Staff

Born in the Netherlands and growing up in a small coastal town, Ab started bird watching at a very young age. Watching and counting birds while migrating along the Dutch coast is one of his favorite activities. Later he started to survey breeding birds in the dunes around his hometown Noordwijk, wrote several reports and advised landowners on how to protect the breeding birds.

After graduating with a diploma in Nature and Landscaping, he worked for the Dutch Royal Family for over 15 years.  He got his International Tree Worker Certificate and started his own landscaping company. He also used his climbing skills to help with several research projects, ringing Barn Owls and Tawny Owls.

After travelling and bird watching all over Europe, Ab started to guide small private groups to good birding places in Europe, USA, parts of Africa and Asia, using local bird guides and staying in local places. In his hometown Noordwijk, Ab was a volunteer crew member on a lifeboat with the Dutch KNRM (Royal Dutch Lifeboat Association) for over 10 years.  He did his training in the Netherlands, and Scotland, with the Dutch Coastguard and the Dutch Navy.  He loved to be out on the North Sea in bad weather conditions during SAR operations and training days.

Since 2015, Ab works part-time as a bird guide on Expedition Ships and has made several trips to the Arctic and Antarctica.

Ana was born and raised on an island in the South of Brazil, and moved to Australia at the age of 24 where she graduated in Tourism and Hospitality Management. After 11 years working as a travel agent specialised in tailoring travel itineraries in the land Down Under, she moved to the Maldives to work in Retail, an industry that gave her the opportunity to connect with people from different parts of the world, learn new cultures and establish new friendships, which she loves.

Her deep passion for travelling has taken her, as a solo female traveller, to more than 103 countries to date, across all 7 continents. When she is not helping people solidify the memories of a holiday in a gift, you will find her exploring, as her ultimate dream is to visit all 195 countries the world has to offer.

Barbara was born in Austria and has always had a sincere passion for nature and mountaineering. Therefore, the biology study in Innsbruck fit perfectly to her interests. During her bachelor study program, she already worked for several scientific projects on cold ecosystems (Alpine region, Arctic) as well as the tropics (Central America). During this time, she developed a strong passion for the lives of animals, especially invertebrates.

She finished her Master of Science/Zoology with writing a thesis about a water bear species, a tiny resilient multicellular animal, living on the surface of glaciers. 

In 2012 the freshly graduated zoologist entered the world of tourism as a passionate nature guide and ever since joined many expedition cruises in cold regions (Arctic, Antarctica) and warmer climes (South America, Southeast Asia, Australasia, Oceania).

Carina was born in 1982 in Austria. She studied ecology and zoology in Salzburg, Austria and marine biology in Northern Ireland before she started wandering the world. In the coming years she worked as a dog sled guide in Arctic Norway and on Svalbard, guided whale watching tours in Iceland, and backpacked through South and Middle America for a year.

Her first experience of work on an expedition vessel in Antarctica in 2019 solidified her wish to continue working in the polar regions. Her main goal is to learn as much as possible about (marine) life in order to share her knowledge and enthusiasm. She is especially fond of marine invertebrates such as molluscs and crabs, and she can often be found rockpooling. Feel free to indicate any special wishes you have for the cooperation with Albatros Expeditions - special destinations you would like to work at, special areas of interest you would like to work with, etc.

Constantina was raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since she was a child she felt really fond of nature and animals. She was lucky to start a journey when she was very young around
South America that opened her world to different cultures and ways of life. After that journey she devoted to practice and teach meditation and breathing techniques. Since 2016 she has been living and working as a tour guide in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. Some of the tours include Tierra del Fuego National Park and the penguin colonies of Martillo Island. Due to the proximity of Ushuaia to the White Continent, the call to Antarctica was not long to come.

