Staff

Founder of USH Magazine, Alejandro has been working on several projects connecting the communities from all over the world with valuable content through his Magazine, Social Media and all the marketing tools available so people can have access to great and motivational stories.  
He’s started as a Graphic Designer, traveled to Colorado, USA, where he worked at The Aspen Times among other publications. After some Awards on his work, he decided to drive a Kombi throughout 14 countries to Mar del Plata, ARG., he’s home town. Tire of been part of a superficial media world decided to start his own production agency and try to make a difference. Now with thousands of followers and readers, the concept of International Culture Collective makes more sense, publications like National Geographic and BBC are participating in he’s projects, also WWF, PEW among other organizations.  
Now he is on a new journey, sharing new stories and experiences with you, so you can become the next story. Find his work at the library on board.

Anne Dorthe has a Double master’s degree in Environmental Science from University of Copenhagen and University of Vienna. Anne speaks Danish, English and German fluently - together with Norwegian and Swedish on an understandable level. She has been working with tourism since 2007, where she spent the past 5 summers and a winter in Greenland as a destination manager and coordinator on expedition cruises along the Greenland coast. Today she resides in Denmark working as an environmental consultant in Copenhagen

Besides Greenland, Anne Dorthe lived in Greece, Thailand, New Zealand and Austria where either work or her studies on environmental science took her on new adventures – from being an activity and fitness instructor in Thailand to exploring the beautiful nature in New Zealand, and studying the impacts of pesticides in vineyard soils in Austria. Her focus is on contaminated soils and groundwater where remediation measures are the action to secure a cleaner environment towards human health and the ecosystem itself. 

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).

Chloe was born in China. Her thirst to see the world lead her to work on international cruise ships in 2011, where she developed a passion for retail. When not on a ship, Chloe enjoys travelling,snorkeling and road trips around the world.

Christina, also known as Tina was born and raised in the South of Germany where she learned to ski, hike and climb from an early age onwards. She loves nature and the outdoors. To make a career out of her passion, Tina decided to study Sport Events Management and focused on Adventure Expeditions. After finishing her degree, she decided to move to the Arctic, where she worked as a dogsled and hiking guide for eight months. However, penguins have always been her favorite animals. Penguins and the fascinating landscape are the reasons why Tina also joins Albatros in Antarctica, where she is working as a First Aid Respondent. In the Arctic Tina is on board as Hiking and Expedition Guide. 

Daniel’s thirst to see the world lead him to be a seaman. He graduated from Taiwan Ocean University, with a major in merchant marine. Daniel has worked on ships since 2010. For four years Daniel worked on container ships, then another two years on well-known cruise lines as navigator, assistant safety and training officer. Now he is working as an Expedition Guide / Mandarin Interpreter in Antarctica and the Arctic.

Outside of work, he enjoys swimming, snorkeling, and driving luxury yachts near Taiwan’s coast line. Daniel also volunteers as a guide in a maritime museum, sharing the collection of historic vessels including steam-powered boats and warships with visitors. He recently started learning Spanish.

For over twenty years, David has been involved in the Arctic expedition and travel business. To date he has led, organized or participated in more than three hundred Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, trips and projects. In that time he has traveled thousands of miles by dog sled, ski, snowmobile, boat, kayak, ship, foot and most recently by mountain bike; the first person ever to cross Baffin Island by fat tire bike. He has completed nineteen successful expeditions through the famous Northwest Passage and guided over sixty trips to the polar bear capital of the world – Churchill, Manitoba. David has been recognized by the Explorers Club and was recently honored by becoming a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society.

David has traveled on many ship-based expeditions to Antarctica working as part of an expedition team providing interpretive guiding, zodiac driving (licensed) kayak guiding and general expedition experience. In addition to Antarctic expedition ship experience, he has guided on more than twenty five Arctic ship expeditions. Responsibilities have included being in charge of the firearms on board, driving zodiacs, leading shore excursions, lecturing and general expedition team duties and responsibilities.

After living in Arctic Canada for more than twenty years, David is now based near Ottawa in Canada.

Diego is an active birder, naturalist guide and professional photographer. He grew up in Buenos Aires, and as an enthusiastic member of Aves Argentinas (BirdLife in Argentina), he spends many days in assorted trips in search of birds all over Argentina and other destinations.

