime' at Kambala, 'Exploring the Dreamtime' at Trinity Grammar School and "Wandjina!: Art of the Kimberley" at Macquarie University. In the latter he worked very closely with Mowanjum artist Donny Woolagoodja. This will be his fourth year aboard the "Coral Princess".

Rosy Black

Originally from the UK Rosy came to Australia in 1977. She has travelled extensively world-wide and led treks and tours in Nepal, India, Tibet, China, Fiji and Australia. Her many years of outdoor experience include cycling 500 kms around Cambodia, walking 90km from Kiandra to Mt. Kosciuszko, cross-country ski instructing, climbing Mount Kinabalu and delivering tour guide training in the outer islands of Vanuatu. In 1990 Rosy was an Assistant Expedition Leader for an all women’s scientific expedition in central Australia. She has a PhD in ecotourism and is a senior lecturer in environmental sciences at Charles Sturt University. She has published two books on tour guiding and ecotourism.

Amanda Till

Amanda's passion for Antarctica began when she was Expedition Coordinator on a 2001 expedition to Macquarie Island, Cape Denison and Dumont d'Urville. A life changing experience for her, she has lived and breathed the Antarctic ever since, first joining Aurora as hotel manager on our Peninsula trips and now, after a short stint in our Sydney office, as Assistant Expedition leader.

Armed with accounting qualifications, Amanda has worked in a variety of fields, including direct marketing, telemarketing, software development, marine import and export, yacht production and yacht racing. She was part of the crew on the 'Survivor' television series in Panama and Vanuatu - her work as yacht delivery crew satisfied her adventurous nature. A keen sailor, Amanda has sailed the eastern Australian coast many times, worked as a deckhand and cook in the Whitsundays on a 55ft timber ketch, and sailed for several years on the tallships HMAV Bounty and SV Svanen. She has twice sailed to Lord Howe Island with Nuclear Free Seas and has actively participated in a number of Greenpeace campaigns. Amanda has a diploma in Photography and is currently studying for her Master Class V Captain's Ticket.

While not at sea, Amanda enjoys travelling around the Australian countryside in her campervan.

Betty Monteath

Canadian-born Betty Monteath started travelling soon after leaving university. A short-lived career as a teacher was followed by a variety of jobs in various countries before she settled in New Zealand. For the past 20 years she has managed Hedgehog House NZ's photographic library and publishing business and honed her editing skills. Her expertise in coordinating and overseeing the publishing of Hedgehog House's Antarctic calendars, books and cards has ensured high quality products. She is also involved in husband Colin's writing projects both as a researcher and an editor.

Travelling has remained a passion and she has interspersed parenting and business with extended overseas trips. Over the years she has also organised a number of family trips with daughters Denali and Carys - from trekking in Nepal to cruising in Antarctica. She has worked as Assistant Expedition Leader on several Antarctic voyages with Aurora - enjoying the interaction with passengers as they discover the wonders of the ice.

Sue Werner

Sue has worked as assistant expedition leader on Aurora's Antarctic and High Arctic voyages for well over a decade. Born in Victoria, she began her working life as a horse manager and veterinary nurse, until in 1990 she went trekking in Nepal and her adventurous spirit took control.

Returning to Australia, Sue worked as Sales Manager for Mountain Designs. In 1992 she climbed Kilimanjaro and spent time exploring Kenya and Tanzania. Back in Australia, she was employed as caterer and instructor for an outdoor executive training company, and was base camp manager and cook for the 1994 Australian Chongtar Expedition (China/Pakistan). In 1995 she headed to the mountains of New Zealand to climb and complete an intensive technical mountaineering course. Sue loves the mountains and colder climates and excels in winter activities. For the next few years, Sue worked as an adventure travel consultant.

In early 1996 she assisted on Aurora’s first Climbers and Photographers voyage to the Antarctic Peninsula and spent 1996-97 as a ship-based shop manager, cruising to Antarctica, the Amazon and the Canadian Arctic. In 1997, Sue joined the Aurora Expeditions office as a general office assistant she soon moved up in the company in roles such as reservations, Sales and Ship Operations. In 2008 Sue moved on to venture into other exciting avenues.

In December 2008 Sue joined Aurora’s Commonwealth Bay & Mawson’s Hut voyage and then enjoyed a warmer experience on our 2009 Papua New Guinea voyage.

Sue and her partner Henrik Lovendahl (another Aurora Expeditions Expeditioner Leader) love exploring some of the world’s adventure hot-spots and spend their spare time climbing, kayaking, diving, trekking in the Himalayas and European Alps. She is also a keen photographer and holds an Australian Firearms license and St John’s Senior first aid certificate.

