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.

Professor James Floyd is a professional geologist and spent most of his career with the British Geological Survey (BGS) in Edinburgh, where he was the District Geologist for the South of Scotland (Borders and Dumfries & Galloway). He retired from the BGS in 2008 and has since worked as a geological consultant and freelance science and maritime history lecturer on cruise and expedition ships.

A graduate of Glasgow (BSc), Heriot-Watt (MSc) and St Andrews (PhD) Universities, James has wide experience of the geology of many parts of the world, including the Arctic and Antarctic.

In 2007 he was awarded an honorary professorship in the School of the Built Environment at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, for his research on architectural conservation, includingwork in Valletta with Heritage Malta.

As an earth scientist, James is particularly fascinated with the way in which geology and the environment has influenced the history and development of human cultures, settlements and societies. In addition to communicating popular science, expedition cruising allows him to share his other passions of modern naval, maritime and polar exploration history and travel.

Jes has more than 40 years of experience as a Naturalist, Meteorologist and Specialist in bird studies and also has an education as an Atmospheric and Space Science Assistant. He has worked with Denmark’s Ministry of Environment and the Danish Ornithological Society; studied various species of sea birds, sea animals and whales in the North Atlantic; and conducted a 3-month study of migratory birds of prey and storks in Egypt in order to investigate the relationship between wind patterns and migration.

Jes is fluent in Danish and English and is a trained meteorological weather observer, who worked for 11 years with the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI), operating radiosondes to measure meteorological data for air traffic in Greenland. Following a number of encounters with polar bears and walruses, while on Zodiac boating trips and dog sledding expeditions across thousands of miles in Greenland, he became hooked on the Arctic. Inspired by these experiences, he studied walruses in Dove Bay for the Greenland Fisheries Research Institute. Jes has travelled much of the world, especially in Africa, Northern Europe and South America. He has been fortunate to spend time in Antarctica, including landings at six different stations and Half Moon Island.

Jordan was born and raised in a small lakeside town north of Toronto, Canada. From an early age he spent most of his time traveling coastal countries and developed an avid passion for the oceanic environment. Jordan has been working in  the outdoor industry for over six years now with some of his more memorable pursuits including  working in the Canadian Sub-Arctic in the polar bear capital of the world and of course kayaking in the polar regions.  When Jordan is not on a ship, you can find him warming up on the beaches of the west coast of Australia where the waves are pumping and the sun is shining.

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.

Li Ye was born and raised in China. She loves to travel and experience new things. Hence, she has seen the world and broadened her horizon by working on ships. In addition to a passion for jewelry, Li is a good Tea Specialist as well. When she is not working on-board, she likes learning a new skill, such as calligraphy. Recently she has been improving and learnining to do handicraft.

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. 

Marc had the itch for the great outdoors right from the start. He took a leap of faith over two decades ago to join this passion to his career and got an opportunity to start on the Athabasca glacier at the Columbia Icefield in 2000. From there doors have opened up and he was able to expand his experiences in many fields such as rafting, guiding dog sledding journeys and outings in the tundra of Churchill to find polar bears. He also had the privilege to work across the Arctic/Antarctic as a zodiac driver for many years.
Safety being a priority, Marc has been certified as a emergency medical responder with the Alberta college of Paramedic and has taking many courses such as crevasses rescue, swift white water rescue, avalanche awareness and other such certifications to implement prevention and care.
 

With the experience on working on cruise lines since 2016, Margarette has taken the opportunity to visit a lot of countries in South East Asia. 
 She was  with a master’s degree in Interpreting and Translating from Heriot-Watt University in UK, with good command of mandarin and English. Margarette was mainly working with guests’ engagement on board to assist them to achieve better on board experience when working on cruise lines.  Travelling to different countries and encountering people coming from different cultural backgrounds enables her to be more passionate towards life.
To travel or walking on her own is her favorite thing during her vacation.  Music, radio and some sketches are the one to go with her on the way.
 

Born in Europe, Marieke spent much of her time among the foothills of the Swiss Alps, learning to cross glaciers before she could tie her own shoelaces. Developing her adventurous spirit, she took up speed skating, winning medals in the Dutch National Championships. 
In 2006 Marieke moved to Tasmania where she found her true calling in the Guide/Naturalist role, developing her knowledge and love for pure wilderness and sharing this with international guests from around the globe. 
Marieke’s appetite for new experiences and wilder places have drawn her to explore the incredible beauty of Polar environments only accessible through Expedition Cruising.
Today, she enjoys sharing nature’s best from the bottom to the top of the world, from icy Antarctica, to wildlife havens on Sub-Antarctic Islands, to New Zealand & Australia, to tropical Seychelles, Indonesian & Pacific Islands, to high Arctic’s Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard & Russian Far East.

• A National Government Licensed Guide Interpreter, Mayumi was born and educated in Hokkaido, Japan. Since 2009, Mayumi has been traveling extensively throughout Japan from Hokkaido to Okinawa with clients ranging from BBC Radio to groups and families.

Her interests include Japanese Literature, film, and contemporary Japanese culture. She enjoys cross-cultural experiences and particularly enjoys explaining her own culture to others. She is self-confident in a multicultural environment, organized, attentive to detail and customer needs.