After traveling through Latin America, North America and Europe, getting to know the diverse cultures and landscapes, he finally chose Patagonia as the place to develop his interests in constant touch with nature.

Naturalist Guide, licensed Trekking Guide and certified First Responder, he has worked for more than four years as a resident staff of Los Glaciares National Park, Patagonia. He has developed and participated in many conservation projects in Santa Cruz

Province and in local schools and communities. He teaches birdwatching courses all along South Patagonia and does volunteer work for the NGOs that seeks to protect the environment and educate young generations on a sustainable way of life in southern Patagonia.

Since 1998 Diego has based in El Chaltén at the foot of Mt. Fitz Roy, and leads trekking, birding, and photographic trips in Patagonia, Antarctica and the Arctic.

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.”

Originally from the Northeastern United States, Gaby is a guide and outdoor educator with a passion for introducing people to the world’s most beautiful and unique places. She is a keen hiker, climber, paddler, and skier and has travelled extensively in search of the next great adventure.

Gaby has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and environmental studies from Hamilton College and is currently completing a master’s degree in outdoor education at the University of Edinburgh. Her academic interests are in phenomenology, existentialism, meteorology, glaciology, education, and the history of mountaineering and exploration. Gaby speaks English and American Sign Language, conversational Spanish, and broken Danish.

When not with Albatros Expeditions, you can find Gaby guiding on glaciers in Alaska, freelance writing, travelling, or in the backcountry learning alongside her students on remote wilderness expeditions.

Gregers has 25 years of experience as an airline pilot, including a year stationed at Thule Airbase, located on Greenland’s northwest coastline. He is fluent in Danish and English.  He shares a deep fascination for the Arctic region’s people, spectacular nature, wildlife and the old polar explorers.

In 2014, Gregers was funded by the Danish Ministry of Education to write a book for Danish schoolchildren about Greenland and the Arctic. These interests and his desire to better understand the Arctic and Antarctic, inspired Gregers to open a polar school for Danish schoolchildren. Through this program, he travels Denmark, visiting schools and sharing his innovative education about our polar regions. Gregers has traversed Greenland on skis and together with his friend, they were the first Danes to walk on skis to the South Pole.

Heidi started her career in the travel industry a decade ago as a safari guide in Finnish Lapland where she studied her bachelor degree in business and tourism research. She has since lived in the English countryside, spend seven months exploring Australia and studied international project management in Italy and South East Asian studies in Indonesia. She fell in love with the Scottish Highlands through books when she was a teenager and finally moved to Scotland 2013 where she studied master degree in International Marketing and worked the next five years for Scottish and Irish tour operators exploring both countries to her heart’s content.
She has always loved adventures and seeing the world so when she was offered an opportunity to work as a Base Leader in the historical British base Port Lockroy in Antarctic Peninsula for four months she didn’t hesitate to take it. Heidi lived on an island the size of a football pitch with four other people and 1500 Gentoo penguins for the Antarctic summer 2018-19.

I was born in Kyushu, Japan. I majored in the Faculty of Geo Environmental Science at university. Natural geography major course (meteorology, topography, astronomy, Geology, Glaciology, Seismology, Regional Geography, Hydrology, Vegetation Geology). I went to research fields in Japan and fields around the world.

In Iceland, I did research on volcanic topography and glacier topography. In Greenland, I did research on glacier topography & geology and settlement geography.

I need mountain climbing technology to investigate mountain glaciers, so I belonged to the Tokyo Mountains Alliance to learn about mountain climbing technology. I climbed Mont Blanc, Kilimanjaro, McKinley and Aconcagua, the highest peaks of the five major continents.

Taking advantage of the above experience and knowledge, I have been a tour agent for travel agents as a mountain nature guide for around 25

years through the four seasons.

In addition, I am currently a part-time lecturer at three universities and elementary and junior high schools.

I listen to the message from nature and lecture that it coexists with nature. I will use the experience and knowledge to the participating customers, we will do the best hospitality to get the impression and satisfaction.

Jamie is a marine ecologist and expedition leader, who spends as much time as possible in 
Earth’s most spectacular ecosystems.  After two years overwintering with British Antarctic Survey on South Georgia from 2004, Jamie has been full time on expedition ships across the globe, logging over 370,000 miles and 2850 days on ships at sea, including 221 expedition voyages.  Jamie presents on marine and polar wildlife, global-scale ecology and human ecological footprints, and has written for magazines and websites around the world.  Jamie has dived and free-dived from under the ice at the North Pole to the Antarctic, and has logged 1700 dives.  He is father to twenty-year old Alex.

