Antarctica Cruises & Other Destinations with Aurora Expeditions

Isabelle Howells

Expedition Guide

Antarctica

Isabelle is from a part of the UK steeped in maritime tradition and grew up spending much time on the water. Familiar with the Arctic cruise expedition industry, Isabelle has been working for the past four years on both traditional sailing boats and expedition vessels in Iceland, Tromsø , Svalbard and Greenland as well as working as an expedition leader on sailing boats in East Greenland.

Having developed an interest in marine biology while working as a whale watching guide for three years, Isabelle enjoys talking about the natural environment and loves to facilitate wildlife sightings for guests, whether it is their first time, or if they have seen polar landscapes and marine animals many times.

More recently, Isabelle has been expanding her knowledge of polar environments working as a guide and living on Svalbard. She loves teaching yoga and has studied to become a sailing boat captain.

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Dr Liz Pope

Expedition Leader, Deputy Expedition Leader, Assistant Expedition Leader & Expedition Guide

Antarctica The Arctic Kimberley Cruises

With years of leading groups and travelling up her sleeve, Liz is always happy to help make your voyage the best it can possibly be! Having grown up in three different countries (the Philippines, USA and Australia), Liz caught the travel bug at an early age. Since then she has travelled widely throughout Australia, New Zealand, India, Vietnam, Nepal, Mexico, Europe, and Africa.

After finishing her PhD in Microbiology, Liz found herself leading overland safaris throughout Eastern and Southern Africa; and later managing a lodge in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. On returning to Australia, Liz satisfied her interest in conservation education and animals working at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo as an education officer for their ‘Roar & Snore’ program. Liz has also had a parallel career in the areas of medical communications, management and human resources.

Liz has been working with Aurora Expeditions in Antarctica since 2009-2010, as well as completing several seasons in the European Arctic. Liz has also worked on ship-based expeditions in Papua New Guinea, Scotland, the North-West Passage, Alaska’s Inside Passage, Far East Russia and the Kuril Islands.

In her role as an expedition guide and leader, she is particularly thrilled to be able to combine her curiosity of the natural world and her passion for sharing it with others.

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Juan Jose Miramon

Expedition Guide

Antarctica Costa Rica Panama

Juan grew up in a small town in Andalusia, Southern Spain, where he learned to enjoy nature and the outdoors since his very early childhood. His insatiable curiosity about the world took him away at the age of seventeen and since then he has never stopped exploring.

He studied Tourism and Hospitality Management and later completed a Masters in International Development with the aim of promoting travelling that focuses on environmental awareness and cultural sustainability. This approach allowed him to take part in a wide variety of tourism projects involving vocational education and training in Nepal, community-based programs with Quechua people in the Andean highlands, guiding treks and volcano climbs in the Atacama Desert and Eastern Island, and managing a kayak company in the west coast of Greenland. In the last few years he has been absolutely enchanted by the wilderness of Antarctica where he works in guest services and even leads trips to the South Pole.

In his free time, he will likely be skiing in the Pyrenees, ice climbing in the Alps, or mountaineering in Peru. Otherwise, he may be reading books about Eastern philosophy, writing his personal blog or backpacking with friends and camera in hand.

He believes it is a privilege not only to combine his ideas and passion with work, but also to be able to share with guests the experiences of a lifetime.

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Richard Dakin

Expedition Guide

Scotland The Arctic

Richard's fascination with wild places was born after he was given a set of black and white Frank Hurley's photos as a child. This sparked his interest for a career working in nature. He now has over 20 years' experience working in environmental management of National Parks and World Heritage Areas and is currently based in the south-east of Tasmania.

Richard completed a Degree and Graduate Diploma in Environmental Management. He volunteers as a guide when he's on leave and has led many teams on adventures around the globe. Richard has summited Mt Kilimanjaro on two occasions and hikes and bikes at any opportunity he has.

Recently appointed Station Leader with the Australian Antarctic Division and was previously fortunate to work for a year as Ranger in Charge at the subantarctic Macquarie Island. He is inspired by wild places and feels honoured to assist in stewardship of Australia's reserve estate. Richard aims to focus his career on advocating for the parks and protected areas by sharing his knowledge and appreciation of the natural world.

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Zhenhuan (Darwin) Zhang

Mandarin Speaking Expedition Guide

Antarctica

After completing her BSc in Biological Sciences and M.Eng. in Biological Medicine Engineering, Zhenhuan is currently reading for DPhil Zoology at Edward Grey Institute for Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford. She studies Ethno-Ornithology, mainly focusing on the relationship between human culture and bird diversity.

Zhenhuan likes bird watching and all kinds of activities related to wildlife protection. She has been to Antarctica twice and loves this frozen land deeply. “Antarctica is a world isolated from all other continents where humans live and it has the power to transform itself”.

This is the first season working with Aurora Expeditions and Zhenhuan joins our new vessel as an experienced Mandarin Speaking Expedition Guide.

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Justin Febey

Expedition Guide

Antarctica The Arctic Greenland

Justin Febey is an indigenous Tasmanian Ranger with 20 years’ experience in the management of wildlife in Tasmania and its’ off shore islands. Inspired by an early introduction to Sir David Attenborough documentaries, where he developed a passion for wildlife, he undertook a degree in Environmental and Cultural heritage management. Justins’ wildlife work specialises in threatened species management programs and in fur seal management in Tasmanian waters.

Justin was a member of the highly successful Macquarie Island Pest Eradication Program which succeeded in the total eradication of the introduced European rabbit, black rat and mice, where he worked and lived on the Subantarctic Island for 13 months as assistant team leader of the eradication team. Justin is part of a small specialist team in Tasmania that undertakes whale rescue at stranding events and the disentanglement of cetaceans and seals caught in marine debris. He has 9 years’ experience working with the Australian Antarctic program as a watercraft operator and watercraft coordinator where he has worked at the Australian Antarctic bases of Casey Station, Davis Station and Mawson Station. ​

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Jack Alscher

AEL Trainee & Expedition Guide

Antarctica

Jack’s passion for the wilderness was sparked when he was 12, during an Aurora Expeditions' voyage to the Hebrides & Scotland’s Orkney and Shetland Islands. Since then, he’s been lucky to have had the opportunity to travel to six of the seven continents by the time he turned 18.

A keen outdoor enthusiast, trekking to Nepal’s Everest Base Camp at 14 ranks as one of his most exciting adventures. Walking in the shadow of some of the world’s highest mountains was an enriching experience in appreciating both the harshness of nature but also its immeasurable beauty.

Further voyages through Norway’s spectacular fjords, Spitsbergen in the High Arctic, and to the ecological wonder of the Galápagos Islands only reaffirmed his passion for the ocean and wild places.

Jack competes in competitive ocean swims, and loves surfing, stand-up paddle-boarding & skiing. He also has a passion for writing.

Having worked in the Aurora Expeditions' head office part-time since 2013, Jack spent his first season in Antarctica in 2018-19 working aboard the Polar Pioneer in training to become an Expedition Guide.

Jack is always eager to explore, experience new adventures and share his love of remote places, and he’s excited to work aboard Aurora Expeditions’ new vessel, the Greg Mortimer during its maiden season 2019-20.

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Peng (James) He

Mandarin Speaking Expedition Guide (中西英文同声传译员)

Antarctica

Peng (James) is one of our experienced Mandarin speaking expedition guides at Aurora Expeditions. He works as a naturalist, expedition guide and simultaneous interpreter in Chinese, English and Spanish. For the past 11 years, James has lived in the capital city of Argentina, Buenos Aires. While on shore, he works as a tour guide and photographer during his spare time.

His footprints have covered almost all of South America. James also been a designated interperter for many business affairs, events and conferences by the Chinese Embassy in Argentina and combines his interpreting duties with his tour guide professional life until today.

贺鹏（James）是奥罗拉探险公司经验丰富的中国探险队员之一，同时也是极地自然向导和中西英语同传员。过去的11年里他一直生活在阿根廷首都布宜诺斯艾利斯，业余时间任南美旅行向导和摄影师，足迹近乎覆盖整个南美洲，他还曾担任过中国驻阿根廷大使馆的很多商务、政务会议和活动的指定译员至今。

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Haining Wang 王海宁

Mandarin Speaking Expedition Guide (探险队员/讲师)

Antarctica

Haining hails from China but has grown up in many places. He loves outdoor activities such as hiking and kayaking, and enjoys reading adventure stories since childhood.

He joined Chinese Antarctica Research Expedition (CHINARE) in 2004 and stayed at Zhongshan station (69°22’S) for one winter season and two summer seasons doing science research. His science projects include Upper Atmosphere Research, Geomagnetic and Sea Ice research. During the Antarctic winter days, he enjoyed observing emperor penguins, Weddell seals and skuas as well as camping and hiking in Larsemann Hills. He then got E.E. Master’s degree and joined multinational companies to pursue a business career.

He is a world traveller and particularly loves glaciers and the aurora borealis. Since 2016, Haining began to work part-time as a polar guide in Antarctica and Arctic regions. Haining has a publishing workshop focusing on polar books translation and publishing. He also provides consulting services to local tour agencies.

Haining is joining Aurora Expeditions' new ship, M/V Greg Mortimer during its maiden season in Antarctica in a role of a cultural guide to assist our Mandarin speaking guests in discovering the wonders of the Frozen Continent.

王海宁，探险队员。海宁来自中国大陆，在多个城市生活。从小喜爱各类户外活动包括徒步，皮划艇以及阅读探险故事。2004年加入中国南极考察队，在南纬69度的中山站连度过一个冬季两个夏季进行科学考察，独立负责高空大气物理观测，并参与地磁观测和海冰观测。在南极冬天的日子里，海宁的业余爱好是观察帝企鹅，威德尔海豹和贼鸥，并热衷于在拉斯曼丘陵地带进行露营和徒步探险。在取得电子工程硕士之后，他加入国际公司追寻商业职业发展。海宁一直热爱环球旅行，尤其热爱冰川和极光。从2016年起，他开始成为南极和北极的极地向导。2018年初海宁拥有自己的专注极地书籍引进与翻译的图书工作室，并为国内的旅行公司提供极地咨询顾问。

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Kasper Jæger

Expedition Guide

Antarctica

Kasper is a big city boy, born and raised in Copenhagen, Denmark, but has always known that his place on Earth, was further north. The longing for wilderness and high mountains came early, in his early teens he went on his first week long trekking trip in the Norwegian mountains. He comes from a Greenland loving family and therefore, after finishing his first education, Kasper went to the Arctic, never to look back.

Now, years later, Kasper has managed to make a living out of his biggest interest: the great outdoors and guiding! This has given him the opportunity to work and live different places in the polar regions.

Kasper has lived with the Inuit´s in the north of Greenland, with the Sapmi reindeer herders of northern Scandinavia and in the Norwegian settlement of Longyearbyen in Svalbard. During his years of guiding, he has been taking on a variety of activities like sailing, kayaking, all kinds of skiing, snowmobiling and dogsledding. Strongest is his love for dogsledding. He spent 4 years working with Alaskan huskies and dog mushing as a lifestyle.

Today, Kasper is an experienced full time Arctic guide, with a university education as Arctic Nature Guide, and more than 100 field days and tent nights, in the High Arctic winter landscapes every year. Kasper is a highly practical person, with a wide range of skills for safe travel in the Arctic, hiking, glaciers, sea ice, sailing and so on.

A true generalist, that has a burning passion for the cold, isolated places on the planet, both because of the stunning beauty, but also because of the rich natural and cultural history that is found here, among ice and rock.

Kasper lives together with his Alaskan huskies in Karasjok, the Sami capitol of Arctic Norway.

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Jukka Ikonen

Expedition Guide

Jukka comes to Aurora Expeditions as a professional adventure guide specialising in the Arctic, drawing on 14 years experience in the field, combined with a Bachelor degree in ecology, majoring in ecological zoology from the University of Helsinki.

Born and raised in a small town in eastern Finland, Jukka has been living and working above the Arctic Circle since 2003; in northern Finland, Sweden, Norway and Spitsbergen. His experience and adventures and knowledge in the Arctic come from a broad range of sea kayaking, trekking, glacier guiding, skiing trips, dog sledding, snowmobile trips and Zodiac expeditions.

Jukka's fieldwork has largely been with reindeers and arctic foxes with the Norwegian Polar Institute. While living in Svalbard, he worked as a field safety technician for the University of Svalbard, teaching and training Arctic safety issues to students and researchers, along with managing logistics and field transportations in different field projects, both summer and winter.

Now living in a small skiing resort village Ylläs in NW- Finland, Jukka spends winter guiding in northern Finland and summers guiding Spitsbergen. He looks forward to sharing this wonderful part of the world with you and keeping you safe during your voyage.

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Phil Penney

Climbing Guide

Antarctica

Climbing since 1985, Phil is an extremely experienced senior UIAGM / IFMGA certified climbing guide. Having guided through a number of different countries, including Peru, Canada, Alaska and his native New Zealand, he holds a wealth of climbing knowledge.

Although some may say Phil’s personality is much like his hair – irreverent and hard to suppress – he is actually incredibly modest about his long list of achievements. Phil’s holds a long list of alpine and ice ascent 'firsts' to his name, including an ascent of the Cassin Ridge on Denali (Alaska), a traverse of Mount Cook National Park to, traverse and ski descents in the Mount Aspiring National Park, and a traverse of the Darrans mountains.

