Expedition Team

Silver medalist in the 2017 World Guide Awards, Hayley has spent 13 years adventuring in Antarctica, and still feels privileged to walk amongst the penguins, float on a sea of bergy bits, or await the surface of a Humpback while surrounded by glaciers, icebergs and rugged mountain peaks. Hayley’s motto is, “Live your dreams, follow your passions.”

In BC, Canada, Hayley keeps in the company of Orca and Humpback whales, Grizzly and Black bears. She relishes in the Polar bear and Beluga whale capital of the world working as a guide in Churchill, Manitoba.  Originally from the Kapiti Coast in New Zealand, she now calls Vancouver Island home.  In her spare time, Hayley likes to take extended sea kayaking adventures around Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii. She once attempted the world’s first solo sea kayak journey around South Georgia Island to help raise awareness for the Albatross, about which a book and documentary were made.

Hayley looks forward to sharing with you her passion, admiration and respect for this polar region. It will change you. Are you ready?

Dr. Dan studied medicine in New York City, completed residency in Portland, OR, and eventually settled in the greater Seattle area. He is an actively practicing emergency physician boarded in Emergency Medicine with many long years of emergency medicine experience. He is responsible for coordinating our onboard doctors and medical supplies.

Every Polar Latitudes voyage has a currently-practicing and English-speaking doctor experienced in Emergency medicine. Medical services are available 24 hours a day, and a doctor accompanies passengers on all shore landings.

Hannah has a particular love of birdlife and marine mammals and has been sharing her thrill for the natural world working aboard Expedition Ships in remote regions since 1999.
A zoology student at the University of Liverpool, England, Hannah changed direction after graduation and worked as a wildlife artist and mural painter in Africa for several years. On her return to the UK she gained a Masters in Natural History Illustration from the Royal College of Art in London. During her student years she spent her time doing practical conservation projects as a leader with British Trust for Conservation Volunteers.

She is now able to divide her time between doing artwork from her studio in England and working as a wildlife guide, zodiac driver and expedition leader. She visits the Antarctic peninsula and South Georgia annually in the Austral summer and then heads north to cruise the shoreline of the UK, Norway and the Arctic, swapping penguin sightings for polar bears, and sketching, photographing and learning about the lives of the creatures she sees along the way.

Her passion for the outdoors and mountains have taken her around the world personally and professionally for the past 30 years. Originally from the maritime province of Newfoundland, Maria has a degree in Geology from the University of Calgary, and is a member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides.

Safety is top priority for Maria, and she has picked up many skills, qualifications and experiences from her professional outdoor background and personal endeavors. In 2012, she welcomed the opportunity to combine her guiding skills and geology background to begin working in the polar expedition industry as a guide and geology lecturer in Antarctica and the Arctic. She truly enjoys sharing her enthusiasm for the outdoors and her fascination with natural history.

For the past few years he has been immersed in the polar world.  He makes his annual migration between Antarctica and the Arctic, following the arctic terns around the world every year.  Having done nearly 70 trips (and still counting) in the Polar Regions, he is always grateful to be discovering the last vast wildernesses left on this planet and is passionate to share the experience with you.  He is enthusiastic about all sorts of wildlife, though is convinced that he has close relatives that are whales, and his third cousin happens to be in the auk family.

When he’s not gallivanting near the poles, you will probably find him wandering the warmer climes of the planet (15 Celsius being plenty warm), seeking out more adventures and playing with light in photography.

Stephi grew up in Scotland playing in the wild North Sea and watching David Attenborough documentaries. Her fascination with water and the natural world is deeply rooted; in fact, you can find it in almost every major (and minor) decision she’s ever made.

Pursuing her passions, Stephi studied Environmental Geoscience at the University of Edinburgh – a degree that gave her the tools to interpret the world around us. Armed with her knowledge and understanding of rocks, ice, climate and oceans, she is now a full-time wilderness guide, commonly leading three week-long whitewater canoeing, rafting, kayaking and hiking expeditions in remote locations in Canada and around the world.

Stephi’s favorite moments in Antarctica often materialize when the weather changes from good to very bad, very quickly.  Howling wind, driving snow, worsening sea state; she loves Antarctica’s rough edges and the reminder that we humans are, in fact, not in control of the environment around us. She is, however, still searching for the perfect expedition glove to keep her hands warm in her favorite bad weather! Stephi has been exploring Antarctica since 2014 and she is more excited than ever to share it with you!