Jon was born in Copenhagen but moved to the deep Swedish forests at a young age. Jon´s passion for a life outdoors made him a captain in the Royal Danish Army before he resigned his commission and started his own adventure travel company in

Sweden.

Showing people from around the globe how to thrive in nature and enjoy a simple life has been his job for 10 years and has taken him on journeys across the globe.

Jon is native in Danish and Swedish, does guided tours for Norwegian groups, and is fluent in English.

Kim wanted to be a marine biologist since she was six growing up in North Carolina. She moved to Alaska for graduate school, and after obtaining her Masters degree, realized she had fallen in love with polar regions and never left. She has worked many seasons up in the Arctic Ocean as a marine biologist on research ships, where she studied the invertebrate communities in the Chukchi Sea. She has also worked as a cold water diver around Alaska, studying underwater organisms in the Gulf of Alaska and along the Aleutian Island chain.                                                                 

Currently, Kim works as a marine biologist  in Homer, AK where she studies paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) and how it affects shellfish, forage fish, and predator fish.                                                                                              

Outside of the ocean, Kim enjoys back country skiing, hiking, exploring, and traveling with her husband Martin.

Born and raised in Greenland, Laali left for college to study service and tourism at Cold College in Odense, Denmark. She has worked in the tourism industry for 10 years, in Greenland during summer seasons as an Arctic guide and spends much of her winter months traveling abroad for work and pleasure.

She has worked as a lead guide, as a coordinator for over 20 guides and manages boat and helicopter logistics. Laali has both worked on land as the responsible for coordinating shoreside activities for cruise ships, and on board of three different cruise ships sailing in East, South and West Greenland and have been through Northwest passage.

Laali enjoys exploring the world and spends much of her free time traveling and working internationally, often as a guide/translator in South Africa as well as in Greece. As sports and fitness have always been a big part of Laali´s life, she is also a certificated fitness instructor, personal trainer and nutritionist.

Lisa has over 20 years’ experience in the polar regions through work adventures ranging from fishing, mining to tourism: commercial fishing King Salmon in the Bering Sea; navigating thru remote tundra across Canada’s Arctic gold prospecting; assisting mountaineering expeditions to summit Denali; working at a basecamp facilitating tourism and research below the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica.

In her personal time, she finds herself hiking though the Arctic mountain ranges, travelling to northern Siberia to learn the culture of the Evans Peoples, on surf expeditions on the coast of British Columbia and backcountry ski touring from her home in the Selkirk Mountains. She just completed a master’s degree in Polar Law, having studied in Iceland, Greenland and Norway. Topics included; Antarctic Law and Policy, Law of the Sea, Societies and Cultures in the Arctic, Maritime Industries and Resources Law, Arctic Development Economics.

Born in Beijing, China, Luyang moved to Chile with his parents when he was still a teenager. He studied Cultural Tourism in the University and then got a MBA, but he discovered his true passions when he started working as a freelance translator and guide, showing people the amazing polar regions. Lu is really passionate about history of both Arctic and Antarctic. Luyang is fluent in English, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, and he prefers to be called “Lu”.

Marc has over 4 years of experience working at sea. After finishing his master’s degree in International Business & Foreign Cultures he spend a year in China studying this fascinating ancient culture while traveling all around China & Asia. 
Marc fell in love with the sea when he did a research expedition on a small wooden boat sailing through the Amazon river helping researchers observe the “pink river dolphin”. Soon after that he started his adventure managing the hotel part on-board floating luxury liners sailing the seven seas. When not on board ships Marc divides his work as a wildlife guide & outdoor educator in Antarctica, Iceland, Alaska and Canada. 
 

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.

Martin is a fisheries biologist from Homer, Alaska. He studies recreational fisheries in Alaska, including the world famous Pacific Halibut fishery in Homer. Before beginning his career with the Department of Fish and Game in Alaska he spent four seasons working for the United States Antarctic Program as a SCUBA diver, logging many dives under the ice of the Ross Sea near McMurdo station. Martin has a Master's degree in Marine Biology from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. In his spare time he enjoys traveling, hiking and mountain climbing.