When not on the side of a mountain Phil’s often found at another of his other passions: paragliding or sailing his yacht around New Zealand’s Nelson and the Marlborough Sounds – “where the scallops live!”.
 

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Dr Annette Scheffer

Naturalist

Antarctica

Annette is a marine biologist who specialises in whales, penguins and open ocean ecosystems. She holds a PhD in behavioural ecology of king penguins at the Subantarctic islands of South Georgia, Kerguelen and Crozet, and has worked on protected areas for macaroni penguins with the British Antarctic Survey, BirdLife International and CNRS France.

Annette has 15 years of experience as a whale watching guide and advisor for underwater film and photography teams in the Azores and Patagonia. As a guest lecturer for marine biology and sustainability with Heidelberg University in Germany, Annette now regularly takes students to the Azores for first-hand experience of the open ocean and to gain close experience with whales and dolphins, sharks, manta rays and seabirds.

Besides her work as a scientist and lecturer, Annette is collaborating with international education institutions to pass on her passion for the oceans and raise awareness of the fragility of the sea and its inhabitants.

Annette currently lives between Cambridge (UK), Heidelberg (Germany) and the Azores, where she works on sustainable fisheries, whale foraging behaviour and educating the next generation.

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Dr Laura Williams

Naturalist & Ecologist

Antarctica

Laura grew up on Kangaroo Island, a remote island off the southern coast of Australia, well known for its wildlife and pristine beaches. This sparked Laura's love for the natural environment and remote places and she went on to study science at the University of Adelaide. Enthralled by stories of the subantarctic Macquarie Island, Laura decided she would do anything to visit this enchanting place and enrolled in a PhD in subantarctic invasive species Ecology and Management.

Laura spent four summer seasons on Macquarie Island studying the native and exotic plants where she fell head over heals for the subantarctic. Laura has spent the past few years working on boats in Tasmania and exploring the back country of New Zealand. Even now, when working as an ecologist in Canberra, Australia, she still finds time each summer to travel to her favourite part of the world and share its wonders with those lucky enough to also explore the Antarctic.

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Dr Pete Gill

Naturalist - Whale Expert

Antarctica

After an earlier working life in the Australian bush, Dr Pete Gill has been involved in whale research since 1983. For 13 years he assisted Dr Bill Dawbin, the “grandfather” of humpback whale research, before branching out into his own studies of humpback and blue whale migration, using small sailing vessels to explore for whale feeding and breeding grounds around New Caledonia and the Coral Sea, the Solomon Islands, in Antarctic waters and around Tasmania. He skippered most of the Oceanic Research Foundation’s In the Wake of Flinders circumnavigation of Australia under sail in 1989, along the way defining the extent of humpback breeding grounds off the Kimberley coast. Between 1990-91, he worked as a Marine Mammal Researcher for Greenpeace Australia, while continuing humpback whale research. During the mid-1990s, Pete also worked on a Sydney University research program on southern right whales at the Head of the Great Australian Bight.

He first discovered Antarctica on the Riquita private sailing expedition to the Ross Sea in 1986 and followed this up with two more sailing expeditions: the Mount Minto Expedition to the Ross Sea in 1988, and the Iniquity Antarctic Whale Project along the East Antarctic coast in 1993. Between 1995-98, Pete helped to inaugurate Antarctic whale ecological research programs aboard the Australian government icebreaker Aurora Australis, and since 1995 has worked from time to time as a lecturer, boat driver and guide on Antarctic tourist expeditions, mainly with Aurora Expeditions. For nearly two decades he worked as a home handyman to support his research and expedition activities.

In 1998, he founded the Blue Whale Study (BWS), a pioneering long-term not-for-profit research program on the ecology of pygmy blue whales in the Bonney Upwelling blue whale feeding area off south-east Australia, the longest-running blue whale research program in the Southern Hemisphere. This was a previously unknown aggregation area which has provided an important window into understanding the ecology and management of this iconic endangered species. BWS also conducts education and mentoring programs engaging local schools and communities.

Pete lives in the bush near Portland, Victoria with his wife Susie and son Felix. He is the author of three books on whales and whale watching and numerous scientific papers, book chapters and magazine articles. His photographs have appeared in many books and magazine articles, and he has lectured on whales, whaling, sailing and Antarctica.

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Dr Gary Miller

Expedition Leader & Naturalist

Antarctica The Arctic Greenland Patagonia Costa Rica Panama

This wildlife fanatic has been exploring and working in the Polar Regions for well over 30 years, initially studying Polar Bears for his MA in Zoology. Whether playing the role of Expedition Leader, or Naturalist, Gary is always willing to share his extensive wildlife knowledge with our curious passengers.

Gary has worked on projects studying Bowhead Whales and Gray Whales in Alaska and Mexico, and has also conducted field research on Desert Bighorn Sheep for his PhD in Ecology. Gary’s passion for the poles quickly drew him to the South to begin research on penguins and skuas in Antarctica; where he eventually spent 10 summers and a winter in Antarctica studying the behaviour, genetics and ecology of the south polar skua as well as Adelie, gentoo, chinstrap, royal, king and emperor penguins. Other projects have provided Gary with personal experience with over half of the world’s different species of penguins!

With over 30 published scientific articles, nowadays Gary is a Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia, focusing on the presence and consequences of diseases to penguins and skuas in Antarctica. With 14 seasons of experience in the Arctic, five seasons in Scotland and over 25 more in the Antarctic, his knowledge and passion for wildlife and nature is second to none.

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Dr Roger Kirkwood

Naturalist

Antarctica The Arctic Scotland Greenland Patagonia Costa Rica Panama

Roger has been exploring polar regions for over 30 years. In 1984, he first travelled to Antarctica as a krill research assistant on an Australian Antarctic Division, marine science expedition. He caught the Antarctic bug and returned nine more times to study zooplankton, seals, penguins and albatross. Mostly he was based in remote field camps – such as in the northern Vestfold Hills, on a glaciated Heard Island, on rock stacks in Drake’s Passage, and he spent a year beside an emperor penguin colony 60 km from Mawson Station – he did his PhD on emperor penguin foraging ecology.

As a marine biologist, Roger has published over 100 research and public articles, and four books - two text books and two children’s books. Away from his polar research, he has held a range of research positions - a fisheries biologist for Tasmanian Sea Fisheries and CSIRO Fisheries, a wildlife manager for Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife, a senior researcher for Phillip Island Nature Parks (investigating seals and seabirds in Bass Strait), and a project team leader at Wageningen Marine Research (in the Netherlands - studying human impacts on marine mammals in the Wadden and North Seas). Currently he lives in Victoria, Australia (with wife Marjolein and kids Jay and Emily), where he works as a contract biologist.

Since 1999, Roger has been a Naturalist and Expedition Leader for Aurora Expeditions - usually in the Antarctic, but also in Scotland and the Arctic. Combined with his academic training and field experience, he holds a Coxswain’s boat-driving ticket and SCUBA experience. He loves his work and is always keen to share his extensive wildlife knowledge with our curious passengers.

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Dr John Kirkwood

Expedition Leader & Naturalist

Antarctica The Arctic

John has been involved in polar and marine research for over 30 years, studying animals ranging from microscopic crustaceans to whales, fish and dugongs. He has a love of travel and the natural world and a passion for exploring the planet’s wild and wonderful places.

John started his career as a marine biologist with the Australian Antarctic Division in the 1980’s, participating in multiple research expeditions to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. A highlight of this time was the year he spent at Davis Station on the East Antarctic coastline. There he conducted a year-round under-ice SCUBA diving program, documenting the diverse invertebrate fauna of the Antarctic coastal sea floor. He also monitored seal and penguin populations; in one project travelling across frozen seas for hundreds of kilometres to tag Weddell seals and record their new pups. John continued his Antarctic research at Monash University, where he completed a PhD on the ecology of zooplankton in an Antarctic fjord.

Away from Antarctica, John has worked as a fisheries scientist, commercial diver, environmental manager and university academic. He is currently a lecturer at Griffith University, where he teaches integrated resource management and mentors postgraduate student researchers.

Whether in Antarctica or the Arctic, each time John travels with Aurora Expeditions he experiences something new and exciting, and he eagerly anticipates each and every voyage.

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Dr Joselyn Fenstermacher

Naturalist

Antarctica

Part outdoor experiential educator and part field biologist, Joselyn began her global education and travel feats at the age of 13. Since then, she has studied field biology in Tanzania and Ecuador, monitored brown bears in Alaska, worked with endangered birds in the forests of Hawaii, taught rock climbing and backpacking in North Carolina, surveyed rare plants in Texas, been employed as a chef and boat driver in the Adirondacks of New York, worked as a biologist and interpretive ranger at a variety of U.S. National Parks, trained in helicopter operations over Maui and deployed as a wildland firefighter in the western United States.

After earning a Master’s degree in Botany, this eclectic background helped her land a job working in support of the US Antarctic Program at McMurdo Station. She went on to spend several seasons on the ice, including two winters at the South Pole where she for a time, the world’s most southerly farmer! After volunteering to give several local tours for both the station community as well as visiting expedition cruise ships, it was a natural step to join the ship-based expedition world as a way to merge her passion for education and desire to experience more of Antarctica - and really the rest of the globe.

When not somewhere far afield with expedition work, back in the U.S, Joselyn spends most of her time in the Big Bend region of far western Texas where she enjoys guiding, botanising, and watching and listening to life go by in the Chihuahuan Desert from the porch of her off-grid, fancy camping home.

Joselyn is passionate about learning more about the world around her, and sharing that passion with others-- hoping to inspire a broader appreciation for, and understanding of, the fascinating world we live in.

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Jared Hobbs

Naturalist

Antarctica

Jared Hobbs MSc is a Registered Professional Biologist and wildlife photographer based in Victoria, British Columbia. He has worked throughout North, Central and South America finding and photographing rare species, and was the recipient of the international Shikar-Safari conservation award for his dedication to the preservation of species and ecosystems.

Jared has been studying and photographing endangered species since graduating from UBC in 1994. In 2007, he published his first book with Douglas and McIntyre and is currently preparing another book on bats of western Canada for the Royal BC Museum.

Jared continues to travel internationally, constantly striving to increase his knowledge of the world’s flora and fauna. During his travels, Jared is always in pursuit of unique and intimate images of wildlife in their natural habitats, motivated by his passion to increase public awareness and encourage conservation of wilderness areas.

His images are represented by All Canada Photos and Getty Images and are regularly featured in publications worldwide.

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Dr Alan Burger

Naturalist, Expedition Leader

Antarctica The Arctic

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 Subantarctic.

Alan made three expeditions, totalling two years, to subantarctic 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.

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 presentations, written newspaper and magazine articles, and led groups on nature trips.

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Dr Ulyana Horodyskyj

Geologist & Glaciologist

Antarctica The Arctic

Ulyana is a scientist, mountaineer and visiting professor of environmental science at Colorado College in the United States. She earned a PhD in geological sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder and is especially passionate about science education and communicating science to the public. She has travelled to and worked on all the continents and has led science expeditions to the Andes, Baffin Island, Tanzania (Kilimanjaro) and the Himalaya.

Ulyana also has experience working on an icebreaker in Antarctica and ice caving and climbing in Svalbard.

Ulyana is excited to join the team and share the beauty of the landscape through geologic and glacier explorations of the polar regions!

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Dr Steve Salisbury

Palaeontologist & Glaciologist

Antarctica

Steve is a vertebrate paleontologist at The University of Queensland, where he divides his time between teaching and research as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences. He is also a Research Associate at Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and an Associate Editor for the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Steve's research focuses on the evolution of Gondwanan continental vertebrates, in particular dinosaurs and crocodilians. He is also interested in vertebrate biomechanics and using living animals to better understand the anatomy, behaviour and evolution of extinct ones. Steve has led multiple paleontological expeditions to remote parts of Queensland and the west Kimberley region of Western Australia. He is also involved in field-based research in New Zealand and in Antarctica as a member of the Antarctic Peninsula Paleontology Project (AP3). In 2016, the AP3 team spent over two months searching for and collecting fossils in the Weddell Sea area, with Steve camped on Vega Island for over 5 weeks. Research on material collected during this expedition is still in progress.

Some of Steve’s research highlights include the description of Isisfordia duncani, the world’s most primitive modern crocodilian, the recognition of an avian infectious disease in Tyrannosaurus rex, and an iconoclastic reboot of Australia’s dinosaur ‘stampede’ at Lark Quarry (most of them were swimming!). In the Kimberley, he works closely with local indigenous groups, and in 2011 his research there helped secure National Heritage Listing for the dinosaurian tracksites of the Dampier Peninsula, and subsequently contributed to the collapse of a $40+ billion LNG development at Walmadany (James Price Point), 50 km north of Broome. The results of Steve’s team’s six-year study of the dinosaurian tracks of the Walmadany area were published in the 2016 Memoir of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Steve is a proud dad of two young kids and lives in Ipswich, west of Brisbane. He is a keen swimmer and rock-climber, and when he has time, likes to carve wooden spoons and weave baskets.

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Ryan Burner

Biologist

Antarctica

Ryan is a biologist and traveller who found his love of the outdoors as a child in the forests and fields of his native Ohio. Since first setting foot on the Arctic sea ice while in college, the polar regions have had a special place in his heart.

Over the last 15 years, he’s found adventure in nearly 60 countries on all seven continents, including studying phytoplankton, penguins, and seals in the Antarctic, and shorebirds and polar bears on the northern coast of Alaska.