Now in her fifth Antarctic season, Mariela spends her winters in her home town of Ushuaia teaching alpine skiing and snowboarding, guiding snowmobile excursions, and leading snowshoeing and cross-country skiing adventures.

In her spare time, she likes to sing, dance, and read about the earliest explorers to this land.  Mariela is dedicated to ensuring that clients have the best combination of service and fun!

Conny has been an outdoors person all of her life growing up at the feet of the German Alps. Having spent her childhood skiing and mountaineering in local regions it was the crucial adventures across the neighboring borders that indoctrinated her great love of travel. This deep passion led Conny abroad at the youthful age of 16 where she would complete her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Business in the U.S. and Hong Kong respectively. From there, Conny has followed a successful career in Sales & Marketing within international luxury hotels, living and working in Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Conny’s enthusiasm and passion for Antarctica was born after embarking on her first expedition cruise, aboard our very own Hebridean Sky. Witnessing Antarctica’s breathtaking majesty and untouched beauty first-hand, as well as experiencing close encounters with Antarctica’s wildlife, changed her profoundly as a person – a change that has led her to seek a new career within this precious and humbling part of the world. With her bubbly personality, abundant energy and her infectious nature as a people-person she is looking forward to making every future passenger’s journey their “trip of a lifetime”.

Marc has several years of experience working at sea. After finishing his master’s degree in International Business Management & Foreign Cultures, he spent a year in China at Beijing’s renowned Peking University (PKU) studying this fascinating ancient culture and learning mandarin. After his time in Asia, he decided to call the Arabic desert home for just over a year too, working in hotel operations management for one of the finest hotels in the United Arab Emirates.

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 onboard floating luxury liners sailing the seven seas.  When not onboard the luxury liners, Marc divides his work as a wildlife guide & outdoor educator in Antarctica, Iceland, Alaska, and Canada.

In his free time he spends most of the days on his parent’s farm far north in Germany surrounded by beautiful nature. Cross biking throughout the forest is considered as his daily wake up coffee when home. One of Marc’s main goals in life is to be truly happy in what he is doing and he believes that everyone should follow their heart for that reason.

Grace is a passionate adventurer and outdoorsman who is thrilled to be a part of the Polar Latitudes family.

Since graduating from Princeton University with a degree in Art and Archeology, Grace has traveled extensively and worked on expedition vessels both as a staff member and researcher. Her research, written work, and photography examines cuisine as an art form and manifestation of cultural heritage. Her passion for food and the environment led her to co-found a sustainable energy bar company which she ran for two years before moving on to other projects.

When she is not working, Grace is a dedicated trail runner, avid hiker, and competitive rower whose boat placed second in the United States at the IRA National Championships in 2019. In addition to athletics, she has a love for photography, cooking, and camping with friends.

Born in Germany, Annette studied Marine Biology and obtained a Masters in Marine Conservation in New Zealand. There, she had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to visit Antarctica as part of a postgraduate certificate offered by the University in Christchurch. Camping at the base of Mount Erebus – the same region used as base camp by early explorers such as Scott and Shackleton – Annette caught the “polar bug”. Returning from New Zealand, she conducted her PhD at the German Polar Research Institute. Here, she studied the habitat suitability of Antarctic whales and participated in several multi-week expeditions to the Southern Ocean on board the German research icebreaker RV Polarstern.

Annette has been working on various expedition cruises to Svalbard, Greenland, the North Pole, the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica. For Annette, visiting South Georgia is one of the very special moments in life, given its history of whaling and polar exploration. Annette speaks German and English and is looking forward to spending her Antarctic summer with you, sharing her passion for marine mammals day and night.

Over the last fifteen years, Seb has worked at the sharp end of maritime aviation with previous jobs spanning half the globe. The Royal Navy exposed him to some of the most inhospitable regions of the world. In 2009, Seb landed on the shores of South Georgia for the first time and stood before the grave of his personal hero: Sir Ernest Shackleton.

In January 2013, he joined the ‘Shackleton Epic’ team, which became the first expedition in history to faithfully recreate Sir Ernest Shackleton’s small boat voyage across the Southern Ocean – with precisely the same equipment as Shackleton himself. From the clothing to the boat, the sextant, the reindeer skin blankets, and of course the starvation diet.