Nadine is a proud Londoner, and has for the past ten years worked in High Jewelry management. For names such as Cartier, Tiffany and Bvlgari on London’s Bond Street, where she became a certified pearl specialist. This was before falling in love with the sea and traveling around the world selling jewelry and managing onboard boutiques on both Large and small cruise lines.

Apart from a love of all things that sparkle, Nadine likes nothing more than experiencing the unknown, whether it be food, new cultures or say… Antarctica!

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.

Rashidah graduated with a Degree in Accountancy from Nanyang Technological University and worked in KPMG. Afterwards, Rashidah decided to go the unconventional route and pursue her passion for dance, and has been working as a professional dance instructor and performer. She now has over 10 years of experience under her belt, and is often featured on national TV, newspapers and magazines. Rashidah was once selected to demonstrate some dance moves to the ex-President of Singapore, and be a leader in the introduction of Zumba, which has now grown to be one of the most popular form of exercise. She has in the past performed for renowned celebrities and brands such as Nike, Adidas and Sephora.

A keen interest in learning about different cultures, as well as gaining new experiences, has led Rashidah across the globe and allowed her to connect with people from various parts of the world. She discovered her love for polar regions, and has worked as an expedition guide in the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Antarctica. Rashidah is tri-lingual in English, Chinese and Malay. She is positive and sociable, and enjoys meeting new people with a smile.

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.

Samuel hails from Quebec City, Canada. He has an education on Electromechanical automated system, and speaks fluent French, English and some Spanish.

At a young age he discovered his interest for videography and photography over there making snowboard videos. A couple of years later, Sam found himself on a cruise ship headed for Hawaii working as a Videographer. This gave him the opportunity to sail the 7 seas, quench his thirst of seeing the world and film it. He eventually moved to the realm of expedition cruising and ended up as a video chronicler filming polar bears and Walruses in Svalbard on a Russian ship much to his amazement. The videography slowly took a secondary role and Samuel’s work as a naturalist and expedition guide began taking all the space.

Over the years Sam has worn many hats on various vessels, from looking after the zodiac fleet to being camping master and photography lecturer. When on land, he is involved in the renewable energy sector. Sam is one of the few people to ever skateboard in Antarctica. On his free time, Sam can be found on his sailboat, the m/v Monsieur Tranquille, on the majestic St-Lawrence river of Quebec, Canada.

From early age, Sandra has been an avid naturalist, traveler and photographer. She is fluent in English and German, and has basic knowledge of a few other languages. Fueled by curiosity and a passion for exploring, her extensive journeys have led the committed semi-nomad across the globe to pursue her varied interests in all kinds of nature and wildlife observations.

She holds a degree in journalism and has been working as a journalist, editor and writer for 20+ years. Temporarily based in Germany, Sandra co-publishes a photo magazine, designs and leads dedicated photo trips worldwide and hosts photo workshops. In addition to these accomplishments, Sandra has published two books on photography.

When visiting the polar regions for the first time, she immediately fell for the high latitudes’ nature, beauty and light. Deeply moved, she answered the calling, and has since returned to the Arctic and Antarctica every season. Sandra has gleaned considerable experience as guide and naturalist, photo guide and Zodiac driver on various expedition cruises in Antarctica, Svalbard and East Greenland.

Sara is a Danish geologist who’s rappelled down into an active volcano in Vanuatu and hiked to the very top of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. She’s been nose to snout with a polar bear during her mineral exploration activities in Greenland and been far down underground digging for crystals in Slovenia.

Most of the year she spends exploring the world of rocks under the microscope discovering sources of building materials used for ancient castles and churches. In her spare time, you can find her in the forest on the mountain bike, doing walking tours around Copenhagenshowing rocks used for facades and pathways, or out somewhere on a mountain on foot or snowboard.

Sergey has been working for 6 years for the largest Russian National Park “Russian Arctic” on the remote islands of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya. He worked as a guide and bear guard on board various expedition ships and nuclear icebreaker. After, he moved to work and to live in a small russian settlement on Svalbard - Barentsburg. Aside his main job he is voluntarily serving as the vice-chair of the World Commission of Protected Areas in the North Eurasia region. 
Sergey’s main background is in history, with master degree in tourist studies from the Arctic University of Norway from 2015 and ecotourism training program from the US Department of State from 2013.

Shayne McGuire was born in Missouri, and now lives in Southern California with her husband and 2 Belgian draft horses that are rescues. Shayne has had a camera in her hand for as long as she can remember. For many years she exhibited and sold her photographic work at high-end art festivals. All her work was shot on film and hand developed in the darkroom. She taught at an accredited photography school from 2003-2017 and holds a teaching credential in commercial photography. She has led photographic tours and workshops for over a decade and owns her own company.

Most of Shayne’s tour work, led her to work on boats, spending much time out on the water, which has become her passion. After taking an expedition cruise in the Arctic, she was hooked and came back to work on the same ship as the photographer in residence.  She has worked on expedition ships in the Artic for five seasons and Antarctica for four seasons helping people on the photo zodiacs and photo walks as well as lectures.  She is drawn to the light and wild beauty of both the Arctic and Antarctica.

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.

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.