He’s currently based in Louisiana where he is finishing up a PhD in ornithology. His studies gave him the opportunity to lead 7 expeditions to remote mountains across Borneo, accompanied by blowpipe-toting local guides. Shortly after marrying in 2016, he and his wife Lindsay rode horses across the Mongolian steppe to study the nesting ecology of the little-known Amur Falcon.

Ryan knows that passion for the natural world is contagious and he loves watching others experience the wonder.

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Nina Gallo

Historian

Antarctica

A professional adventure guide and intermittent resident of the Blue Mountains, Nina has been drawn to the polar regions since her first otherworldly experience of the midnight sun in 2002. Since then she has spent time in far northern Canada, the Himalayas, the Alps and deserts in America and Australia, always seeking out quiet, wild corners to explore. These experiences have instilled in her a deep respect for the balance of systems in the natural world.

Nina spent four years at university studying everything from literature and politics to science, Chinese medicine, psychology and French before graduating with a BA and an appreciation for good storytelling. She also trained as an outdoor guide, getting most excited about roped adventures, rescues and wilderness first aid.

Nina has worked as a canyoning guide and climbing instructor in the Blue Mountains, first aider and volunteer manager on events in the Simpson Desert, and as a guide and lecturer in Antarctica. She feels immensely privileged to travel to these places and shares her passions for the natural world, human stories and adventure with all the wonderful people she meets.

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Chris Todd

Naturalist

The Arctic Scotland Greenland Antarctica

Chris grew up amongst the mountains, forests, rivers and coast of his beloved New Zealand; hiking, climbing and skiing in the Southern Alps and travelling around in boats. After studying protected area management in New Zealand and a post-graduate degree in Australia, Chris has taught natural resource management at a First Nation tertiary college in the Northern Territory. After returning to New Zealand, he had an ecological restoration business; worked for the New Zealand Department of Conservation; and for a decade was a manager and environmental advocate with a prominent New Zealand conservation NGO.

Chris has spent the last four years as a guide, lecturer and Zodiac driver in the Arctic (Russian Far East), New Zealand and Australian Subantarctic Islands, and in Antarctica. He loves sharing his passion for wildlife and wild places, botany, nature conservation and history.

When not on ships, Chris does remote field work with the New Zealand Department of Conservation and works as a hiking guide around the South Island. He has also worked as a volunteer in Nepal, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

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Carol Knott

Historian

The Arctic Scotland Antarctica

Carol’s passion for archaeology began with rescue excavations of 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 investigation of some of the great medieval abbeys, palaces and gardens of England. In 1988 she returned to her native Scotland, and since then has lived and worked amongst the windswept islands of the Outer Hebrides, with field researches focused on ‘the archaeology of survival’ - the study of remote communities and deserted places. Until 2012, Carol also worked for the National Trust of Scotland as archaeologist for St Kilda, helping to understand and preserve the unique heritage of this World Heritage site.

She also travels worldwide and in the polar regions as a guide and lecturer on expedition ships, including to Svalbard, Greenland and extensively to Antarctica, where she has found a second home under canvas on the ice cap.

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Dr Ben Maddison

Historian

Antarctica The Arctic Greenland

Avid historian and climber, Ben’s love of history began during his high school years. His passion for history led to an MA in Social and Industrial history and a PHD in Australian history. For many years, Ben was an academic specialising in polar, colonial and working class history in the History Department at the University of Wollongong, New South Wales.

An active researcher, Ben is published extensively in Australian and international historical journals. His book Class and Colonialism in Antarctic Exploration, 1750– 1920 (Pickering & Chatto, 2014) is a study of Antarctic exploration ‘from below’, focusing on the sailors, sealers, whalers, cooks, mechanics, engineers, stokers and radio operators, who were all necessary in bringing the upperclass 'hero explorers' to the continent and supporting their expeditions. He is currently writing A History of the Southern Ocean (forthcoming, Routledge 2018), gazing out on his subject matter from Bruny Island, Tasmania, where he lives.

When not writing, Ben engages in his other lifelong passions for exploring wild places. Ben has pioneered climbs in Tasmania, Victoria, NSW, Greenland and North Wales and he is currently developing new rock climbing routes in the Bruny Island area.

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Dr Alexander Watson

Naturalist

Kimberley Cruises Antarctica

Combining a love for travel and birdwatching, and excitement for exploring new ecosystems and cultures, Alexander has worked as a guide and lecturer in East and West Antarctica and their Subantarctic Islands for more than a decade.

When not working on ships, Alexander uses his conservation biology background to try and reverse our current extinction crisis. For the last eight years, he has worked with Indigenous Rangers in the Kimberley to protect some of the last populations of Australia’s threatened fauna including night parrots, nabarlek and northern quolls.

Alexander has also lectured at university in conservation biology and ecology and worked for non-government organisations helping conserve WA’s Great Western Woodlands and Canada’s temperate rainforests. He has published scientific reports on topics including assessing the National Reserve System in Australia, the need for a new approach for managing the large, intact landscapes, the effects of habitat fragmentation on woodland birds, the effects of logging disturbance on forests and impacts of oil spills on biodiversity.

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Alasdair McGregor

Naturalist & Historian

Antarctica Kimberley Cruises

Alasdair is a Sydney-based painter, writer and historian, who has enjoyed a love of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean spanning more than 30 years.

Alasdair’s contact with the region began on the 1983 Heard Island Expedition – his first big adventure – in which he played a supporting role in the second only ascent of 3000-metre Big Ben, the active volcano that dominates the island. Two voyages with the Australian Antarctic Division's Humanities Program followed in the next couple of years.

In the late 1990s, Alasdair was the artist and photographer for two Mawson’s Huts Foundation summer conservation expeditions to Cape Denison, then in 1999 Alasdair staged Mawson’s Antarctica: A view from the huts, a major exhibition of his Antarctic paintings and photographs. In 2000, Alasdair curated the Australian High Commission to Canada's photographic exhibition, '… that sweep of savage splendour': A Century of Australians in Antarctica.

Alasdair has published three books with Antarctic themes: Mawson’s Huts: An Antarctic Expedition Journal (1999); Antarctica: that sweep of savage splendour (collected writings – editor 2011); and a biography of the renowned polar photographer Frank Hurley: A photographer’s life (2004). His other books include Grand Obsessions: The life and work of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, winner of the 2011 National Biography Award.

Away from Antarctica, Alasdair writes regularly for Australian Geographic and his research and creative interests range over architecture and design, natural history, and the history of exploration.

Alasdair has worked as a lecturer on tourist voyages to Antarctica since 2005, and has been a keen member of Aurora Expeditions’ Antarctic expedition team since 2012.

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Heidi Sevestre

Glaciologist

The Arctic

Heidi is a research fellow in glaciology at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. She was recently awarded her PhD by the University of Oslo, although she spent the 4 years of her thesis living and working on the archipelago of Svalbard, in the Norwegian Arctic. Her passion for glaciers stems from her childhood spent hiking up and down mountains in the French Alps. Before focusing on glaciology, her studies in geography and geology would take her to Annecy (France) and Aberystwyth (Wales, UK).

In addition to a multitude of field campaigns in Svalbard, Heidi has led and joined expeditions in Greenland, the Nepalese Himalayas, Alaska, Iceland and Antarctica. She describes herself has a field glaciologist, with a particular interest in glacier dynamics. Her work on the calving and surging glaciers of Svalbard aims to improve our understanding of the contribution that glaciers make to sea level rise.

Heidi is always keen on sharing her experience of the Arctic, and she has an infectious enthusiasm and passion for sharing her knowledge about ice and rocks.

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Heidi Krajewsky

Senior Naturalist

Antarctica The Arctic

Venturing out to sea as a Sea Cadet during her teens, Heidi then left home to work as a deckhand on a schooner on the west coast of her native Canada. Further travels to Bermuda and Canada’s west coast ignited a keen interest in the natural world.

Following her passion, Heidi worked on wilderness adventure boats to put herself through a Marine Biology degree at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. She has been enthusiastically interpreting the natural world ever since.

Heidi was a founding director of the Marine Education and Research Society and assisted with Humpback and Minke Whale research in British Columbia. She has also run a research vessel for Raincoast Conservation Society working on many projects including a large baseline study of marine mammals and sea birds.

Heidi now lives in Tasmania where she spends her free time hiking in the wild and remote regions and volunteering with the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service.

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David Nelson

Naturalist

Kimberley Cruises

The combination of a passion for wildlife and a love for adventure has taken David to some of the most remote and surprising places. Originally hailing from Sydney, he got hooked on ecological field work and after completing his studies in biology began a life of nomadism as he worked, volunteered and travelled his way all over the continent.

He has learnt much from spending time in Australia's North, including while researching wildlife at Fogg Dam near Darwin, conducting fauna surveys in the Pilbara and extensive exploration through the Wet Tropics and Cape York.

After feeling the Kimberley's pull for many years, Dave's first visit started as a road trip, turned into an extended stay and ended with a decision to base himself indefinitely in the region. On top of exploring the highlights of the area he has taken part in fauna research projects, lived and worked at the Australian Wildlife Conservancy's Mornington Sanctuary.

Outside Australia, his love for the rich biodiversity of the tropics has taken him on expeditions to search for and photograph wildlife in Borneo, Costa Rica, Tonga and Papua New Guinea.

In contrast, Dave feels just as at home deep in the remote deserts and arid regions of Australia. As a tour guide in Central Australia and leading research expeditions in the Simpson Desert, Dave has introduced hundreds of people to the diversity and culture of these regions.

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Tory Stewart

Kayak Guide

Antarctica

Tory has always been an ocean lover and self-professed ‘water baby’.

She grew up in Brisbane, Queensland, and has spent most of her time chasing water, whether it be frozen or flowing. Tory is a qualified Level 2 Ski Instructor through the NZSIA, having spent almost 8 years travelling in New Zealand, Japan and Canada doing back to back ski seasons. She then relocated to Hobart, Tasmania, where her love for paddling flourished.

Gaining her Australian Canoeing Sea Guide qualifications, Tory has worked as an Expedition Sea Kayak Guide for 8 years in many remote parts of Tasmania’s rugged south west coast and Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Flinders Island in the Bass Straight, Western Australia and Queensland.

Tory spends the cooler months working in outdoor education programs for schools and instructing future outdoor guides in vocational education. She has a drive to upskill and she’s continually building on her knowledge and experience. In her spare time, Tory enjoys swimming, rafting, and sailing.

Tory’s love for unique marine environments, her passion for educating and sharing unforgettable experiences in wild places, along with her sense for adventure will bring great energy and experience to your polar explorations.

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Liz Gifford

Photography Guide

Antarctica

Liz Gifford is a sea kayak guide and photography instructor in some of the most remote parts of the world. With her undergraduate degree in Cultural Anthropology and her Masters in Teaching, she is a natural and curious leader, always looking for an opportunity to teach and discuss what she sees around her. Most recently her “office” has included sea kayaking in Alaska and Greenland with humpback and sperm whales, teaching photography under the imposing edifice of Denali, and living her Pippi Longstocking dreams while immersed in the cultures of Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

Liz has always had an affinity for living on or near water and currently calls Juneau, Alaska home where she owns a cozy houseboat named the Myriad.  She first moved to Alaska almost 20 years ago to combine her love of the outdoors with her passion for education. She enrolled at the University of Southeast Alaska and obtained her Outdoor Leadership Skills certificate. Her favorite class was by far Expedition Sea Kayaking so when offered a job with the U.S Forest Service as a wilderness ranger travelling primarily by sea kayak, she jumped at the chance. Liz spent three seasons protecting and educating visitors in the remote wildernesses of Glacier Bay National Park and Tracy Arm Wilderness Area.

Liz firmly believes in lifelong education and takes any opportunity to expand upon her skills. Most recently, Liz has been working on gaining more experience on the ocean and how to help people be safer in the outdoors. She earned her Master’s 100 Ton Captain’s license and is a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician. Liz is certified through the American Canoe Association to be a sea kayak instructor and has taught  kayak courses for the National Park Service. All of these certifications have helped her as a “bi-polar” guide in the Antarctic and the Arctic waters. She has been a sea kayaking and photography guide on small tourists ships that ply the remote ice filled waters of Svalbard, Greenland and Shackleton’s South Georgia. This will be her eighth season in Antarctica and as a photographer she is always inspired to photograph ice. She loves the impermanence of each piece, knowing it is only a small matter of time before it melts and changes. Each excursion out into the ice is like a visit to a new and pristine sculpture gallery. Antarctica is like the holy grail for a photographer.

When she is not guiding, you can find Liz with a cup of coffee in one hand and her camera in the other. She pre-apologises for all of the puns and bad jokes she can’t help but share. It is a genetic fault which she blames entirely on her dad. Most importantly, Liz loves exploring wild places, especially in the company of amazing individuals who also feel compelled to visit them.

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John Weir

Kayak Guide

Antarctica

John has spent much of his life exploring rivers and oceans in kayaks and rafts. He has led commercial sea kayak trips on remote waters in Australia, Fiji, and The Solomon Islands. He has guided the most wilderness rafting trips in Australia from the Franklin River in Tasmania to the Herbert River in North Queensland. His padding and mountain adventures have taken him from Australia to India, Nepal, Fiji, America, Russia and New Zealand.

In 1989, John led the Australian Whitewater Rafting team to a competition on a freezing river in Siberia. In the years following, he lived in Russia travelling extensively in forbidden, remote and untrod mountains. He was presented with the Australian Geographic Young Adventurer of the Year award for his adventures. In 2005, John led a film crew back to the Alati Mountains in Siberia to create a film about whitewater rafting in Russia. The film was shown internationally and won numerous prestigious awards.