When he is not onboard ship lecturing, or climbing a mountain, he can be found in Scotland with his wife and children sailing the world’s most faithful seaworthy replica of Shackleton’s lifeboat. The boat was built with the sole purpose of keeping the great polar explorers legacy alive though adventure sailing excursions.

Seb is an accomplished aeronautical engineer, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, former GB Chapter Chair for The Explorers Club, joint recipient of the Royal Institute of Navigation Certificate of Achievement, and a joint Royal Yachting Association and Union Internationale Motonautique  powerboat world record holder.

As Captain Scott’s only grandson and the son of Sir Peter Scott, well-known wildlife conservationist, founder of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, and co-founder of the WWF, Falcon was brought up at the Slimbridge Wildfowl Trust with his two sisters. As a child, he traveled widely with his parents during holidays, including expeditions to Africa and to the Arctic.

As a young man, Falcon took up a career in civil engineering. Later a passion for architecture and art took him into building unusual and creative projects in the domestic sector, and building many unique houses, a vocation he still loves to indulge in. He built his own stone house in Argyll, Scotland where he now lives with his wife and family, and
runs a self-catering holiday business renting luxury log cabins which he also built himself. Falcon has always loved being outdoors and exploring wild places, and between building things has traveled to many places. He especially loves the remote parts of Scotland near his home, and has explored the mountains and sea lochs over many years using his own small motor boat, sailing with friends, and on foot climbing most of the mountains.

In 2012 Falcon joined the international team to work as a Heritage Carpenter on the conservation of his Grandfather’s iconic Terra Nova Hut at Cape Evans for the NZ Antarctic Heritage Trust. The experience was deeply moving for him, and re-vitalized his interest in the family connection to Antarctica. The beauty of Antarctica has inspired him to develop his artistic flair and he now loves to paint the wildlife and landscapes.

Paul has a wide and varied background that usually involves adventures – something that culminated in writing about adventure travel for the Telegraph newspaper.

His career started with 30 years of service in the military for both the army and the British Royal Navy. This included roles with the parachute regiment and the Royal Marine Commandos. Paul through himself into expeditions after leaving the military, including journeys from the Polar regions to the Himalayas, from Alaska to the jungle.

Paul is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and regularly travels on expeditions that have an exploration and scientific basis. In 2012, Paul led a small team on the first crossing of the Antarctic Peninsula by man-haul to conduct cutting edge science. This project was in commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of his boyhood hero and fellow naval officer, Captain Robert Falcon Scott reaching the South Pole. This project drew on Paul’s original science degree in Oceanography, Meteorology and Geology, gained at Plymouth University. Paul’s extensive travels have alerted him to the issue surrounding global climate change and the 2012 project was focused on providing evidence to reveal the reasons why the Antarctic Peninsula is the fastest warming part of the planet.

In 1998, Mattias started his career in Sweden as a dive instructor and has since then worked in several places where the underwater world is as fabulous as it gets such as the Great Barrier Reef, Thailand, Fiji and the Red Sea among others.

In 2012 Mattias got the chance to work as an expedition guide in the Polar regions and he was immediately stunned by the grandeur and the wildlife that Antarctica and the Arctic had to offer. Being kind of a “jack of all trades”, birds and kayaking is of great interests.

You usually find Mattias in Antarctica during the Austral summer, but he has also worked as a snowmobile guide in the Swedish Lapland and Svalbard as well, where he took his guests into its vast landscapes to view the Northern Light, and in the Boreal summer you find Mattias guiding and scouting the shorelines of Svalbard. This line of work also brought him to other places like the Falklands Islands, South Georgia, North Atlantic Islands, Galapagos and New Zealand and since he visits all these beautiful places on earth, he wants to capture these impressions with his camera, and therefor photography is another passion of his.

Thérèse discovered her passion for marine mammals when she first came to Svalbard in 2010. Born and raised in Switzerland, she was until then rather more familiar with mountains than ocean. She acquired a master degree in media and communication, and when she was studying at university, she started to travel to Scandinavia. She then visited Svalbard and – caught by the polar bug – changed direction. The following summer she returned and worked as a trekking guide and lived three months in tents. 2012 she left Switzerland and moved to Longyearbyen where she studied to become an Arctic Nature Guide. Since then she works all-year-round as a Wildlife Guide, Lecturer and Zodiac driver on expedition cruise boats in Antarctica, the Falklands, South Georgia, Svalbard, Greenland and Iceland. She also spent a winter as a Snowmobile Guide in Swedish Lapland where she took her guests out on Northern Light Safaris.

