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.