For many years, John led young people on long self-contained wilderness expeditions, both mountaineering and rafting, aimed at building confidence and character. John delights in helping others to find inspiration through wilderness travel.

Having recently run his own outdoors retail and tours business, John has returned to his passion for leading trips to the world’s most remote and inspiring places.

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Mike Roberts

Ski Tour Guide

Antarctica

Mike is a Kiwi IFMGA Mountain Guide who found his calling climbing, skiing and guiding mountains worldwide. He has led numerous expeditions to high peaks, including guiding the seven summits at least twice and nine ascents of Everest. Combining a love of travel and culture with the mountains, his wide-ranging exploits have taken him skiing in the Norwegian Arctic, Northern India, Japan and Chinese Pamir Mountains. Mike thrives on variety, be it rock-climbing, heli-skiing, doing a transalpine trip in the Southern Alps, trekking in the jungle of West Papua or on a city tour of Saint Petersburg.

Antarctica has been a constant draw for Mike and in total he has spent 27 seasons in a variety of roles including: guiding Antarctica’s highest summit, Vinson Massif; many seasons working with glaciologists and geologists through the United States Antarctic Program; a yacht trip to the Antarctic Peninsula; instructing Antarctic survival techniques and guiding scientists on the US Coast Guard Ice Breaker, Polar Star.

After living in Alaska, Colorado and Chamonix, Mike has returned home to Wanaka, New Zealand where he enjoys down time on a yoga mat, mountain bike and with a book in hand. Mike enjoys imparting his knowledge of Antarctica, mountains and natural environments.

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Peter Wainwright

Assistant Ski/Snowshoe Guide

Antarctica

Peter's career has taken him down several unusual paths, from a stint in the military, to Civil Engineering, to working on TV survival shows, and to life in a Tanzanian National Park working for a well-known wildlife conservation trust. But he now spends his winters heli-skiing as one of the head guides for Bella Coola Helisports and at several backcountry ski-touring lodges. In the fall he spends much of his time guiding guests to view grizzly bears in the Bella Coola valley.

He also guides rock climbing and sea-kayaking trips. Born in Montreal, and having lived and guided for many years in Europe, the lure of endless white-capped mountains and the pristine Pacific Ocean enticed Peter to British Columbia where he can live his passions everyday and share his love of wild untouched places with others. He spends every possible moment exploring and adventuring in the backcountry on skis, in a kayak, trail running, climbing or surfing.

Peter is always up for a new adventure, the more remote, the better. His down to earth, relaxed demeanour and wealth of experience make him a great companion in the mountains or on the sea. Peter loves practicing his Spanish.

He is certified through the British Canoe Union as a 5-star sea kayak Leader and through the SKGABC as a Level 3 guide. He has guided trips all over Canada, Scotland, Norway and Iceland.

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Bronwen Waters

Climbing Guide

Antarctica

Bronwen is an NZMGA assistant ski guide and lives on the South Island of New Zealand. A trip to Nepal in her teen years created a lifelong love of mountains and the art of travelling through them.

She began her pathway into the winter guiding profession through years of ski patrolling in New Zealand, Canada and Norway. She now spends time in both hemisphere's winters, ski guiding and teaching avalanche courses in New Zealand and Japan.

When not on her skis, Bronwen works as a trekking guide. She has guided in Nepal, Mongolia, Bhutan, and on Mt Kilimanjaro. She has also completed a traverse of the New Zealand Southern Alps over three months.

Currently Bronwen's favourite place to go on holiday is…New Zealand! With many skiing, climbing and tramping trips constantly on the plan…as well as running the hills close to her home.

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Danny O'Farrell

Kayak Guide

Antarctica

Danny O’Farrell is a natural resource management specialist, biologist and wilderness guide with over 15 years of experience in a variety of areas related to marine and freshwater fisheries, wildlife, forestry, traditional knowledge mapping, environmental consulting, natural resource management and ecotourism.

Danny has been involved in many different projects across North America and Iceland with indigenous groups, government and private sectors. He also completed the first biological study of its kind, regarding the potential impacts on the range expansion of European Flounder, Platichthys flesus, on native salmonid populations in the Westfjords of Iceland due to influences of climate change.

Danny has experience working as a hiking, skiing and kayaking guide in Iceland, Canada and West Papua. He is an experienced climber, recording numerous first ascents in both rock and ice throughout Canada and Iceland. He established one of the longest sport climbing routes in Canada in the summer of 2018 and recorded over 20 first ascents of new waterfall ice climbs along the West Coast of Canada in the last few years. He is also an avid surfer and has pioneered new breaks along the North-west coast of Iceland Westfjords region.

When Danny is not traveling and guiding, he is a fisheries biologist focusing his efforts on salmon restoration and ecology in Canada’s pacific northwest working with indigenous and governmental organisations.

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Tarn Pilkington

Head Ski Tour Guide

Antarctica The Arctic Scotland Costa Rica Panama

Tarn works year round in the outdoors of NZ and is qualified as an IFMGA Mountain and Ski guide. Since visiting Antarctica for the first time in 1994 he has returned over 15 times and admits to being completely addicted.

He is based in Queenstown NZ, his home of 25 years. Tarn spends the winter months heli skiing and ski touring and during the long South Island Summers he guides and works on film and television productions as a safety officer. He is also contracted as the Crew Chief for the local Air Ambulance service and volunteers for the local Alpine Cliff Rescue Team.

In his spare time, Tarn gets out on his mountain bike or skis as much as possible to explore his home patch in the beautiful southern lakes of the South Island.

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Laetitia Campe

Snowshoe Guide

Antarctica

Laetitia, who is of French/German origin, grew up as a sailor circumnavigating the globe with her family over seven years. She completed a Bachelor of Arts, graduating from Brown University in the USA and later a Graduate Diploma in Fine Arts in printmaking from Otago School of Art.

Laetitia lived in Chamonix, France before making Wanaka, New Zealand her home in 1993. She is an NZMGA qualified ski guide and an alpine trekking guide. Laetitia lives in Wanaka and works in the winter months as a heliski guide.

In the summer months, Laetitia is the chief guide and owner of Wanaka Heli Hikes. Over the years, ski touring and heliski work has taken her to the European Alps, Himachal in northern India as well as the glaciers of Greenland. Amongst the numerous ocean trips, Laetitia sailed from Brasil to Argentina across to South Georgia and onwards to South Africa, combining sailing with climbing. Laetitia speaks fluent French, German, and Spanish.

Her nomadic childhood, as well as later travels, have instilled a life-long passion for the interpretation of landscapes. As an artist, Laetitia paints, but lately she has been focusing on printmaking.

As a mother of two, Laetitia balances being a practicing artist, a mother and working as a guide.

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Frank Witter

Kayak Guide

Antarctica

Frank’s passion and love for the outdoors was first sparked when he left his homeland of Germany in 2006 to travel and live in numerous countries around the world. Making a more permanent move to Canada and starting out as a dogsledding guide opened the doors to becoming an outdoor leader and kayak guide. The west coast of Vancouver Island has been his home for 9 years now.

While being out by the coast, he spends his time as a contract sea kayak guide for multi-day expedition style tours and outdoor educational programs for schools. Frank also works to restore wild salmon habitat for a nonprofit organisation in his home town, Ucluelet.

Frank holds a Level 3 Kayak Guide certificate issued by the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of British Columbia and is working towards becoming a guide trainer.

One of Frank’s favourite quotes that inspires him and influences him in many ways is: ‘You often feel tired, not because you’ve done too much, but because you’ve done too little of what sparks a light in you’.

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Dr Lisa Deziel

Kayak Guide

Antarctica

Growing up in Canada, Lisa developed an early love for outdoor life, especially spending time on the water. Canoeing since she was a child, she fell in love with sea kayaking and has developed into a dedicated kayaker, coach, and guide.

She is an American Canoe Association (ACA) Level 3 Coastal Kayak Instructor and holds ACA Level 4 Open Water Coastal Kayaking Skills as well as British Canoe Union (BCU) Four Star Sea Kayak and BCU Three Star Canoe awards. She is comfortable in sea and surf kayaks, canoes, and stand-up paddleboards.

Lisa has spent many years exploring the waters and guiding trips in the Everglades and Florida Keys and has guided, paddled, and camped around the world including Wales, Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, Canada, the Great Lakes, and Central America.

Now drawn to colder climates, Lisa especially enjoys the opportunity to share wildlife sightings and explore remote vistas with others. She is also proficient in fly fishing and spends time each fall in the Yellowstone area chasing trout. Prior to full-time instructing and guiding on the water, Lisa, who holds two doctoral degrees, was Dean of the Nova Southeastern University College of Pharmacy. She now considers northern Michigan her home, where she has taken up cross-country skiing in the winter, photography, and foraging for local foods.

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Massimo Bassano

Photography Guide

Antarctica

Massimo started his career as a traveller crossing the Ionian Sea, from the South of Italy to the Greek Isles by sailboat at the age of 15. That experience marked him for life. He has been crossing all the oceans on a sailboat ever since, and sometimes even solo. But the “bug” of travelling did not stop on the water. Thanks to his ocean knowledge, Massimo got a job as a fixer for National Geographic, which opened a new vision for his career path, and so he decided to become documentary photographer for the Society. In this way, his passion for human culture, history and wildlife became the reason to explore the planet. After 29 years and 83 countries explored for National Geographic, he still loves to travel and explore, even more than before. His passion for photography is the key to open connections with people and Mother Nature. Massimo loves to photograph the truth. As documentary photographer, he always tries to photograph the reality how it is.

Massimo learned from photographers, working for photographers in the field, so he loves to teach and to give back what he learned and what made him world famous. “Looking at the planet through a lens is one of the best way to travel and explore new places. Camera does not just immortalise your memories, but it also lets you immerse yourself into a situation that you would not look for,” - says Massimo.

He sets his camera carefully when on ground, dedicating the software to calibrate a photograph to print. “There is no better way than seeing your photograph printed on paper,” – he says - “put it on the wall and admire every day, bringing back memories that are unique, concentrating on those special moments of your life”.

There is no better combination for Massimo than travelling on an expedition ship, where the two sides of his life can merge. He lives between London and Vancouver but, sooner rather than later, he will move back to the Mediterranean to produce olive oil (when he’s back home from the trips) - his new passion.

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Ian McCarthy

Photography Guide

Antarctica

Ian has worked as a wildlife filmmaker for over 30 years, mostly for the BBC Natural History Unit based in Bristol. In that time, he’s filmed on many of the big David Attenborough series such as Life In The Freezer, Planet Earth, Blue Planet and Frozen Planet and have won a BAFTA for Life In The Freezer and two prime time EMMYs for Blue Planet and Human Planet.

During that time, Ian has lived, worked and camped for long periods in remote wildernesses, from northern and eastern Greenland, Ellesmere Island, the Antarctic Peninsula, Siberia and the Subantarctic islands of South Georgia and Marion Island.

He’s swum with huge brown bears in British Columbia and been chased by a musk ox in Greenland. He has howled with wolves in Montana, snorkelled with thousands of sockeye salmon in the icy rivers of Alaska and walked through a mine field in Afghanistan.

Ten years ago Ian moved to Cornwall with his wife Anne and opened The Wild Studio, Cornwall where they exhibit and sell Ian’s panoramic wildlife pictures.

“I try to capture the sense of space and grandeur in a landscape and yet bring a feeling of intimacy with the wild creatures that I photograph. My films and photographs come from a lifelong love affair with the natural world. But as the wild places come under increasing threat, I’m constantly reminded how fragile nature is, and with that comes a new wonder for its ephemeral beauty which I do my best to bring to my images“.

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Russell Henry

Kayak Guide

Antarctica

Russell grew up in a sea kayaking family on the rugged west coast of Canada with parents that pushed him and his brother to get out there and challenge themselves. He tries his best to do that on a regular basis and it seems to get him to some cool places and in some interesting situations.

For the last decade Russell has bounced around British Columbia working as a ski patroller in the winters, guide and outdoor educator in the summers, and pulled off some large scale expeditions in between. The most impressive of these being a 6500 kilometre seven month sea kayak trip from Brazil to Florida with his brother.

Russell has recently shifted gears in life and become a paramedic with the British Columbia Ambulance Service. While working part-time, he still manages to hold onto his passion for the outdoors through guiding and exploring the mountains, rivers, and oceans whenever possible.

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Allie Carroll

Kayak Guide

Antarctica

Allie has been a sea kayak guide and instructor since 2011 when she first took up the sport. After working in numerous and varied fields (none of which were outdoors) including photography and yoga, she has found that kayaking enlivens her senses like nothing else. Being on the water, particularly the ocean, provides a whole-body sense of well-being more than words could duly describe - it's the only thing that balances her fire inside.

Allie hopes others find their solace in the moments of wonder and awe that nature provides. Her favourite places to paddle are areas of abundant wildlife, as the sentient creatures are what creates the dynamic environments she so enjoys, whether it's her travels in the polar regions or temperate and tropical rainforests.

When not paddling, Allie travels extensively, chasing the sun, riding her bikes and exploring for the pure joy of new places and different challenges that give rise to more questions than answers.

She is a free spirit full of bubbly energy, always ready with a laugh and a smile.