Thérèse loves all kind of outdoor activities from Via Ferrata, Hiking, Snowboarding – and working on expedition cruises. She always has a happy smile on her face and is looking forward to sharing her knowledge and passion for the marine wildlife with you.

While Jeff was at summer camp as a child, a jellyfish stung him and changed the course of his life. He realized just how mysterious the oceans were, and couldn’t wait to learn more. Now Jeff is a marine biologist and his extensive experience includes classifying the biodiversity of glass sponge reefs off Canada’s west coast using video footage with world expert Dr. Verena Tunnicliffe, conducting fish and marine mammal surveys, and helping to biologically classify Alaska’s entire shoreline.

Jeff not only enjoys the hunt for a good whale sighting but also enjoys the small critters that make up the base of the food chain. They are especially important because they sustain the large marine mammals that visit Antarctica’s waters to feed each year.

An avid sailor, scuba diver and photographer, Jeff has worked in and on the ocean since 2007 and, no matter what the temperature or weather brings, you’ll always see him smiling when he’s on or near the ocean with camera in hand.

Jeff works on various expedition cruises exploring Canada’s rugged west coast and southeast Alaska. The Antarctic was a dream of his to explore since he first learned of the vastly unknown icy continent in elementary school from a National Geographic magazine. He is very excited to be able to share his knowledge and passion for the marine world with you!

Ruth is a wildlife film maker, who has spent more than 13 years working on documentaries for the BBC’s Natural History Unit, PBS, National Geographic and Discovery, as well as personal projects focusing on birds and conservation issues. Her portfolio includes Planet Earth II, Life in the Air and Natural World, and her work has taken her all over the world, filming a whole variety of wildlife.

In 2013-14, Ruth spent five months filming the penguin colony at Port Lockroy where she was able to combine her love of cold remote adventure with penguins to produce an hour-long documentary, Penguin Post Office, for the BBC and PBS. Her adventure began by sailing the Drake Passage in a 54ft yacht in 67 knot winds, arriving at the Peninsula ahead of any other vessel that season. As well as witnessing the entire breeding season of gentoo penguins, she travelled to other sites around the Peninsula and explored different locations, landings and wildlife.

Ruth has just back from a month sailing around the South Sandwich Islands filming for a new project called Expedition Penguin. She looks forward to sharing tales of this adventure on board ship!

She studied zoology and science communication and is a passionate bird watcher. She was awarded Birdwatch Magazine’s Conservation Hero of the Year in December 2017.

Born in Sydney, Australia, Marty’s love of the ocean led him to a degree in Marine Science, extensive SCUBA qualifications, and a very hands-on job as Head Penguin Keeper at the Sydney Aquarium.   While he did have some very unique experiences (try being a foster parent to penguin chicks!) seeing penguins in their natural environment is his ultimate thrill.  He will never forget being greeted by a party of King Penguins at the largest colony in the world on the shores of South Georgia Island.

As a marine biologist Marty’s passion for ocean animals extends beyond the polar regions having worked with a wide range of sharks, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals. Coming from Australia this also means he has worked directly with the most venomous snake, spider, octopus and fish on the planet. Marty practices free diving in an attempt to spend as long underwater in one breath as the penguins do.

Tracy is deeply passionate about learning, teaching, and educational travel. He believes that isolated, hostile, and largely uninhabited Antarctica is central to understanding how the world works and our impact upon it.

A Professor of Environmental Science and Physical Geography at the State University of New York, College at Oneonta, Tracy’s research interests are focused on rivers, lakes, glaciers, geomorphology, and environmental change. His love for cold climates grew out of investigation and exploration in Arctic and mountain environments. He has spent summers working and teaching on the Bering Glacier in Alaska and has canoed thousands of miles on Arctic rivers.

Synonymous with education, adventure travel is a means to achieve personal and professional growth. From an early age, Tracy would strike out from the Blue Ridge of Virginia to discover nature, mountains, and, eventually, other countries. Since then, he has backpacked throughout nearly all countries on Earth – from Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to Mount Everest in Tibet and Nepal and from Machu Picchu in Peru to Pagan in Myanmar. At each location, he explores natural processes and human/environment relations. Tracy travels simply, with backpack, tent, and sleeping bag. When asked about his wanderlust, various intellectual motivations surface, but the deep-seated reality is that he has an adventurous spirit.