With a wealth of knowledge about the Polar Regions, alongside her partner Henrik, aim to offer you an unforgettable polar experience.

Sydney Kirkby

We are very excited and honoured to have Syd Kirkby join us. He is a living legend of Antarctic exploration. Following his earlier part in the 1954 Commonwealth/ Western Australian Great Sandy Desert expedition Syd was, throughout the 1950s and 1960s, a major participant in the exploration and mapping of Australian Antarctic Territory. He wintered in Antarctica in 1956/57, 1960/61 and 1980/81 and took part in the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) summer exploration and survey operations of 1961/62, 1962/63, 1964/65 and led the major multi-disciplinary scientific examination of Enderby Land of 1979/80. He has made several other Antarctic journeys over the years. Several of his sledging journeys have been first ever penetrations of the regions with two of them being first and only ever traversings of the areas of ground transport.

His contribution to Australia's Antarctic program is recognised in the naming of Kirkby Head, Mt Kirkby, Kirkby Glacier, and Kirkby Shoal and by his being awarded the Polar Medal in 1957 and being made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1965.

In 1997 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Australian Geographic Society as Adventurer of the Year, 'for his extensive and prolonged contribution to the exploration and mapping of Antarctica'.

Away from the Antarctic high life he played a prominent part in the development of the 'Aerodist', airborne survey system; the Airborne Radar Terrain Profiler and its later development, the Laser Terrain Profiler, early orthophotomapping, digital terrain modelling and automatic image correlation. In1984 Syd retired from the position of Assistant Director of National Mapping, with responsibility for the national Topographic Mapping Program. In retirement he is a sought-after speaker as an entertaining repository of Antarctic fact and lore.

Dr. Roger Kirkwood

Roger is a research scientist currently working at the Phillip Island Nature Park, Victoria. His research projects include fur seal management issues, fox monitoring and eradication and small mammal surveying.

Since 1984 Roger's research work has seen him employed in a variety of fascinating positions, including marine mammalogist, mammal ecologist, penguin ecologist and krill physiologist. He has worked primarily in Australia and Antarctica, for Commonwealth and State Governments and private industry. He has also undertaken contract consultancy work for various Australian and Argentine agencies.

Roger has participated in six Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions; four of these involved living in remote field areas and two trips were extended marine research voyages. His Antarctic activities included establishing a remote field camp at Heard Island for a six month period and living for six months in a field camp in the northern Vestfold Hills on the Antarctic continent. His eclectic career has taken him to sea on a range of vessels, including numerous small boat excursions around Bass Strait to visit fur seal colonies.

A well qualified and very experienced scuba diver, Roger is looking forward to returning to the Antarctic Peninsula and sharing his wealth of knowledge with us.

Dr. Paul Willis

A geologist and ABC science reporter, Paul has a particular interest in the palaeontology of Antarctica because of its relevance to the history of Australian animals. Through no fault of his own, Paul was born in England in 1963. Realising their error, his parents deported him and the rest of the family to Australia in 1973 where he has lived in Sydney ever since.

Paul's life-long interest in fossils started when he found his first specimen at the age of six and led to a PhD studying the evolution of crocodiles in Australia. Parallel to Paul's interest in the natural sciences is his enjoyment for communicating science to popular audiences. He toured primary schools throughout the eastern states with a life-sized T. rex and spent many holidays in the Australian Museum's Discovery Room, acquainting stuffed animals with visitors.

Paul joined the ABC Science Unit in 1997 and now works as a regular science reporter on ABC TV Catalyst as well as frequent appearances on Radio National's Science Show and In Conversation.

When not fossilising or harassing people with a microphone, Paul spends a lot of time building model railways or riding on real ones.

Carol Knott

Carol discovered archaeology in her teens, becoming immersed in a succession of rescue projects on medieval English towns, ports, churches and castles. After receiving a masters degree in Archaeology and History from the University of Glasgow, she continued this work with excavations at some of the great medieval abbeys, Tudor and Jacobean palaces and historic gardens of England, such as Hill Hall and Audley End in Essex. In 1988 she returned to her native Scotland, and since then has lived and worked in the Western Isles. Her researches as a field archaeologist have focused on the history and archaeology of remote communities and deserted places, and of understanding the lives of the resilient people who have made their homes there from earliest times. A current project involves a long-term total study of the Shiant Islands, from its first occupation until its abandonment around 1800, and she has a particular interest in the vernacular buildings that have evolved in this distinctive environment. Another area of research is the impact of windfarm developments in sensitive landscapes. Carol also finds great satisfaction in running a number of children's archaeology clubs and adult education courses.