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Sergei Andronov

Zodiac Manager

Antarctica Patagonia Costa Rica Panama

Sergei was born in a small village on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. He spent almost all his life on the water. At eight years old he got his first motor boat. As he got older, he went kayaking on the northern seas of Russia, the rivers of the Kola Peninsula and the lakes of Karelia. He has always loved the North, enthusiastically reading books about the Arctic and Antarctic explorers.

Sergei participated in ski marathons for 70 km and went more than once to the mountains of the Caucasus. He worked as a professional diver and a few years on tugboats. Sergei also took part in commissioning and testing of new Arctic ice breakers. In 1998, he came to Svalbard for the first time and worked there for two years non-stop.

“Fabulous Svalbard has changed my life. I believed that someday I'd return there”, says Sergei. And in 2008, he came back to work as a sailor and then as a boatswain on the Polar Pioneer, Aurora’s old vessel, where he met a wonderful team from Aurora Expeditions. “And then, for almost ten years together, I had a magical time of new discoveries, meeting new friends and fulfilling my dreams”.

This Antarctic season, Sergei joins us on our new ship, continuing to find new friendships and making his dreams come true.

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Sergey Khynku

Zodiac Manager

Antarctica

Sergey is a highly qualified sea Zodiac driver and expedition specialist from the cold lands of Russia. He is also a boatswain with 16 years' experience. For the last 14 years, Sergei has been training and guiding in Zodiacs in both Antarctica and the Arctic.

“We are all sailors in our family. A whole dynasty. Therefore, I fell in love with the sea in my early childhood. And I always dreamt about travelling," says Sergey.

To follow his dream, Sergey enrolled to serve in the Navy where he underwent thorough training. After graduating from the Marine College, he began work in the Navy. He also graduated from the institute, where he received the highest level of education in management.

“In 2004, I was lucky to get a job at Aurora Expeditions. The same year I met Greg Mortimer. I was amazed at his achievements, his courage, and for the first time I saw a man who conquered Everest. Then I told many of my friends about our meeting. My first trip to the Arctic will always remain in my memory. It’s so beautiful and you will love it forever”.

Sergey enjoyed all the impressions that the Arctic had to offer and meeting wonderful people along the way, many of whom still work with Aurora Expeditions today.

Sergey’s first trip to Antarctica left him with even more impressions. Icebergs, penguins, whales, killer whales, and making more new friends.

“I have always liked working with Aurora and it’s nice when passengers are satisfied with our work," remarks Sergey.

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Michael Baynes

Photography Guide

The Arctic Greenland

Michael is a Freelance Travel Photographer and was born on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, where his love for photography and the environment was ignited at an early age. Michael has worked with a number of global clients, with his images being used in various forms of media.

Michael's love of travelling has seen him explore seven continents and over 50 countries, naturally with a camera in hand. He specialises in landscape and wildlife photography with a particular interest in photographing the Polar Regions.

Michael believes that there is no greater travel experience than exploring the remote Polar Regions, and loves getting off the beaten track with a small group of like-minded passengers aboard the Polar Pioneer. He especially enjoys sharing his passion for photography and assisting others to capture images of these incredible scenes.

Michael also has a Bachelor of Science and is a Director of one of Australia's leading Environmental Consultancies, delivering innovative and practical environmental management solutions for a wide variety of clients.

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Matt Edwards

Kayaking Guide

The Arctic Greenland

Matt loves exploring! Wanting to find out what’s around the next corner or at the top of the next mountain has enticed Matt to some of the most remote destinations on the planet.

For more than a decade he has organised and conducted custom adventures for keen expeditioners from across the globe. leading them on; kayaking expeditions to Iceland, Greenland, Svalbard, Antarctica, Fiji, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Alaska and British Columbia, skiing expeditions to Iceland, Antarctica, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Greenland and Canada, and surfing expeditions to Morocco, West Papua and Northern Vancouver Island.

Matt started his career in adventure by taking the Thompson Rivers University Degree in Adventure Studies. He is a certified Backcountry Ski guide through the Association of Canada Mountain Guides and a certified Sea Kayak Guide through the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of British Columbia and a Surf Instructor through the Canadian Surf Association.

Matt tones down his adventurous travels in his sleepy home town of Ucluelet on the West Coast of British Columbia, where he spends his summers relaxing and surfing, and the Canadian winters working as a Heli Skiing Guide with Last Frontier Heli skiing or preparing for his spring ski touring expeditions (if you can call that relaxing!).

Matt is excited to welcome you onboard and looks forward to the sharing his genuine passion for adventure, keen sense of humour and love of life, as you discover some of the most wonderful wilderness areas on the planet together.

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Martin McGrath

Dive Guide

Antarctica The Arctic

Originally from the North East of England, he began diving whilst studying for his degree.

On a trip to see his sister who was working in the Arabian Gulf, he decided that the expatriate life was for him, and it took him 25 years to get home!

He freely admits to not being able to ”walk past a puddle without wanting to get in it and see what’s at the bottom of it” and thinks the Polar regions are one of the best places on Earth to do it.

Martin now lives in Sydney, Australia, where he can be found teaching diving, as well as supervising divers (and penguins) at Sydney’s world-famous Taronga Zoo.

He has completed more than 10,000 dives in a career lasting over 30 years.

He is a PADI Master Instructor, a BSAC Advanced Instructor and a commercial diver, working as a Safety and Rescue Supervisor for the BBC Natural History Unit and TV Production companies.

He has instructor ratings in more than 16 specialities and is also a qualified cox’n with sea survival and VHF qualifications.

He is an emergency first response instructor trainer and scuba technician.

He has dived extensively in the Polar Oceans, Australia, Scapa Flow, UK, Norway, France, Spain, Sicily, Beirut, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, South Africa, Mozambique, Maldives and the Galapagos Islands.

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Kevin Nicholas

Head Snowshoeing Guide

Antarctica

Kevin is an IFMGA certified mountain guide and experienced outdoor educator. He has spent his working life in the outdoors guiding and instructing in the Southern Alps of New Zealand in both summer and winter.

Kevin has had several trips to Antarctica, primarily based at Scott Base with the New Zealand Antarctic Programme teaching survival skills and assisting scientists in the field. In 2005 he sailed with friends from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia, where they spent several weeks circumnavigating the island and exploring inland on foot and skis.

As his body gets older more of his guiding work has been on skis both touring in the Southern Alps and heliskiing in the Indian Himalaya.

When at home in Christchurch, Kevin is an avid rock climber and cyclist. He especially enjoys exploring the remote South Island backcountry tracks on his mountain bike.

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Michael Gray

Head Kayak Guide

Antarctica Costa Rica Panama

Michael started guiding a couple of years after obtaining a degree as a naturalist in his home state of Michigan. Over the years, he found ways of combining his passion for wilderness travel with paddle sports. Sharing this passion is what drives him and has kept him evolving throughout his adult life. He’s led trips all over the world including Alaska, New Zealand, Greenland, Patagonia, Iceland and most of  Central America.

Michael is a British Canoe Coach, an ACA Level 3 Coastal Kayak Instructor Trainer and a Level 4 instructor. He also holds certifications in Canoe, SUP and whitewater kayak instruction. As a lifelong paddler, when other people peer at mountain peaks, Michael’s eyes will wander down to where they meet their neighboring mountains and know there is water flowing there drawing him like a magnet.

When he’s not guiding, you may find him with oars in his hands, rowing a wilderness river searching for trout with his fly rod. Since wilderness travel and backcountry fishing often result in some serious hunger, Michael has also developed interests and a reputation as a skilled wilderness chef, with a backcountry cookbook to his credit.

Michael’s teaching and demonstrations are among the most popular sessions at US kayak symposiums, and his articles appear in numerous paddling print on web media.

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Toby Story

Kayaking Guide

Antarctica The Arctic Scotland Costa Rica Panama

Toby was born and raised on the remote and rugged south coast of Western Australia. Surrounded by national parks and with a family that loved to travel and explore, it is no surprise that Toby entered into a career in remote area guiding.

Toby began his sea kayak guiding career on Tasmania’s remote and rugged coasts and in the decade and a half since, has guided expeditions from equatorial to polar regions including Greenland, Norway, Spitsbergen, Indonesia, Fiji, the Philippines, Antarctica and South Georgia. Toby is also a qualified sea kayak instructor, and has worked extensively throughout Australia with universities, schools and tourism operators as an expedition leader, educator and guide trainer.

Toby’s great passion in life is in learning about and exploring remote and beautiful places and in assisting people to enjoy, understand and experience those places to the full. Toby is also a keen photographer, climber, runner and surfer. Ever the student, between seasons Toby is currently completing a Master of Wildlife and Fisheries Biology in the Southern United States.

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Scott Portelli

Head Photography Guide

Antarctica Scotland The Arctic Iceland Greenland

Scott Portelli is an international award-winning wildlife, nature and underwater photographer. He’s a member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP) and is regarded as a leading professional in his field. Scott has spent thousands of hours in remote locations across the globe filming and photographing nature, wildlife, the underwater environment and wild places.

Scott has spent over a decade working in the polar regions with a focus on Antarctica, the Subantarctic and Artic regions, producing a unique portfolio of fine art photography that showcases the intricate environment and its intriguing inhabitants. Working in extreme conditions, Scott’s photography provides a rarely seen glimpse above and below the surface in some of the harshest places on the planet.

As a professional nature, wildlife, underwater and aerial photographer, Scott spends a lot of time travelling the world to remote destinations in search of some of the most amazing creatures on the planet. For Scott, it is about the journey, bringing an idea to life by capturing a moment in time or by evoking an emotion. Each image has a unique story that is usually a very intimate moment that Scott may have shared with the subject.

“To create interesting concepts, it sometimes involves me immersing myself in an environment in order to research the location, subject matter and what opportunities may present themselves. I once spent two months on the back of a snow mobile in Baffin Island, Canadian Arctic in minus 37 degrees just to do a reconnaissance of the region for a series of photos I wanted to produce. In the end, I love what I do and I love sharing the natural world through photography.”

Scott was awarded at the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year in London in 2016, announced National Winner of the Sony World Photography Awards 2016 and Winner at Travel Photographer of the Year 2015. More recently, he was awarded winner in the Animal Behaviour Category at the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year ANZANG 2017, winner in the Underwater Category of the Asferico International Nature Photography Awards 2018 and runner up in the Behaviour Category at Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019. His conservation documentary also took out two awards at the prestigious French Underwater Film Festival in Marseille.

Scott's other notable awards include:

• 3^rd Prize - National Geographic Travel Photo Contest - Nature Category 2019
• Winner - 13^th Annual Black & White Spider Awards 2018
• Highly Honoured - Nature's Best, Windland Smith Rice International Awards 2018
• Winner - Sony World Photography Awards 2016

An accredited licensed RPAS/UAV Pilot, Scott has worked on aerial projects for some of Australia’s most sought-after tourism destinations.

Scott runs photography workshops and lectures to show enthusiasts and experts alike the best way to get the most out of their photography. On his Polar tours he specialises in Nature & Wildlife photography bringing the best tips and techniques for photographing in challenging locations.

Scott will be joining us as our onboard photography guide on:

• Iceland, Greenland and East Canada (IAR001G), departing September 2020
• Antarctic Explorer (ANP135G), departing in December 2020
• Antarctic Explorer (ANP136G), departing in January 2021
• Antarctic Explorer (ANP137G), departing in January 2021
• Wild Scotland (SCOT16G), departing June 2021
• Orkneys, Faroes, Jan Mayen & Svalbard (SFS001G), departing June 2021

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Richard I'Anson

Photography Guide

Antarctica The Arctic Costa Rica Panama Greenland

Richard is a freelance travel photographer & Canon Master who has captured incredible images of people and places around the world for more than 35 years. His work has been published worldwide in books, magazines, newspapers, brochures, calendars, posters, cards and websites; from the size of a stamp right up to a tarpaulin covering a 53-foot truck trailer!

He has also published 12 books including five editions of Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Photography, was featured in the television documentary Tales By Light (now streaming on Netflix) and is a Travel Photography Scholarship Mentor for World Nomads. Richard has won numerous awards over the course of his career but is most proud of gaining a Master of Photography and one gold bar from the Australian Institute of Professional Photography.

We are excited to have Richard join us onboard the Greg Mortimer’s inaugural season as our photography guide for:

• Costa Rica & The Panama Canal (CRP001G), departing April 2020
• Arctic Discovery (ARD001G), departing August 2020
• South Georgia & Antarctic Odyssey (ASG82G), departing March 2021
• Franz Josef Land Explorer (FJL003G), departing August 2021
• Svalbard Odyssey (SVAL54G), departing August 2021

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Peter Szyzka

Polar Diving Guide & Expedition Assistant

Antarctica Costa Rica Panama

Peter Szyszka is among the elite of diving professionals worldwide having achieved Instructor Trainer status with six training agencies - PADI Course Director, TDI Instructor Trainer for all courses including Trimix, DSAT Trimix Instructor Trainer, DAN Instructor Trainer in Oxygen Provision, Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer and Instructor Trainer for IAHD (International Association of Handicapped Divers).  Hailing originally from Poland, Peter is now a resident of Sydney, Australia. He has a gift for training, an extensive knowledge in all areas of diving and a passion for this sport that inspires all who come in contact with him.

Peter is certified to service over 13 brands of scuba equipment and has an extensive knowledge of, and experience in equipment configuration including rebreathers, oxygen cleaning and gas blending. Peter has dived on all 7 continents and 32 countries around the world to depths past 120 metres in all conditions and water temperatures. Peter has been a Polar Dive Guide and technical supervisor on many trips to the Polar Regions.