Mike has taught geology for over 20 years and loves to share his passion for rocks, minerals and how the land around us comes to look the way it does. An experienced traveler, Mike has lived on several continents, including a year spent working as a naturalist and zoologist in Galápagos. He is the author of Galápagos: A Natural History, a comprehensive guidebook which details the natural history of the plants and animals found on the islands.
He has a passion for science and nature and enjoys sharing his interests with others. Since 1986 he has taught high school in Victoria, BC, teaching a range of disciplines including physics, geology, biology, earth science, environmental science and marine science.

Mike uses his naturalist experience to lead outdoor education trips and finds great pleasure in seeing others get excited about the things he’s interested in. He loves to show how science helps explain much of what we see in the natural world – from tides to rocks and rainbows. He combines his love of nature and his world-renowned expertise on the Galapagos to lead frequent trips to this unique ecosystem.

In his spare time, Michael relaxes by kayaking, fishing, taking pictures, tinkering with different technologies, traveling and exploring natural history.

In 2007, Ben was overall winner of the “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” competition and won the “Creative Visions of Nature” category. His work was recognized by the Royal Photographic Society in 2008 through the award of an Honorary Fellowship.

With two zoology degrees, Ben initially worked as a scientist before switching to full-time photography. He spent 18 months working for the British Antarctic Survey on Bird Island (South Georgia) researching wandering albatrosses and monitoring major seabird and mammal populations. Two years later he spent 9 months on a yacht surveying wildlife on South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. These experiences (and a career change) culminated with a 4-month commission from National Geographic magazine shooting images for a major feature about Antarctica.

Following a chance conversation on a sacred mountain in China, Ben became involved in the ground-breaking BBC series about Antarctica, “Life in the Freezer”. He shot editorial stills for the series book and photographed the presenter Sir David Attenborough on location. Since then Ben has worked regularly with BBC film crews, shooting publicity and editorial stills for major wildlife series including “Blue Planet” and “Planet Earth”.

From his early years growing up on the edge of the Atlantic in rural Newfoundland, Philip has had a keen sense of adventure and a love of wild places. He studied Biology and Environmental Sciences before shifting gears to pursue a growing passion for mountaineering.  For 10 years he worked as an instructor in mountain skills in the Vancouver Island Alps.

Philip blends his love of the outdoors, adventure, and photography in his work instructing, guiding and collaborating with several adventure tourism businesses. So it’s no surprise that Philip joins Polar Latitudes as one of our Expedition Photographers. Philip has a knack for explaining some of the more technical aspects of digital photography in plain terms and is always happy to share tricks and tips, or just talking camera-shop! When asked about his favorite thing about the Antarctic he says “it’s the light, there’s so much of it, and it’s so beautiful and clear”.

A current graduate professor in photography, Will has been teaching and showing professionally for over 15 years. He is excited to bring his love of nature, adventure, and photography to Antarctica.

His photography career has taken him to numerous places around the world including Hiroshima, Columbia, Taiwan, Paris and Antwerp. His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries internationally. He currently shows with galleries in San Francisco and Tokyo, and lives on a boat in the San Francisco Bay with his wife and two daughters.

Will has walked slacklines over the Grand Canyon, trad climbed around the High Sierras, and backpacked extensively with his family around the Western US.

It’s fair to say that Kalle’s life has been a wild and colorful journey so far, considering it all started in grey and dying mining town in Germany’s industrial heartland, where he was born back in the summer of ’69.

After 2 years in the Armed Forces he completed an apprenticeship as a journalist and photographer in 1990 and then set off to report about untold wars and unique cultures across Central / South America, Africa, New Guinea, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.  Five years later he went to study filmmaking in the UK & US. Upon completion, Kalle took up a job with the BBC as one of the few guys and gals who where on stand-by 24/7, shooting films literally all over the world.  In 2002 Moscow became his base for many years covering the entire former Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.