David has had a varied career as a geologist in some of the most remote parts of the world.  He grew up on the edge of the Scottish Highlands, leaving him with a lifelong love of wild places and a serious interest in rock.  He graduated in geology from Glasgow University and joined the British Antarc-tic Survey (BAS) as a geologist, working on the island of South Georgia for two long field seasons and gaining a PhD from Cambridge for his research. 
David rejoined BAS as a team leader, doing five more Antarctic expeditions: three in the Antarctic Peninsula and two in the Transantarctic Mountains.  He reached the South Pole, courtesy of the US Navy (but not by ship) and was awarded a Polar Medal in 1987. In the 1990s, he was Chief Geologist of an Arctic research organization based in Cambridge University. He managed frontier projects across the globe, with personal expeditions to Spitsbergen, Siberia, Sakhalin, Patagonia, and the Falklands.

Emma (Emmarentia) Hansen was born and raised in the stunning Lowveld area of Mpumalanga, South Africa, adjacent to Kruger National Park.

Growing up on a farm, wildlife, animals and nature have always played an integral part in her life. After a chance cruise in 1998, she switched careers and literally ran away to sea. Moving to Durban, where she

completed her commercial skipper’s ticket, she joined the large cruise liners operating in the Indian Ocean, as a Zodiac driver. In 2007, her move to ‘Small Ship Cruising’ as an Assistant Expedition Leader greatly

enlarged her geographical knowledge base and she is now a veteran of the globe, including the polar regions. “No matter how many times you visit, the polar trips knock you out. The fabulous scale of the Norwegian

landscape and the 24-hour daylight are like another world. In the Antarctic you see this amazing contrast between the bumbling behaviour of seals and penguins on land, versus their sheer grace in the water. You are surrounded by a landscape made entirely of water in liquid and solid forms and you are amazed at how beautiful that can be.”

“People often ask, ‘What’s your favourite destination?’ and that’s difficult. My answer is that there are three “g’s” - and then a fourth. There’s the gang (of staff), the guests and the geography. It’s my job to create the chemistry so all three coalesce, and when that happens then wherever we are, is great.”

Born and raised in Iceland, Fridrik moved permanently to Norway in his twenties. He initially moved to Svalbard in the High Arctic where he did a yearlong guide course in 2012/2013.

Upon completion Fridrik worked as a guide in the Arctic for several years, both on land and sea, everything from snowmobiling, skiing, and hiking to fast boats and expedition cruises. In
recent years he has focused exclusively on expedition cruising where he specializes in the polar regions.

Over the years he has taken on various roles, from a general naturalist guide to expedition leader. Fridrik is very passionate about guiding and outdoor nature experiences. In his private time, he loves to go hiking, camping, and skiing. He speaks fluent Icelandic, Norwegian, English, and German.

After travelling the world working in Asia, Oceania and South America in various environmental projects, Guillaume ended up in Antarctica as a wildlife monitor at Port Lockroy.

Spending four-month on this British base gave him the opportunity to learn a lot about the Antarctic Peninsula, and specifically about Penguins and other Antarctic birds.

Now a bird specialist, Guillaume has been working as an Ornithologist for two years, sharing his knowledge and experiences with Albatros Expeditions Guests.

Heidi hails from Finland where she started her guiding career in Finnish Laplandmore than 15 years ago. She has since worked in various roles in tourism, lived in Scotland, Italy, England, and Bali, and travelled extensively around the world. She spend the 2018-2019 Antarctic summer season working as a Base Leader at the Penguin Post office at Port Lockroy, where she lived on an island the size of a football pitch with four other people and 1500 Gentoo penguins for four months.

The following year she returned to Antarctica as an expedition guide and also spent another two months at Port Lockroy helping the team out. The past year she has lived in Eastern Lapland working as a project manager on a project related to an establishment of Finland’s 41st national park in January 2022

Jeff was born in Tianjin, a coastal city in China. His father, an explorer, took him on frequent travels since he was a young boy, igniting his passion for adventure. Growing up by the sea, he honed his watercraft skills, inspired by his surroundings.