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Peter Eastway

Photography Guide

Antarctica The Arctic

Peter Eastway is a contemporary Australian photographer who is known internationally for his landscape and travel work. A practising professional photographer, he shoots editorially and works selectively in advertising and family portraiture, two diverse ends of the professional sphere.

Peter has been involved in photographic magazine publishing for over 30 years, establishing his own title, Australia's Better Photography Magazine, in 1995. It is now one of Australia’s leading photography magazines.

Peter’s work has been published and exhibited internationally (USA, UK, Japan, Germany, Greece, India, New Zealand and Australia).

He was the author of the Lonely Planet’s Guide to Landscape Photography. His photography has recently featured on the cover of the Lonely Planet’s guide to Australia, in articles in the Qantas in flight magazine, and in an Apple television commercial. And he has worked with Phase One cameras, researching and promoting its high-end medium format cameras and Capture One raw processing software.

Peter Eastway is an AIPP Grand Master of Photography, a Fellow and an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography, and a Fellow and Honorary Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography. He won the 1996 and 1998 AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the Year Award.

Peter will be joining us as our onboard photography guide on:

• Wild Antarctica (ANW001G), departing March 2020
• South Georgia & Antarctic Odyssey (ASG80G), departing March 2020
• Falklands, South Georgia & Antarctic Peninsula (FSP001G), departing November 2020
• Spirit of Antarctica (ANP134G), departing November 2020
• Svalbard Odyssey (SVAL53G), departing July 2021
• Franz Josef Land Explorer (FJL002G), departing July 2021

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Hilary Cave

Snowshoe Guide

Antarctica

Hilary has an extensive background in the New Zealand adventure industry, primarily in glacier and ski guiding. She spent many years living on the remote West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island – exploring the rugged wilderness on her doorstep. From 2000 – 2004 Hilary spent her summer seasons working as a field instructor and guide at Scott Base – New Zealand’s Antarctic base.

More recently she has been working in a training and development company – facilitating a variety of programmes including: adventure leadership, team building and outdoor pre-hospital emergency care courses.

Hilary stays active – mountain biking and paddling waka ama (outrigger) canoe are some of her favourite activities when not working in the field.

This Antarctic season Hilary joins us as a part of our experienced mountaineering Expedition Team.

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Anna Keeling

Mountaineering Guide

Antarctica

An experienced IFMGA-certified mountain guide, Anna hails from one of the world's best climbing destinations - New Zealand. With ski descents and climbing ascents form Nothern India's Kedarnath to Denali's West rib as well as wins in International Adventure races and New Zealand's Coast to Coast, Anna has spent her life zipping around the great outdoors.

In addition to running her own ski guiding business in New Zealand, Anna works as a Mountain Guide trainer and examiner for both the New Zealand Mountain Guide Association (NZMGA) and the American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA). She has taught avalanche safety courses of New Zealand Mountain Safety Council, Utah Avalanche Centre, the American Avalanche Institute and Utah Mountain Adventures.

After years of travelling, guiding and adventure racing around New Zealand and the world, she and her family returned home in 2009. Now each year is spent travelling between winters - Castle Hils Village in the Southern Hemisphere and Salt Lake City, Utah in the Northern Hemisphere - so Anna and her family can make the most of their winters and brief spring/summers to ski and climb in the beloved environs.

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Angela Bueckert

Kayaking Guide

The Arctic

Angela’s love for the outdoors began at the tender age of two when her parents brought her on her first wilderness canoe trip. Since then, she has pursued a life as an outdoor guide. Angela has explored many remote and unique parts of the globe as a whitewater kayak guide, sea kayak guide and ski guide.

She spends her winters as a backcountry ski touring guide in the interior of British Columbia and is certified through the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides.

During the summers, she guides sea kayak expeditions to remote locations around the world. Greenland and Norway are two of her favourite places to sea kayak and explore. She is certified by the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of British Columbia.

Angela spends her time off at her home on the Canadian West Coast surfing and enjoying the rugged beauty of Vancouver Island.

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Alex Chavanne

Head Kayak Guide

Antarctica

Alex was born and raised in Northern California, an area wilder and closer to nature (and colder!) than most imagine. Since he could hold his head up, he was seated in a kayak, eventually beginning to lead tours off the rough and rocky Santa Cruz coastline after graduating from the University of California.

Spending his entire youth climbing and skiing the Sierra’s, surfing, kayaking and boating off the coast, and travelling the world with his parents led him comfortably into a life of guiding. His education in earth sciences at the university inspired an environmentalist attitude, as well as a research-based approach to science and learning. Working among scientists and leading experts has allowed him to make friends with and learn from some of the brightest and enthusiastic members of the industry since the start, and inspired a passion for the birdlife and lichen ecology of the polar regions.

After beginning work with a world-class surf kayaker in Santa Cruz, Alex has travelled the world, continuously challenging himself in and out of a kayak. Guiding month long kayak trips in the Patagonian Fiords, paddling the deceivingly tricky and frigid waters of the Pacific Northwest, and providing hands-on logistical support for whole-season scientific field trips in the High Arctic, among others have provided lessons and experience in leadership and wilderness conduct.

Although these skills are useful for guiding work in polar regions, they also transfer well to Alex’s personal life. When not guiding, he can be found climbing, paddling, skiing and fishing around the Lofoten Islands which he calls home.

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Al Bakker

Head Kayaking Guide

Antarctica The Arctic

Dedicating his life to the open waters, Al has been paddling the world for the past four decades. He has kayaked and guided adventures throughout North and South America, Japan and the South Pacific, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and for the past 21 years he has been leading our small groups of keen kayakers out into the icy waters of Antarctica, the European Arctic and the Russian Far East.

As well as being a qualified sea kayak instructor, in his outdoor career Al has taught and examined Nordic ski instructor courses, swim instructor courses, whitewater rafting courses and qualified in swiftwater rescue. He raced competitively at a national level in cross-country skiing and has developed sea kayak, rafting and cross-country ski programs in many countries. He has also worked as a helicopter ski guide, rafting guide and Wilderness First Aid instructor.

When not travelling the world with his kayak, Al returns home to Switzerland where he manages his own sea kayaking business.

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Daniel Stavert

Kayaking Guide

Antarctica The Arctic Greenland Patagonia

Daniel is a qualified sea kayak guide from the Blue Mountains, Australia. He is drawn to the beauty of wild places; the extremes of cold and light, and the abundance of life that can be found there.

A curiosity for engaging in landscapes both physical and human lead him from growing up in Sydney, to a degree in history and geography and a varied career guiding people through the wilderness. For the last 10 years, he has taught and guided by kayak, climbing and trekking, in remote Tasmania, the islands of Scotland, the coast of mainland Australia and Antarctica. Additionally, Daniel enjoys teaching and training. Both in training kayak guides, and instructing risk management and safety practice for operating in cold climates.

Daniel is a keen climber and kayaker, who brings a love sharing human story, remote coastline, and wild creatures to his work and to deepening the experience of others.

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Dr Rachel Hawker

Expedition Doctor

Antarctica

Growing up on a farm in South Australia, Rachel always loved being outdoors, but when she was stuck inside, she enjoyed reading books about nature, wildlife and different environments, including the polar environments, however until recently she didn’t dream of visiting them!

After graduating from the University of Adelaide, she trained to become a rural GP anaesthetist and has since worked in country towns throughout Australia, including work for the Royal Flying Doctors Service, and she even spent a short time volunteering in the PNG Highlands.

In 2016 Rachel overwintered at Casey Station in Antarctica as the Medical Practitioner for the small group of expeditioners stationed there. Spending the year on the ice was a life-changing experience which has left her with an abiding love for the continent.

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Dr Suzanne Knapp

Expedition Doctor

Antarctica

Having been raised on a farm in rural costal New Zealand, Suzanne developed a love for nature, hills and the sea which has influenced her medical career choices. After completing her GP training in the Highlands of Scotland, she lived and worked in Nepal. The first two years spent on a community project in East Nepal followed by three months at Manang with the Himilayan Rescue Association.

Back to New Zealand, Suzanne spent the next 25 years owning and running a rural practice in Akaroa whilst bringing up two children with her husband.

Over this time in Akaroa, she completed postgraduate training in Travel and Wilderness Medicine and her lust for adventure was able to be fulfilled with time off to work in a number of countries including Vanuatu, Sahkhalin Island and rural Australia as well as being an expedition doctor travelling to East Antarctica and the Subantarctic Islands, the Antarctic Peninsula and the Arctic.

She plans to continue doing locum work in Australia, working with the indigenous population in between other adventures around the globe.

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Dr Mari Fleri

Expedition Doctor

Antarctica

Mari was born in Japan and moved to the UK as a child with her family. After qualifying in medicine, she travelled around the world, and fell in love with Australia. She later moved to Sydney with her husband, who is himself a paediatrician, and three children where she has lived for the past 20 years. She currently works as a GP for Justice Health, providing much needed healthcare to prison inmates, as well as part time work in emergency services.

Mari is no stranger to working in remote conditions however. For the past 10 years she has worked on and off in remote indigenous communities in Australia. She has worked with asylum seekers on Christmas Island, Nauru and in Sydney. She has also volunteered on a medical trek in Nepal and assisted conservation research teams as the camp medic in the forests of Madagascar and the Amazon rainforest in Peru. She loves trekking and kayaking in her spare time.

Mari had her first voyage with Aurora Expeditions last season, when she worked as a doctor on the last voyages onboard the Polar Pioneer and is now looking forward to being one of the first doctors on the Greg Mortimer.

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Dr Judy Braga

Expedition Doctor

Antarctica

Growing up, Judy’s family travelled around the world giving her an appreciation of other cultures and beliefs and an ongoing thirst for travel.

A relative late comer to medical practice, she returned to study when her children were in primary school. The travel bug continues to impact her developing medical career, seeing her in positions throughout Gippsland in Victoria.

She is a procedural GP and enjoys working in rural and remote settings.

She recently worked as an Antarctic Medical Practitioner at Davis station for the Australian Antarctic Division and spent three years working with the Royal Flying Doctor Service in the Kimberley in Western Australia.

Outside of medicine, her passion for exploring the great outdoors has taken her to such places as Nepal on a 21 day trek around Himalayas including Everest Base Camp and extensively around Australia.

She also has a passion for cars and motorsports, and volunteers with a group providing medical services to motorsport events around Australia.

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Dr Sophie Plowman

Expedition Doctor

Antarctica The Arctic

Sophie is an Australian General Practitioner who is passionate about rural medicine having grown up on a sheep and cattle farm in North East Victoria. She currently flies into remote communities in outback Queensland to provide primary healthcare. In her life before medicine she worked as an outdoor guide and cameleer with Australian Desert Expeditions and spent many happy years working and wandering the North of Australia from Alice Springs to Darwin and across the Kimberley region. She still tries to fit in one desert trip a year as an expedition cameleer/doctor in the Simpson Desert.

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Dr Peter Lovell

Expedition Doctor & Medical Advisor

Antarctica The Arctic

Rural, remote and expedition medicine have been the mainstays of Peter’s career following his graduation from Adelaide University in 1982. His passions for medicine and travelling have led him to every state in Australia, from major towns and cities to remote mining and indigenous communities.

Peter has also held placements around the world, practicing medicine in Ireland, the Solomon Islands, New Zealand, the Southern and Indian Oceans, as well as working as an Antarctic Medical Practitioner at Casey Station for the Australian Antarctic Division.

Peter’s love for the great outdoors doesn’t stop with his career; he is also an avid bush walker, rock climber, diver, and sailor. When not globetrotting he returns home to Hindmarsh Island, South Australia with his wife and three children.

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Dr Lesley Cadzow

Expedition Doctor

Antarctica The Arctic Scotland

Lesley is a Scottish doctor who has worked as a neonatal paediatric registrar transporting sick babies around New Zealand before becoming an academic General Practitioner in Melbourne. Before leaving her regular family practice in Melbourne she was also an acupuncturist with a special interest in musculoskeletal medicine and she continues to teach medical students.

With the Royal Flying Doctor Service she has travelled to many Indigenous communities of the central desert of Alice Springs, Kowanyama and Elcho and Tiwi islands.

Currently Lesley is a roving rural and remote General Practitioner who has travelled around Australia providing relief for solo GPs in the bush in places such as Norfolk Island, Mallacoota, Broken Hill and the Darwin correctional centre. Having been a community radio communicator, Lesley continues to write medical articles for local newsletters. Travelling rurally has allowed great opportunity to explore the fantastic Australian landscape by bushwalking and horseriding and Lesley has been enticed into all sorts of rural activities such as pastel and life drawing, community singing and any dance form she can find.

When in Melbourne she is a 'Mentone Iceberger' and a baby surfer on the Great Ocean Road. She loves the raw beauty of the Antarctic, Arctic, Scottish and Far East Russia trips, and over the past four years she has had the pleasure of working with the wonderful family of Aurora Expeditions.... but still needs a few more penguin photos!

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Dr John Barry

Expedition Doctor

Antarctica The Arctic Greenland

John is an Australian Family Doctor with an interest in expedition and travel medicine. He has worked across Australia in a myriad of roles including Aboriginal health in Kempsey and in both Accident and Emergency and as family doctor in Sydney and rural Australia.

John and his wife Kirsty have lived, travelled and worked in over 50 countries over the past decade. While in Nepal John worked at an Himalayan Rescue Post, 3 days walk to the nearest hospital. While in Ethiopia he worked at a Rural Malaria Clinic and while in Peru he worked a remote hospital. After visiting Antarctica for the first time in 2000, John is always keen to return.