Stephen Martin

Stephen Martin is currently a Senior Project Officer at the State Library of New South Wales. For many years he has retained and developed a fascination for Australian and Antarctic history.

Stephen has a BA, Dip Lib and a MSc Soc (Masters of Science and Society).

He has spoken about and published books and articles on Australian and Antarctic history, illustrating and enlarging his accounts from the famous collections at the State Library of New South Wales and from his own research. His book A History of Antarctica was published in 1996 and his most recent book The Whales' Journey: a year in the life of a humpback whale and a century in the history of whaling, was recently reprinted.

The Whales' Journey looks at the history of whaling in Antarctica and Australasia. Both titles were shortlisted for the Eureka Science Book Prize.

Stephen has curated four exhibitions about Antarctica, the latest two being Shifting Ground: photographs of Frank Hurley 1911-1918 and Lines on the Ice: Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1914.

He has visited Antarctica four times, as a tourist, lecturer and sailor. In 1998/9 he sailed to Antarctica and worked in Mawson's Hut, Cape Denison for the Mawson's Hut Foundation.

Dave Burkitt

Dave spent twelve years in the Royal Navy, acquiring an appetite for the Polar Regions during a Joint services expedition to Elephant Island in 1970. He then left the navy and joined the British Antarctic survey. For three decades he has been returning to the Antarctic and South Georgia in various roles, including dog sled driver, base commander, and participant in geological field trips. Most recently, he was project leader at Port Lockroy in 2002, and is currently involved in the clean-up of former British bases.

His Arctic experiences include a Cambridge University geological expedition in small boats to the north and west coasts of Spitsbergen, ski mountaineering expeditions in Spitsbergen and on the Vatnajokull Ice Cap of Iceland, and a scientific expedition to the North Cape of Arctic Norway.

He has also participated in expeditions to the Himalayas, the Rajastan and Sinai deserts and East Africa. His interests include mountaineering, skiing, the great outdoors, painting and travel.

Dr. Gary Miller

Gary Miller is a research assistant professor of biology at the University of New Mexico, and a visiting research fellow at UWA in Perth. He has 25 years of polar experience. Early in his career he focused on the Arctic where he studied polar bears for his Masters degree in Zoology, and also worked with projects on Bowhead Whales and Gray Whales in Alaska and Mexico. His strong interest in the polar regions, however, brought him to the Antarctic in 1986. Since then he has spent nine summers conducting research in the Antarctic, studying the behaviour and ecology of Adelie Penguins and South Polar Skuas. Most recently he spent three summers in Antarctica studying the presence of diseases in penguins and skuas at Australia's Davis research station.

His greatest love is working in the field with the animals that he studies, and he has spent thousands of hours over the years observing and studying these animals - often in harsh conditions. He has taught many university courses on whales, seals and birds in such diverse places as Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico, the Puget Sound and the Bay of Massachusetts. He is at home in the desert, at sea, or in either polar region. Over the past decade he has branched out to include wildlife photography and leading natural history tours among his talents. Now living in Perth, he hopes to expend has experience around western Australia between other projects.

Howard Whelan

As an expedition leader, Howard has taken parties to Russia’s Kuril Islands and Kamchatka Peninsula, the Amazon River, Galapagos Islands, Falkland Islands, South Georgia, the Antarctic Peninsula, New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic Islands, Macquarie Island, Heard Island, the Ross Sea and East Antarctica.

Founding editor then publisher of Australian Geographic and Trustee of the Australian Geographic Society, Howard has led scientific expeditions to many remote parts of Australia, often resulting in significant geographical articles for the journal’s nearly one million readers. He has lectured on Antarctic photography and tourism at Sydney University, gives motivational talks and adventure writing/photography workshops.

In 2001 Howard left Australian Geographic to establish Whelan Productions, a media consultancy specialising in the environment, natural history, culture and adventure for an international clientele. He spent three months in remote Russia on assignment America’s Outside magazine, photographed Quinkan rock art on Cape York, developed a series of scientific expeditions to the deep oceans surrounding Australia and is currently focussing on the plight of coral reefs worldwide.

In 2002 he was chosen by George Miller to lead the photographic expeditions to Antarctica that resulted in the Academy Award-winning film Happy Feet. In 2007 he mounted a successful photographic exhibition (Endangered Ice) featuring his work from more than a decade of guiding in Antarctica, including photographs that inspired the film. Recently he has been involved in script development for the sequel.