As he grew older, Jeff immersed himself in ocean-related work, dedicating his time to expeditions and voyages. He has made multiple visits to the Antarctic and Arctic regions, gaining extensive knowledge about these polar areas. Alongside his expertise in polar regions, Jeff is well-versed in Asian culture, making conversations with him an opportunity to learn intriguing facts.

Originally a Professional action sports athlete for Nike ACG (BASE jump, Ice climbing, paragliding, climbing)  and a commercial helicopter pilot from France, Julien conducted several sports expeditions before he decided to establish in Oqaatsut, a small village of 29 inhabitants in North Greenland, with his Greenlandic wife and 3 kids, to live the life of a traditional hunter with his qajaq and 20 dogs. During the last 17 years, besides his job as a hunter/ fisherman, Julien logged 240 expedition days on the Inland ice and +1000 expedition days on the sea-ice by dogsled and skiing.

Since 2008 he has been the safety coordinator for several movie projects and scientific projects. In 2015 he decided to let extreme sports expeditions aside to focus more on tourism to share his knowledge and passion for Greenland culture, making lectures about Greenlandic dogs, dogsled and qajaq culture in North Greenland. He has since then worked for several major tour operators in Greenland and has guided tourists on boats, sailboats, kayaks, dogsled, scuba diving, climbing, ice-climbing, and paragliding. Julien speaks Kalaallisut (Greenlandic), French, and English. Currently learning Danish.

Kevin Burke was born in Baffin Island in Canada’s arctic.
He spent his childhood in variouslocations in northern Canada, settling in Churchill, Manitoba, on the western shore of Hudson Bay.
Churchill is known as the polar bear capital of the world where Kevin has worked for over 30 years as a tour guide/bear guard.

Kevin has worked on several cruises in the Arctic and Antarctic in many capacities from expedition leader to lead zodiac driver.

The ocean had always been part of Laura’s life. She started spending time on sailboats when she was a baby and she sailed around the world crossing several oceans when she was between 12 and 14 years old. That trip increased her passion for the ocean because she discovered its vastness and its importance on the earth’s dynamic. Born in France, she grew up in the French part of Canada where she did her bachelor’s degree in Geological Engineering. She became fascinated by the polar regions and wanted to continue her studies in that field. That is why, at the end of her degree, she left Canada for Tasmania, Australia, to do her Master's in Marine and Antarctic Science. Since 2018, she has been guiding in the polar region in both Antarctica and the Arctic.

Luis Turi is originally from Patagonia. Born in Neuquén city, in the north of Patagonia, he is now living in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego the last 25 years.

Luis loves the outdoors and nature, and really enjoy the work traveling in the wilderness, guiding interesting people in that amazing places. 

Luis has guided and traveled to many places, like Antarctica, Ladak in north India, Greenland, South America (Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Brazil, Argentina), and, of course, in the wonderful Patagonia. 

When he is not sailing or guiding, Luis is writing, developing inventions with scrap or planting trees in remote impated areas of Tierra del Fuego Island. 

Meet Magdalena, an adventurous polyglot and explorer with an insatiable passion for travel and the great outdoors. Her global odyssey has led her to call Brazil, Costa Rica, the UAE, the UK, and the USA home, with each destination enriching her understanding of the world and becoming fluent in five languages along the way.

Since 2017 Magdalena has been navigating the world's oceans. Her roles in the Leadership Team, as Expedition Guide and skilled Zodiac Driver have allowed her to explore and appreciate our planet from unique maritime perspectives, fostering her deep connection to the environment and its diverse inhabitants.

A blend of Austrian serenity (Gemutlichkeit) and German precision - Magdalena's upbringing has equipped her with a harmonious approach to leadership. In her spare moments, you'll
find her shredding the slopes, catching waves, or conquering peaks. Magdalena's multilingual prowess, boundless enthusiasm for exploration, and love for adventure are the driving forces behind her role at Albatros Expeditions. Join her on unforgettable journeys to the world's most remote destinations, where you'll discover the true essence of exploration and responsible travel.