John has been living and working in General Practice at Bondi in addition to working regular shifts in Accident and Emergency. In his spare time he enjoys hiking, kayaking, rock climbing and paragliding as well as a swim at Bondi Beach.

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Gloria Guo

Business Development Manager

Gloria is responsible for developing and actively managing relationships with all trade distribution partners throughout China, East Asia and South East Asia. She joins the team with over 20 years of experience, having previously worked in various global travel businesses in BDM roles based in the UK and China, including; GTA, Kuoni, and Hotelbeds.

Gloria has been lucky enough to have worked and visited many countries to date and thoroughly enjoys trekking and hiking when she’s not at work.

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Anna Powell

Business Development Manager

Being born and raised in Southern Africa, Anna has always had a passion for adventure and the travel industry was the most obvious and natural career choice for her. Over the last 25 years, Anna has worked in various aspects of the travel industry from travel consultant to airline sales representative, to Hotel Manager.

Anna loves helping others see the world, and she dedicates a lot of her spare time to exploring our wonderful world herself - having visited over 50 countries to date.

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Matthew Backo

Reservations Consultant

Matt has always lived and breathed travel. After completing an Advanced Diploma in Tourism 2013, he then commenced his career within wholesale travel before starting work with Aurora Expeditions.

Since joining, Matt has developed a knack for complementing our Polar Voyages with amazing pre and post excursions. He has travelled extensively throughout New Zealand, Bali, North America, Europe and most of Australia.

Matt brings a wealth of knowledge, passion and expertise to the Aurora Expeditions team, and is always happy to help plan the journey of a lifetime.

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Mark Lee

Product Manager - Voyages

After graduating from Sydney University with a Bachelor of Arts (Art History and Spanish), Mark was a lost soul. Having backpacked around Europe after high school, he decided to again escape to Europe for a one-year working holiday and although he didn’t find himself, he felt somewhat qualified to pursue a career as a travel agent after returning to Australia. However, a nine-month stint at STA Travel proved he wasn’t resilient enough to be on the frontline as a retail agent, whereupon he retreated into the world of horticulture and garden design for five years.

But after a holiday to Indonesia, which sparked a passion for Asia, Mark returned to the travel industry working for Asia specialist tour operator Travel Indochina, where he stayed for almost 12 years taking on various roles in sales before settling down in his ideal role as a product manager. An incurable bout of wanderlust took him to South Africa, North America, and Latin America where he stayed for nine months practising Spanish, including two months volunteering as an English teacher in the Ecuadorian Amazon, teaching English to staff at Napo Wildlife Centre and to the local indigenous community.

Mark’s a self-confessed ‘tennis tragic’ who loves playing and watching tennis, and aspires to attend all four grand slam tournaments. Wimbledon and US Open are the remaining two tournaments yet to be ticked off the list. He also loves to write and isn’t afraid to be the first clown to get out on the dance floor.

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Marcel De Graaf

CIO

Marcel immigrated to Australia in 2001 from The Netherlands. In The Netherlands he worked for large engineering and contracting firms that had a global appearance. During this time Marcel worked on very large projects in Eastern Europe, South Africa, Canada, UK and France. This is when he developed his travel bug.

In Sydney, after a number of years as General Manager of a manufacturing facility for industrial batteries, Marcel became the Finance and Operations Manager of an IT Managed Services Provider and during this time he also became involved with Aurora Expeditions. Currently he shares his time between the two companies.

When Marcel is not at work he spends as much time as he can with his young family preferably in the Sydney outdoors. He thoroughly enjoys bush walking.

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Leani Gray

Direct Sales Executive

Leani recognised her passion for all things travel at an early age, studying tourism during her final years at high school. Even after brief forays into the worlds of hairdressing and television, not even the celebrities she encountered could sway her interest away from a career in travel.

Her first job in the industry was with tour company Globus/Cosmos, where she spent five years honing her skills as part of the reservations team. During this time she traveled extensively; exploring Western Europe, Asia and the Pacific islands.

When not busy helping our passengers with their additional travel arrangements, Leani can be found, worshiping the sun at the beach, shopping or relaxing back with a mudpack watching the latest comedy release.

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Karen Hollands

Inside Sales Trade Executive - UK & Europe

Karen's passion for travel started early in life. When she left school, her first job was working in a boarding school high up in the mountain town of Crans-Montana, Switzerland. This started her love affair with mountains, travelling and adventure.

Since then, she worked for British Airways for over 15 years in various roles – mainly within corporate communications and the London Gatwick press office. After leaving British Airways, Karen lived in Virginia, USA with her family for 4 years. Returning back to the UK, Karen then worked for a Canadian luxury train operator, before joining Aurora Expeditions.

Karen's motto is ‘I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list!’

Karen has four children, and her parental advice amounts to ‘ travel – go and see the world!’

When not travelling or working, you can find Karen clay shooting, paddle boarding along the River Wey, horse riding in the Surrey Hills, or just walking and enjoying the beautiful countryside she is lucky to call home.

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Justine Bornholdt

Assistant Expedition Leader & Expedition Coordinator

Antarctica The Arctic Scotland Greenland

Life abroad for Justine began on the island of Papua New Guinea a few weeks after birth. Returning to New Zealand, her time was spent enjoying the outdoors and surrounding ski fields. Sydney became home in 2001, where she worked in customer service and managerial roles in the corporate hospitality industry.

Yearning for what she desired most, Justine started working for the UK travel company, Trailfinders as a consultant. During that time her knowledge of geography grew, and with her dedication to sales and customer service, she was rewarded complimentary overseas travel.

With the travel bug now in full swing, she spent the next three years living in Vancouver and the UK. Her dream to travel extensively through Europe was fulfilled before accepting a role in London as a product and operations cruise consultant for MSC Cruises.

Returning to Sydney in 2014, Justine studied marketing and joined the team at Aurora Expeditions. Her roles within Aurora Expeditions have extended from the sales and client services department to joining the Expedition Team as a Hotel Manager in 2016 and changing to an Assistant Expedition Leader role in 2018. Now in her fourth polar season (Antarctica and the Arctic), she’ll not only be making sure you’re comfortable on board but you’ll find her driving Zodiacs and accompanying you on shore also.

Justine is an avid hiker, dancer and enjoys photography. When she’s not working on the ship or travelling the world, you can find her living a Caribbean lifestyle on the Yucatán Peninsula of Southern Mexico.

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Jennifer Mills

Trade Marketing Executive

After graduating with an Advanced Diploma of Tourism and a Bachelor of Marketing, Jennifer knew she wanted to work in the Tourism Industry though, the question remained, what sector? Having a passion for travel, Jennifer went on a 12 night cruise to the South Pacific and fell in love with cruising.

Over the past 5 years Jennifer has worked for both cruise wholesalers and retailers, more recently working as a Marketing Executive with Cruise1st before joining the Aurora team in 2017. With her family being of European background, Jennifer lived in France for the earlier part of her childhood, before calling Australia home. From a young age Jennifer has had the travel bug from visiting family in Europe to spending her 21st birthday in Las Vegas!

Jennifer was drawn by Aurora’s passion for environmental considerations and how the company is redefining expedition cruising - she’s excited for the new challenges that lay ahead.

When Jennifer’s not at work she’s catching up with friends and baking cakes!

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Jane Bell

Office Administrator

Jane started her career in Property Management but soon developed a love of travel when she travelled throughout Canada and the USA. After a break from the workforce to have her three gorgeous children, Jane soon felt the need to re-join the ranks of the workers.

She initially joined the Aurora Expeditions team in a casual position and was such an enthusiastic worker, with a great eye for detail, that she took up the offer of a permanent part-time position in the busy accounts department. Since late 2012 she has moved to the challenging role of Office Administrator which involves working in many areas of the company. Her most important task is organising manifests and liaising information for Ship Operations.

Jane can't wait until her children are old enough while she indulges in her passion for travel. She loves bears and realised her dream when she travelled on the Spitsbergen voyage in 2011.

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Sary Oum

Website Manager

Sary’s first ever travelling experience was setting off for two months after finishing her degree at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). She spent a month travelling in Asia before heading onto another month in Europe. She’ll never forget the overwhelming sensation of stepping out of the chaotic airport in Kuala Lumpur, being hit by the suffocating humidity and approached from all directions by taxi drivers wanting business. It was a foreign environment than what she was used to. She was hooked. Since then, she’s aimed to travel at least once a year and has since travelled to 23 countries across 4 continents and over 45 cities – some visited multiple times.

When she’s not travelling, you can find Sary catching up with friends, trying out new restaurants, watching the latest blockbusters or watching a David Attenborough documentary.

Sary has spent the last 8 years doing marketing in the IT industry but has found her true calling at Aurora Expeditions; combining her love of travel, animals and marketing in one.

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Victoria Primrose

Head of Marketing & Product - Global

Joining Aurora Expeditions with over 13-years’ marketing experience, Victoria Primrose has been appointed as Global Head of Marketing & Product. Leading the company’s marketing and product strategy, Victoria’s background includes roles at several global companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Lindt and British comparison site moneysupermarket.com.

Prior to joining Aurora Expeditions, Victoria was a director at MacMorgan Next Practice Marketing consultancy, where she consulted for various companies including Shopper Media Group.

Victoria will leverage her extensive consumer marketing skills and experience working internationally to help drive customer engagement and enhance the customer experience at Aurora Expeditions across key markets, including Australia, UK and the USA.

Outside of work, Victoria’s absolute passion is travelling having visited over 50 countries and 7 continents.

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Tomas Holik

Operations Manager

Tomas was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After earning his Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Ecology he underwent a winter in Antarctica at the Polish Research Base of Henry Arctowski, as part of his PhD. Scholarship.

Since 1993 he has been involved in the Expedition Cruising industry, leading expeditions, on board various vessels, bound to Antarctica, the Arctic, Amazon River, as well as Iceland and Greenland. His broad experience in these areas has seen him lead the field in operations, itineraries and logistics for premium expedition cruise companies around the world.

During his career, Tomas has also supported as well as managed logistics for several Antarctic Research Bases as well as provided assistance to the Antarctic Heritage Trust, and the South Georgia Heritage Trust, in between others.

In his free time he enjoys sailing his yacht in the River Plate, rowing, playing Tennis and cooking for friends.

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Talia Schwartzman

Trade Sales Executive

Talia developed her passion for travel when she was 16 and took her first steps across the globe from Montreal, Canada to Adelaide, Australia on her own as an exchange student.  Years later, Talia pursued this interest and studied in travel and tourism and worked in Montreal in reservations for Club Med and then as a flight attendant for Sunwing Airlines.  Fast forward to 2009 when a spur of the moment decision landed her on a plane back to Australia, where she eventually settled permanently.  In Australia, she worked with cultures from around the world on a student exchange program, then fell back into her passion in the travel industry and made her way over to Aurora Expeditions in August of 2016.  Talia was drawn to Aurora for its unique product and amazing experiences and loves that she can be a part of making the experience of a lifetime for our customers.

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Skye Marr-Whelan

Operations Coordinator & Zodiac Driver

Skye’s passion for Antarctica was sparked when she was 16 years old during an Aurora Expeditions trip to Heard Island and East Antarctica on the icebreaker, Kapitan Khlebnikov. During the one-month voyage, she experienced the wild Southern Ocean, visits to emperor penguin rookeries and the delight of working with Russians.

Graduating from Sydney University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Health Science in Rehabilitation Counselling, Skye was hired by Aurora Expeditions as ship’s Hotel Manager. In the 11 years since, she’s worked in both Antarctica and the Arctic, taking on the role of Assistant Expedition Leader. She’s worked in Scotland, Norway and the European Arctic from Svalbard to Greenland and Iceland. Skye was especially fortunate to work in the Russian Far East, and lists as a highlight Aurora Expedition’s inaugural (and only) North East Passage voyage, setting off from Murmansk and continuing across the top of Russia, Siberia, then down the Kamchatka coast and through the Kuril Islands.

As well as working for Aurora Expeditions, Skye has crewed on her partner’s two expedition support yachts, Australis and Philos, mainly in Antarctica, South Georgia and the Chilean Channels. She’s worked closely with scientists, documentary film makers (including the BBC, National Geographic, Discovery Channel and Red Bull), extreme sports athletes and the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust.

Skye's logged a season as crew in the Caribbean and travelled to Canada, Mexico, Tahiti and throughout South America. Her love of the ocean and wild places, and ability to perform under challenging circumstances has helped her develop a tremendous respect for nature in all its moods, whether it be polar, equatorial and anywhere in between. Skye is passionate about travelling, experiencing new adventures and meeting interesting people. And though her list of future trips is long, for the moment Skye is enjoying the wonderful adventure of motherhood and delighted to be working as Operations Coordinator for Aurora Expeditions.

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Ross Avenell

Inside Sales Trade Executive - The Americas

Ross joins Aurora Expeditions with 15 years of travel and tourism experience both in Australia and North America. Whilst completing his MBA from Edith Cowan University, Ross established his own boutique travel agency in Canada, which focused on sending clients on wild and crazy adventures. Having recently sold his business, he is now utilising his experience to assist us grow the Aurora Expeditions brand in the Americas.

Living in Vancouver, Canada with his wife and young family, Ross is happy to be based in beautiful British Columbia where both himself and his family can take advantage of all the adventurous activities that B.C has to offer.