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.

Natalie Gillis has been a professional wilderness guide for the last decade; she enjoys the freedom and challenges of leading extended sea kayaking, whitewater canoeing, hiking and floe edge expeditions in the Canadian High Arctic, East Greenland and the Antarctic Peninsu-la. She specializes in leading small, self-supported expeditions with a focus on pioneering pre-viously unexplored routes in the High Arctic. Outside of her professional work, Natalie has pursued her own extended wilderness travel experiences, including kayaking most of Cana-da’s west coast and hiking across Central America from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea; over the past decade she has logged over 1000 days in the field across 6 continents.

Natalie’s academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in Environmental Governance and Political Science from the University of Guelph in Canada. She is working towards her Masters degree pursuing research focused on political ecology in the Eastern Arctic.  Specifically, she is interested in how language shapes the understanding and management of wilderness landscapes in the Canadian Eastern Arctic.  She also holds a post-graduate diploma in contemporary poetry from the Humber School for Writers.

When not out exploring, Natalie can be found relaxing at her home on a quiet lake north of Toronto; she is also a commercial float plane pilot and freelance photographer with works published in Canadian Geographic, Photo Life, Up Here and Above and Beyond Magazines.  

Originally from Guangzhou, China and have been residing in US since she was 16 years old, Qi speaks English, Mandarin and Cantonese fluently. She holds a master’s degree from University of Pennsylvania in Instructional Technologies. She also earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Rochester with double majors in Business and Film.  
 Qi used to work in a film mastering and distribution company in Hollywood, California. Qi is also an avid snowboarder who spends 8 months a year snowboarding and the other 4 months longboarding as an alternative. Moreover, she is a pianist with over 20 years of practicing.  
 After having travelled to 40 countries and both polar regions, Qi discovered her passion in the high latitude world and decided to become an expedition guide. She appreciates every moment among the rarely discovered wild. 

Originally from Alghero, Sardinia, Renato now calls the grey skies of London his home, but often heads to cooler places to pursue his passion: Nature Photography.
Specializing in wildlife and Nature Photography, Renato has visited over 70 countries and been commissioned for newspapers, magazines, tour operators and tourist boards… even leading specialist photographic tours to a number of destinations around the planet.

Award-winning photographer and regular contributor to the BBC, Renato has been featured in a number of international contests, such as the National Geographic Traveller Grand Prize winner 2018, International Nature and Bird Contest winner 2017 and 2018, GDT - European Photographer of the Year 2017, Top LATA Published Photographer of the Year 2016 and 2017, Wanderlust Photographer of the Year in 2017, Bird Photographer of the Year 2015 and 2018 among others. 

Originally from Wuhan, China, Rose Li Graduated from Wuhan college with a major in Interior Design. During her spare time, Li continued developing her passion for traveling and trying new activities, such as dancing, drawing, singing, skiing, hosting, swimming and creating new activities as a guide.

Rose Li has been to more than 30 countries and is often aiming for new destinations. She has worked on well-known cruise ships since 2014 as an Expedition Guide and in Asia as a VIP Services Shift Leader.

Sandra is originally from the middle part of Germany. She worked eight years in a pharmaceutical business as the chief assistant from the director. She always loved to spent her time in nature, especially in Northern Norway and Spitsbergen. Already after the first visit north of the polar circle she got bitten by the arctic beetle and from that point there is no way back. She decided to quit her previous life and to leave Germany. After a year of preparations, she arrived in September 2016 on Spitsbergen. For almost three years she is working as a guide on different expedition ships. During the winter/dark period on Spitsbergen you can find her on skis, snowmobiles or travelling around the world.

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. Sanna has always been an adventurous person who likes natural environments and discovering how our planet is working. She studied physical geography, glaciology and geology. After her years in Svalbard, she travelled around the world exploring the great outdoors different ways for couple of years. Since living in the Arctic was not enough for her, Sanna worked as an overwintering field guide in Halley research station for British Antarctic Survey. She was the first Finnish female who skied to South Pole from the coast of the Antarctica. Sanna likes to share her passion about outdoors and wildlife with others. When she has free time she is just travelling to different parts of the world. Or, when ever she can, she wants to climb mountains, jump on glaciers, ski middle of nowhere, taking photos of wildlife or be on the water.