Howard’s many years of outdoor and climbing experience include a 4000 km, five-month bushwalk from Canada to Mexico, a crossing of the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea and work as camera operator on the first Australian ascent of Mt Everest. He has climbed in the United States, Australia, Antarctica, Russia, Tibet, Thailand and Africa. He has a strong background in downhill ski racing, avalanche control, extreme skiing and remote cross-country skiing including the Haute Route in Europe and the first winter attempt to traverse the central mountain range of Hokkaido in Japan. He holds a current private pilot’s license.

Don McFadzien

Don is a school teacher and outdoor professional, an experienced mountain and ski guide, and outdoor pursuits instructor. He has worked as an instructor at New Zealand's Outward Bound School, and spent many years guiding skiing and climbing in the Mount Cook region in New Zealand's Southern Alps. He has climbed many of the 10,000 foot peaks in this area.

He has enjoyed several trips to Nepal and Sikkim. In his 'spare time' he has taught skiing in Austria, climbed and skied in Canada and the USA, and windsurfed in Maui (but not on Jaws!). In 02-03 Don spent the summer trekking in Torres del Paine and the mountain regions of Patagonia.

Don has been visiting the Antarctic regularly since 2002, when he first attempted Shackleton’s crossing on South Georgia. He was immediately hooked on the challenges of this spectacular environment, and has returned regularly. He was successful crossing South Georgia, the next season and has enjoyed leading expeditions to the region ever since. In 2006 he joined Polar Pioneer in the High Arctic regions of Spitsbergen and Greenland.

As a mountain guide he enjoys wilderness environments. The wilds of the southern ocean, the subtleties of colour in this harsh region, and the beauty of the ice continue to attract him. The school teacher in him enjoys the learning and awareness that grows rapidly through every voyage to the Falklands, South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. One of the features he really enjoys is the variety of attractions in the Antarctic. It is the shared domain of the photographer and climber, the birder and geologist, the diver and the naturalist.

Don and his partner Gill live in the delightful city of Nelson at the north of the South Island in New Zealand.

Henrik Lovendahl

Henrik first worked with Aurora Expeditions as a dive guide in 1998, when we introduced optional scuba diving program to our Antarctic voyages. This was the first ever dive trip to Antarctica for recreational divers. Henrik soon moved on to become an expedition leader and dive guide in both the Arctic and Antarctic.

Henrik's adventurous spirit and love of travel caused him to leave his native Denmark almost 20 years ago. He has travelled extensively to far and remote corners of the world; scaled Andean peaks, trekked in the Himalayas and dived in many exotic locations, but his greatest passion is the polar regions and ice-diving.

Henrik started his diving career in 1988 on the Great Barrier Reef. He is a qualified PADI Master Instructor and has worked in the diving industry for many years as an instructor and as an educational consultant for PADI Asia Pacific.

Henrik was so taken with Australia's wonderful lifestyle and opportunities for adventure, he decided to stay and now resides in the Blue Mountains with his partner Sue. Henrik has managed to combine his passion for nature, travel and diving. He intersperses his working life with protracted periods of outdoor recreational activities, including hiking, rock climbing and mountaineering. An accomplished climber and diver, he is at home in the world's wild places.

Kieran Lawton

Kieran has had a varied association with Antarctica over the last decade. A qualified biologist, he has conducted research into the foraging ecology of a number of Antarctic and Subantarctic species. He has spent several seasons on Macquarie Island investigating the ecology of elephant seals and fur seals. Between May and December of 1994 he camped in a small hut beside the Emperor rookery at Auster in East Antarctica, and had the breathtaking experience of spending the entire winter amongst these well-adapted and inspiring birds. Swapping hemispheres, Kieran then worked in the tundra/boreal forest ecosystems of Northern Siberia for a few years.

More recently Kieran has been conducting research on albatrosses, undertaking census and foraging ecology work on the Chilean Islands of Diego Ramirez and Ildefonso, remote islands that lie in Drakes passage south of Cape Horn, and on Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean.

An experienced climber and skier, Kieran organised and led a yacht-based mountaineering expedition to an unclimbed peak on the Danco Coast of the Antarctic Peninsula in 1998. He subsequently worked for the Australian Antarctic Program in field safety roles, and joined Aurora expeditions in 1999.

Mike Cusack

It is a great honour and privilege to have Mike Cusack join us on our Kimberley Coast expeditions. In 1987, Australian Geographic chose Mike and his wife Susan from 500 other couples to spend a year living in isolation in the wild and remote Kunmunya area of the west Kimberley. During their 'year in the wilderness' they overcame many hardships and challenges, including drought, extreme heat, and dehydration.

Mike continues to work as a Ranger with Parks Victoria, as he’s done since 1974. Mike has been working on our Kimberley Coast cruises on Coral Princess from our inaugural season in 1998.