Mariam is a conservator of Cultural Heritage and originally from the coast of Ushuaia, Argentina. She has a Masters in Preservation of Artifacts from Nautical Archeology and a prolific background in History of exploration and preservation of the historical sites. A multitude of opportunities have allowed her to pursue her passion for exploring the wilderness herself, as well as working as scientist on the field. Growing in Ushuaia, surrounded by mountains and great nature, Mariam has developed a deep love for the mountains and nowadays also works as Mountaineering Instructor for Guide Trainees. 

She is fluent in Spanish and English, understands French, and has worked as an expedition guide in the Patagonian Andes,  and Chilean Fjords.   Other expeditions have led her to the Alps, Central America Andes as well as working in logistics for adventure film crew in UK and Spain. During her spare time, Mariam is also an avid skiier and sports climber.

Originally from Korpo, in the southwestern Archipelago of Finland, Mikaela inherited her love and respect of nature and sea, from a long line of seafarers in her family. She started her career graduating as Radio Officer from Mariehamn Maritime Institute, working on merchant ships,  followed by ship´s purser on passenger ships . Slowly she gained seamiles and experience to follow her real dream:To become a professional yachtswoman on sailing yachts!

These yachts have taken her around the world several times, participating in races like the Volvo Ocean Race, Jacques Vabre and Jules Verne. Having spent so many miles and years on fast, extreme yachts, both in the Northern and Southern Hempishere, she now enjoyes being part of similar expeditions , although on somewhat slower ships.

Since 2009 she has been working as a tour guide, mainly in Europe and Africa, as well as zodiac driver in Svalbard and Greenland. When not enjoying her two favourite areas, the North and the South Pole, Mikaela enjoyes being at home on her small farm in Portugal, riding her horse or hiking in the Alentejo countryside.

Nick started his career in adventure travel working as a sailing instructor on a remote island in NW Scotland. Since then, he has travelled extensively around the world exploring the natural history of wilderness areas and travelling and working in remote locations, including Svalbard, Patagonia, the Canadian Rockies, the Indian Himalayas, Iceland and Arctic Norway, Sweden, Finland and Antarctica.

An accredited wilderness guide, he has led tours in a variety of disciplines from exploring wild cave systems and tracking Wolves to dogsledding expeditions and interpreting Arctic and Antarctic natural history. Nick studied Zoology and Countryside Management in the United Kingdom and, being endlessly inquisitive, has a broad interest in all natural science, including palaeontology, geology and geomorphology.

Phil hails from Catalina Island in California. Having been exposed to life on the water at an early age, Phil followed a life-long passion and graduated with a degree in Marine Ecology from UC Santa Barbara. During his time in the university, Phil began working as a kayak guide at California’s Channel Islands National Park as a sea cave kayak guide and naturalist. From that instant he was hooked on the capacity to share the natural world around him with others. He  stumbled upon expedition cruising world and began his first couple sea-going seasons in Southeast Alaska. He’s since worked for a number of seasons in Svalbard and the Antarctic Peninsula as a kayak master, lecturer, rifle handler, and zodiac driver.

Phil is an avid traveler outside of work and spends a lot of time on the road. In his opinion, time on the water is time well spent.

I'm a freelance photojournalist, photo instructor and expedition guide. For the last twelve years I've been working related to tourism around the world through my photographic practice. The multifaceted places I worked include the Dominican Republic, Chile, Andorra, Sri Lanka, the Patagonian region of my own country, Antarctica and the Arctic. In the last year and a half, I've been working exclusively in the polar regions, photo instructing, guiding and driving zodiacs. When on land I work in collaborative long-term documentary projects on
the spectrum of human-environmental right issues. I'm an outdoorsy passionate human being!

Renè Olsen grew up on the west coast of Norway, with the north sea, deep fjords and big mountains all around him, making him experience all the toughest nature has to offer allready from young age. He early on knew he wanted to be a guide outdoors and allready at age 16 did he's first guideschool.