Sarah was born and raised in New England but has traveled extensively throughout the world and calls New Zealand her second home thanks to strong family ties. Her sense of adventure, curiosity and scientific career has taken her to Antarctica, Alaska and the Arctic as she defies the stereotype of a lab scientist. Her research gear includes skis, tents, ice cores and dehydrated meals. Her expedition work includes Mass Balance Pits, Geological Surveys, Seal Census, a multitude of Citizen Science projects and the Juneau Icefield Research Project. She also loves to ride horses, trail run and ice climb.

She has worked as a high school science teacher for 6 years covering courses in Physics, Conceptual Physics, Environmental Lab Science, Robotics, Astronomy, and Climate Change

Sarah is a personable strong leader, certified EMT, WEMT and wilderness first aid instructor. She is also an American Mountain Guide Climbing Wall Instructor. She is a council member for Polar Educators International, a member of the Explorers Club, New Zealand Antarctic Society and Exploring Women advisor. She has her masters in astroparticle physics from the University of Canterbury working with the IceCube Neutrino Detector and her Post Graduate Certificate in Antarctic Studies.

Shannon was born and raised in the Canadian prairies. After completing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2011, Shannon migrated west to Vancouver Island. Here her love for the ocean flourished. While traveling overseas Shannon had the opportunity to work as a nature guide and kayak guide in Milford Sound New Zealand; thus beginning the career change from nursing to guiding. She now spends her summers leading kayak expeditions on the west coast of Vancouver Island, traveling in the shoulder seasons and occasionally working as a travel nurse. In her spare time she enjoys scuba diving, teaching yoga and embarking on personal kayak expeditions; most recently a 730 nautical mile circumnavigation of Vancouver Island.

Born and raised in Alaska, where she currently resides. Shelli is a Master in Sea Kayaking, Zodiac Driver, Marine Biologist and Polar Naturalist, who has also been a wilderness leader since 1997 and an expedition guide in both Antarctica and Arctic since 2007. Shelli is a native English speaker, can understand Flemish as well as some German and Spanish. 

Shelli has participated in many observational studies in Northern Pacific, North Atlantic / Arctic and Antarctic waters as well as in several research groups, primarily studying the identification and biology of humpback and gray whales. Her passion for spending time in the Polar Regions extends to learning about changing environments, ice, glaciers and evolving distribution of wildlife. When not guiding, Shelli is also an accomplished artist with several exhibitions under her belt and an illustrated bird book publication.

Steve joined the Royal New Zealand Navy when he was  16 years old, and has spent most of his life on, in or around water, hence his nickname – Scuba Steve.  Steve is a PADI Master Instructor in recreational diving, a technical deep diving and gas blending instructor, a construction diver, commercial skipper, a first aid and oxygen provider instructor. He also holds an Advanced Trade Certificate, which he achieved while working for NZ's largest marine outfitter.  His accreditations include a title as Weapons & Electrical Mechanic, Royal NZ Navy, Boat Master, Royal NZ Coastguard, Skipper Restricted Limits, Maritime NZ, a Diploma in Recreational SCUBA Instruction, PADI Master Instructor and Certificate in Occupational Diving – Advanced Underwater Work to 50m.

After training as a Ski Instructor, he became the Health & Safety Coordinator for one of NZ’s largest ski resorts and has lived in the stunning alpine village of Wanaka since 2002. For many years, Steve co-organized the annual ice diving event in New Zealand, where many divers go to gain the cold water experience required for Antarctica.   

In 2012, Steve began planning and leading diving expeditions throughout the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions. An avid outdoorsman, naturalist and experienced Zodiac driver, Steve also lectures on a variety of topics, plus guides sustainable hunting, fishing and camping trips to remote locations. Professional videographers regularly rely on him to provide underwater footage for their productions. His exploits have been featured in adventure magazine articles, and his work has contributed to several blockbuster movies, television shows and commercials. 

Thomas is an Australian of Bavarian origin. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, London and also a Fellow of The International Centre of Excellence in Tourism & Hospitality Education. He has audited hotel and tourism schools in Austria, China, Dubai, Fiji, Holland, the Philippines and Thailand. His Ph.D. thesis dissertation investigated commercial tourism in Antarctica (1991-1998). Later, it was published as a book entitled, Tourism in the Antarctic: Opportunities, Constraints and Future Prospects. Thomas also filmed and produced, Voyage to Antarctica.