Ross is primarily responsible for building valuable relationships with the travel trade and assisting them with learning more about our unique product. Polar Tourism is a unique vertical within the Adventure Tourism portfolio, Ross is excited to share his enthusiasm for expedition cruising with the travel trade at large.

Passionate about Adventure Tourism, he is excited to be starting his next career adventure with Aurora Expeditions.

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Robert Halfpenny

Managing Director

Robert took over the reins at Aurora Expeditions as Managing Director in February 2017, after 6 years as Director, Global Account Development & Asia Pacific with Rocky Mountaineer. Robert brings over 25 years experience of senior management in the travel industry in both North America and Australia, having overseen sales and marketing throughout Asia, South Africa, Australia and the New Zealand markets. After experiencing first-hand an Aurora voyage onboard the Polar Pioneer, Robert will be leading Aurora Expeditions into their next chapter with a commitment the original philosophies Aurora is known for.

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Noeme Capuno

Finance Manager

Noeme has been working as an accountant for over 17 years in a variety of roles including an accounting firm, restaurant chain, Korean Manufacturer and Export company (all Philippines based), Finance Manager for Admerex Limited - an Australian ASX listed company specialising in Receivables Management and Credit Risk with offices in London, Dubai, Singapore, Manila, Atlanta and Sydney (Head Office).  Noeme managed Admerex’s centralised global operations’ finance functions in the Philippine office.

Noeme has travelled regularly to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia and decided to live in Australia in 2009.

In 2009 she was Finance Manager for Montessori Academy - Australia’s largest Montessori methodology Childcare Group. In addition to the accounting and finance function of childcare centres, the Montessori Academy role also carried the responsibility for the accounting and finance function of the group’s property development and construction companies and investor companies.

Noeme joined Aurora Expeditions in September 2014 as a Finance Manager and is really enjoying the excitement and interesting nature of the travel world which Aurora Expeditions offers.

Noeme love sports and the beach. She loves watching rugby league, union and cricket Big Bash League and ODI. You will see Noeme with her family surfing at Maroubra Beach every weekend of the year.

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Anne Oyasaeter

Assistant Expedition Leader, Land Tour Coordinator (Arctic)

Scotland The Arctic Patagonia Costa Rica Panama

Anne arrived from Norway to Australia in 1987 and after a few years of doing odd jobs such as working in racing stables, cafes and a taxi-radio room, she began a job in travel at an agency specialising in Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, Russia, the Baltic's and Antarctica. Anne soon realized this was the perfect job for her and stayed there for 12 years. During this time she travelled extensively through Scandinavia as well as trips to Iceland, Greenland and Antarctica. Highlights (apart from any trip to Norway of course) was a two-week cruise to Antarctica from Puerto Mondt to Ushuaia and an eight-day cruise to Greenland around Disco Bay on the west coast.

After taking a break from working life to look after her fantastic son Olav and beloved dogs/pets, she joined Aurora Expeditions in the Sydney office and loved working across their products. But before too long, Norway was calling Anne home and she is thrilled to still be involved with Aurora and assisting with all things Arctic and beyond.

In her spare time Anne enjoys family life, great friends, a good book, food and wine and is always looking forward to her next trip away!

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Chris Bryan

Reservations Assistant

Chris moved to Australia after living an exciting 18 year chapter in the city that never sleeps, Hong Kong. Having come from a blended European family and living in such a unique part of the world, he explored most of Asia, Europe and Africa's best kept secrets before settling down in sunny Sydney to study. The relocation to Australia didn't change this adventurous spirit though, and a rewarding career in travel followed shortly after graduating from Macquarie University 5 years ago. Since then, Chris built up a wealth of experience as a retail travel agent before joining an experiential boutique Asian travel operator. This led to further exploration of Cambodia, Thailand and extensive exploration through Japan.

On weekends, you are likely to bump into Chris taking photos in Sydney's bustling backstreets, caring for his bonsai tree collection or cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

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Chantelle Argent

Direct Sales Executive

With 20 years' experience in expedition cruising as well as travel to Africa, Chantelle has been fortunate enough to travel to some of the most remote, wildlife and historically rich destinations. From king penguins to polar bears, mountain gorillas to puffins and Wandjinas in the Kimberley to Skara Brae in the Orkney’s, she is thankful to be given access to some of the most amazing places on the planet. With a passion for art and history, Chantelle would love to be able to spend most weekends at art galleries and museums, but her twin boys don’t quite yet share the love!

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Carolyn Wiseman

Expedition Team Senior Manager

When Carolyn hit the backpacker trail straight out of high school it was the start of a 10-year adventure that saw her swim in the Dead Sea, sail down the Nile in a Felucca, and complete her Australian pilgrimage to Gallipoli in Turkey. The travel bug certainly bit hard: she's now traversed all seven continents, often with her UK husband and kids in tow.

Based on Sydney's northern beaches, Carolyn spent a decade overseeing the HR function at Surf Life Saving NSW before joining Aurora Expeditions. She's a true 'people person' who thrives on developing meaningful relationships and helping others succeed and grow. She's the person who ensures your expedition team is highly skilled, supremely qualified and dedicated to creating magical moments.

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Carla Pecorella-Balzan

Trade Sales Executive

Carla has had a passion for travel for many years studying tourism sales and operations through to management at University.

Her first job in the industry was working for retail agency group Harveyworld travel learning skills and travelling to exciting destinations such as Western Europe, New Zealand and Vietnam. She enjoys putting together itineraries and travel arrangements for her clients and loves learning and recommending new and exiciting places to visit.

On her spare time Carla loves going for coastal walks and heading to the beach with family and friends.

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Anthony Flores

Regional Business Development Manager

Anthony joins the Aurora Expeditions team with almost 20 years’ experience in the travel industry. His love of travel grew in his early 20's when he entered the travel industry as a retail travel agent. He has had many roles over the years and has been lucky enough to travel to many amazing destinations. Anthony loves the excitement and anticipation of exploring new destinations and loves to share the stories of his adventures. In his spare time, Anthony loves spending time with his three daughters and somehow manages to squeeze in the odd game of golf. Anthony’s motto is "If you want to do something bad enough, then make time to do it. Life’s short, so make the most of it."

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Ania Baranek

Expedition Team Coordinator

Ania became fascinated by the idea of travelling when she saw her first Lonely Planet episode on the Discovery Channel as a teenager. She has dreamt about combining her passion for travelling with an inspiring job ever since.

The urge to explore the world prompted her to study Spanish language and literature at university. Since then she has lived in Poland, Spain and Canada and she has worn many hats working as a language teacher, translator and a city guide in her home town of Krakow, Poland.

After several years of a semi-nomadic life, inlcuding roadtrips through the Rocky Mountains, West Coast of the US and the Australian Outback, she decided to settle in Sydney, trading her beloved Polish mountains for the Australian sun.

She decided to pursue the job opportunity at Aurora Expeditions after she found out that it was founded by Greg Mortimer, a man whose story she admired a year before while visiting the Trailblazers Exhibition at the Australian Museum. She believes there are no coincidences in life.

As a expeditions team coordinator she is excited to work with people that most of the people only read books about.

Outside work, Ania finds joy in listening to people’s stories and hearing different languages. She enjoys everything outdoors, in particular hiking and snowboarding. She writes a Polish blog about Australia.

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Amanda Till

Expedition Team Manager

The Arctic

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, working as an Assistant Expedition Leader and Expedition Leader for 10 years with Aurora Expeditions. She also works in the High Arctic, and developed a passion for the northern climes, including Norway, Scotland and Greenland. Amanda has been onboard since the inception of our Papua New Guinea voyages, and loves the friendliness and wonders of this part of the world. Her desire is to share the life changing experiences of the Antarctic, Arctic and other remote wildernesses, and the joys and challenges of marine travel.

Armed with accounting qualifications, a diploma in photography, and marine qualifications, Amanda has a wide array of skills. She has worked in a variety of fields, including marine import and export, yacht production and yacht racing. She was part of the crew on the 'Survivor' television series in Panama and Vanuatu and 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.

Since the birth of her daughter, Amanda utilises her comprehensive knowledge of Aurora’s destinations and style, by managing and developing the expedition team… and living somewhat vicariously through their adventures!

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Alex Fayan

Business Development Manager - NSW/ACT & NZ

Alex caught the travel bug from a very early age. Growing up in Belgium, her family made the most of being so close to everywhere and took her on numerous holidays. She was instantly hooked and up to this day, still spends her life looking forward to her next trip.

She lived a few years in the UK where she studied Tourism and had a stint with PR – she loves her puns!

She then spent the next few years working for Club Med in the UK Head office, as well as a few months in one of their resorts in France, putting together conferences and incentives and sometimes escorting groups around the world.

Looking for ‘a sunnier version of London’, she landed in Sydney and has not looked back since! After Translation studies, she missed travel too much and worked for a wholesaler promoting Europe and the South Pacific for over 5 years.

Ready for a new challenge, she joined the Aurora family in November 2017 and is very excited to tell everyone about our stunning and unique destinations!

When she is not at work, she loves to spend time catching up with friends, looking for unusual fun activities, or working out behind the ‘barre’!

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Heidi Bullough

Product Manager - Ships & Trekking

Heidi was fortunate enough to start her travelling adventures from a young age, with her father working in the travel industry (as well as many school holidays “working” in his office).  Her first independent trip was to Japan for 3 months as a teenager, and since then has spent much of her time travelling or planning her next adventure.

Her first professional role in tourism was a specialist in car rental and leasing, working a variety of roles from reservations to a pricing analyst.  She then worked as a Product Coordinator specialising in North America, Africa and the Middle East, before landing the role of North America Product Manager, which she did across two global businesses.  In addition to North America, she was heavily involved in worldwide small ship cruising.  She has a love for adventure travel, not just her own experiences, but opening up new destinations and opportunities for others.

She got her first job in travel at a crucial and difficult time for the industry, July 2001.  Though an uncertain time for travel, she was lucky enough to be a part of a small company who valued their people above all else.  After working for larger businesses, she’s happy to come full circle and be working again at a company who views their people as their best asset. She’s excited to be a part of Aurora’s bright future.

In her spare time, Heidi can be found volunteering for the Rural Fire Service, rehearsing for amateur theatre shows or enjoying time with her young family.

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Emma Abdou

Reservations Consultant

Emma has a true passion for travel and the travel industry. After completing a Bachelor of Tourism Management in 2010, she then commenced her career working as a retail travel agent and in wholesale travel before joining Aurora Expeditions. Emma has travelled extensively throughout Europe, New Zealand, North and South America including Patagonia, and Antarctica with an ever-expanding travel wish list. She loves assisting her clients to create their trip of a lifetime!

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Edith Beaudoin

Sales Director - North America

My first solo exploration trip, I was 9 years old. Armed with my tiny backpack filled with a short rope, a bandaid and a peanut butter sandwich, I left a note to my sleeping parents and went to explore the world. Well, for a few hours. A little over 10 years later, I had a plane ticket in hand, a bigger backpack and I was hugging my parents for what we thought would be a few months apart. I stayed almost two years backpacking alone in South America, doing odd jobs when I had no more money to continue to explore and learn.

I've settled being relatively quiet in the 'adult working world' in International Trade in Quebec and later in Tourism - which I love - in Vancouver! Last year the itch was too great and again, I left for a new adventure for one year, helping poor regions in Central America. After talking with Robert, he sent me the Greg Mortimer launch video and the co-founder said 'Each adventure starts with that first step outside the comfort zone... and there's a little tingling feeling that goes with that.' I knew that Aurora Expeditions was a match for my personality and passion! Looking forward to get Aurora known in North America!

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Craig Upshall

Sales Director UK & Europe

Craig joins the team with over twenty years of global experience in the travel and tourism industry. For the past seven years he was employed with Rocky Mountaineer as Business Manager for Europe, Middle East, India and Africa.

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Dianna Schinella

Sales Director - Asia Pacific

Dianna's passion for travel started in an unusual way when her parents took her on 6-week European holiday, kicking and screaming, at the age of 13. Just like any rebellious teenager, she refused to travel with her parents for such an extended period of time. However, she was quickly drawn to the wonders of travel and since then is grateful for the experience she had early on in life which eventually led her to work in travel.

Graduating from Sydney University with a degree in political economics and languages, Dianna worked for SBS television before venturing into the travel industry and has never looked back. She worked for a South Pacific tourism board, coach/river cruise tour operator, rail wholesaler and recently joined the Aurora team in 2017 bringing with her 15 years of Sales and Marketing experience.

Dianna's love of travel has taken her across the globe and includes highlights such as living in Paris, getting up close and personal with hyenas in South Africa, sleeping under the stars in the Sahara desert, hiking Machu Picchu for her honeymoon and bobsledding with an Olympian in Whistler, Canada.

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, long coastal walks on the northern beaches of Sydney, culinary exploration and dreaming of her next adventure, with the Arctic and Antarctica being high on her must do list!

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Dominic Sasse

Sales & Reservations Manager

For years now, travel has been part of Dominic's life. Ever since his first independent trip to Japan, he's always sought out new experiences and adventures. This quest has taken him to all 7 continents, with every trip bringing back bigger and better memories. From lion walks in Zambia to camping at Oktoberfest, he can proudly say I'm always up for something new. Antarctica is his final frontier, so you could say he fits perfectly at home in the Aurora Expeditions' team!

Dominic will be leading the Reservations and ATAS team, helping our passengers with all their expeditions needs.

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