He's later spent time guiding in the mountains as well on the sea in Norway and North America.

With he's time from the Norwegian army, experience from guiding on 3 continents, and also handling boat's on the Norwegian coast as a skipper, in Svalbard and on the mainland, he'll be sure to keep you safe and also entertain you, while out adventuring together.

Love and passion for great outdoors, adventurers, exploring our planet and taking the steps to  unknown has been key things for Sanna all her life. Since childhood traveling and being outdoors has been important part of her life but she really got started when she moved to Svalbard to study  in University Centre in Svalbard.

She has always been adventures person who likes natural environments and discover how our planet is working. She studied physical geography, glaciology and geology at the university. After her years in Svalbard she travelled around the world exploring the great outdoors, amazing wildlife and different cultures. Since living in the Arctic was not enough for her, she worked as a overwintering field guide in Halley research station for British Antarctic Survey.

After exploring Antartica, she travelled more in Africa to see its wildlife before she took her skies and skied across the Greenland ice sheet. She was the first Finnish female who skied to South Pole from the coast of the Antarctica. She likes to share her passion about outdoors and wildlife with others. Several years she has been expedition guide and zodiac driver on the ships mainly in the Arctic and Antarctica. When she has free time she is just travelling different parts of the world. Or, when ever she can, she wants to explore the world, climb mountains and glaciers, ski middle of nowhere, taking photos of wildlife or be on the water. Just flipping do it- is her motto.

Originally from Sergiev-Posad, in Russia, Slava studied in the Moscow University of Sports as a teacher of physical education, swimming teacher, rehabilitation, management of sports. Many of Slava’s shoes have been worn out in paths in Russia, Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, the Arctic and Antarctica, with 15 years of experience traveling the World as a photographer, writer, guide and translator. However, it was 2013 that defined his starting point in the cruise industry, when Slava had the opportunity to visit Antarctica on a sailboat. He then worked as an expedition guide in the Arctic and Antarctic Waters, peaking his interest for Polar History.

Known as photographer, travel writer, guide and translator in Russia, Slava often give lectures: How to travel the World, Under sails to Antarctic, Tierra del Fuego: journey on foot with a backpack, Wild life in Patagonia, How to survive in wild, Backpacker's life around the World, among other subjects.

Tamsin was born and raised in London but in 2009 moved to Revelstoke, a small mountain town in British Columbia. She loves adventure and all things outdoors. A skier in the winter, a paddler, hiker and motorcyclist in the summer. Her passion for adventure has taken her motorcycling through the Himalayas solo, river boating down the Amazon, staying with the Head Hunter Tribe in Borneo and traveling over glaciers in Alaska to name a few. She loves to learn and is interested in self development, photography, playing music and meeting people from all different areas of the world. Tamsin worked in remote areas in backcountry helicopter skiing & hiking, fishing and eco lodges and has been working in the polar regions since 2019. 

Werner Kruse is a well-seasoned traveller and an experienced filmmaker, photographer and expedition guide. He has worked on numerous international productions and produced travel documentaries, including wildlife and expedition documentaries in Africa. His film, The Boy from the Wild, premiered at the Royal Geographic Society in London as well as the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival in New York City. Currently the film is available on Amazon Prime Video. 

After completing his studies he travelled extensively, making documentaries all over the world. He explored places such as Petra, Machu Picchu, Great Barrier Reef andRapa Nui, Spitsbergen, Iceland as well as his favourites, the Hawaiian and Tahitian Islands. He is currently based in Cape Town, South Africa, working on TV shows, documentaries, commercials and corporate productions. He frequently travels abroad for various video and photographic assignments. 

Werner is extremely passionate about conservation, particularly wildlife and the ocean and supports various environmental causes. His work depicting Gentoo penguins in Antarctica was featured by National Geographic, and his annual return to Antarctica remains a highlight for him. His travels have taken him to 112 countries,
enabling him to capture a richly diverse spectrum images.