Thomas has travelled extensively in some 75 countries and on all continents. Since his first voyage in 1994, he has visited Antarctica on 35 occasions as a guide, historian, naturalist, presenter, researcher, photographer, and Zodiac driver.  In the 90s, Thomas was lecturer, senior lecturer and Associate Professor in tourism at Victoria University in Melbourne. From 1999 to 2012, he was Assistant Professor of tourism in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Today, he is an Adjunct Professor in Sustainable Tourism at Central Queensland University.

Thomas and his wife, Lina, are the owners of a large rainforest property in tropical Mission Beach, Far North Queensland, Australia where they have established the Mission Beach Butterfly Garden.

Born and raised in Northern Jutland in Denmark, Thomas now resides in Copenhagen, living on his sailing boat between travels.
He trained as a carpenter, but started travelling the world in 2011, and hasn’t stopped since. Thomas also works for a Danish travelling school, and has taken young Danes on more than 20 trips to USA, Canada, US Virgin Islands (Caribbean), India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam among other.
On these travels Thomas has been responsible for 15-30 people for up to 3 months, incl. everything from the daily schedule, logistics, daily teachings, everyday wellbeing of students and volunteer projects with local NGO’s and cultural programs. 
Trained as an outdoor instructor, with skills in canoeing, telemark- and backcountry skiing, winter mountaineering, MTB, climbing, advanced PADI diver, hiking and basic bushcraft, Thomas is a man of many skills, which also includes being a well-trained kayak guide and instructor in both Copenhagen and Ilulissat in Greenland - and on Ocean Atlantic. 

Ursula grew up in Switzerland where she enjoyed the outdoors and developed a strong interest in nature, animals and conservation. She has an MSc in Marine Mammal Science, from the University of St. Antdrews, Scotland. Ursula speaks fluent English, Swiss German and German as well as French (proficient). After obtaining her teacher’s degree for craftwork she travelled to Canada where her dream of her childhood came true and changed her life; she met whales and dolphins in the wild. She then joined the research organisation ORES and dedicated the next 20 years to the study of baleen whales and, just as importantly, to share the knowledge gained with people of all ages.

Her focus became the little known but highly fascinating common minke whale. The research focused on the habitat use, behaviours, feeding strategies and photo-identification. During thousands of hours in her zodiac she was able to unfold unique in-depth insights into their lives, their tricks to outsmart the prey as well as their individuality and curiosity. She loves to share her fascination and enthusiasm on-site and during lectures to raise environmental awareness and action. Ursula has worked as a tourist guide, lecturer and zodiac driver in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Antarctica.
During cruises she will be on the lookout for marine wildlife and always happy to talk and explain. When at home she produces life-sized animals for schools and environmental education.

A former in-house interpreter working in high-tech industry, Weixi holds a Master of Interpreting and Translating from University of Bath in England. Although most of his life was spent in China,  he always has an adventurous spirit at the bottom of his heart, which is exactly why he decided to embark on this expedition journey.
Weixi can speak both Mandarin and English and has a smattering of Spanish. In his spare time, he is a medieval Europe history lover as much as an avid basketball fan. Travelling is his lifelong hobby and he is ready and willing to explore and learn more about the world with his guests.

Yuri Choufour is a Canadian nature & travel photographer, who’s been fascinated with the natural world since early childhood. He didn’t pick up his first camera until age twenty, but quickly got hooked on photographing wildlife, landscapes, and his outdoor adventures, which eventually inspired him to pursue it professionally.

After obtaining a diploma in professional photography, and an award for photojournalism, he completed an internship with the Calgary Herald. In 2010 he sought out assisting opportunities with Art Wolfe Inc. & found world travel and teaching photography to be some of his true callings.

Choufour is most driven to create images that cultivate a greater appreciation for the natural world. His photos are sold to galleries, tourism companies, as fine art prints, and cards/calendars. His first book projects are in the works. He also shoots a diverse array of video assignments for various clients.

Yuri travels for a large part of the year, teaching photography in the polar regions, and across North America. He has taught at over fifty photo workshops to date, & though a Nikon shooter himself, is also very adept with Canon DSLR’s, and an expert with Adobe Lightroom Classic CC. Yuri feels very lucky to call British Columbia home, and loves to hike, snowboard & mountain bike in his own backyard when time allows.