As a result Kalle has over the past 28 years seen more than 140 countries. In between he has taught filmmaking at his former University in England and scuba diving as a hobby. Kayaking, scuba, skydiving and sailing are his favorite past-times.  Filming in Greenland for several weeks and sailing from Tromsø to and around Spitzbergen in a wee 30’ Optima 101, scraping past the 80th latitude, whilst shooting an environmental adventure documentary, really whet his appetite for the icy fringes of our planet. He now calls Canada’s West Coast his home away from his German home in Hamburg.

Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nicole has always had a deep love for the outdoors, nature and a huge interest of the environment.  This explains her passions – rock climbing, mountaineering, kayaking and travel.

She has a bachelor’s degree in tourism and hospitality from the University of Salvador in Buenos Aires.
Having started her outdoor career in Patagonia as a kayak guide and tour leader in hiking trips, she was drawn to the Canadian Pacific West Coast where she trained as a kayak guide with the Sea Kayak Guide Alliance from British Columbia.

Nicole also works for a mountaineering non-profit organization as an outdoor educator in Patagonia; running climbing courses, kids’ climbing classes and organizing bouldering competitions for the southern Patagonia region with Argentine ski and Mountaineering federation (FASA).

In 2018 the Antarctic Peninsula called her and she has been returning year after year.

For the last 15 years Zack has worked all over the world as an outdoor wilderness guide and experiential education instructor. Zack is very passionate about sea kayaking, sailing and mountaineering.

Since graduating from Lakehead University with an Honors Bachelor degree in Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism he sought out amazing job opportunities and experiences in the farthest corners of the world. He lived on a sailboat traveling the remote islands in the central and south pacific for over a year, then lived in Australia, worked as a free-lance outdoor educator and completed a big road trip with his folding kayak paddling and exploring some of the more hostile and hard to get to places. Soon enough he missed the snow and ice of his home country of Canada. Upon his return Zack was out on Lake Superior year round paddling amongst the ice, wind, sun, snow and rain enjoying every minute of it! He has now started his own paddling business (Such A Nice Day Adventures) operating seasonally along the Canadian north shore of Lake Superior near Thunder Bay Ontario.

Zack is a certified Paddle Canada Instructor and experienced sea kayak Guide. He is an accomplished writer, photographer and expedition leader. He is over the moon excited to bring his plethora of experience to the team at Polar Latitudes in Antarctica.

Growing up in a nature reserve outside Uppsala, Sweden, Sara spent most of her childhood in the wild-wood around her house. The forest is a place to which she always returns, but her fascination with remote places and harsh environments took her to Northern Scandinavia, which she today calls home. Sara is a dedicated long-distance hiker and winter swimmer, and among other things she walked the full length of New Zealand and participated in the Ice Swimming World Championships.

Her passion for the outdoors led Sara into guiding. After taking a guide course in Canada, Sara worked with rock climbing and dog sledding in Northern Norway. Today Sara lives in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, where she works as a hiking and cruise guide during summer, and takes people on skiing and snowmobile trips in the wintertime. Sara is also a member of the local avalanche and glacier rescue team.

Sara has a Master’s Degree in Linguistics. She used to work as a translator in Stockholm and Berlin, but then decided to leave the office for a life in the mountains. Sara is fluent in German, English, Norwegian and Swedish, but also studied several other languages, like Icelandic and Greenlandic.

Ben has been guiding expeditions in some kind of water craft for the past 12 years. Growing up in rural Ontario, a lake or river was never far away. He currently spends summers guiding and cooking on the coast of British Columbia in kayaks and sail boats, while wintering somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere.  Teaching surf lessons and cooking in hotels has funded his travels in Chile, New Zealand, Indonesia and Ecuador for the past four years.

Ben completed a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering with a specialty in hydraulic and coastal engineering, so be warned he may take a deep dive into the science of breaking waves if prompted. His biggest passion is searching the world for waves in rivers, lakes and oceans and riding them on a board or in a kayak.

Born in China, raised by a pilot and an Engineer, Laura spent her whole childhood in the Air force base. Laura loves planes, forests and the sea. She developed a passion for rock climbing and mountaineering while in high school, and she loves books and Lego.

Majoring in International Law and Maritimes Law. Laura received her law degree in Tsinghua University in China, and University of Iowa. After years of being an IPO lawyer, she shifted her career to education after she had her first child, and that’s how she set foot into polar areas.

Laura’s very first Antarctica voyage was with Polar Latitudes as a Chinese team leader and passenger, then the love of this remote area and stories iced in this continent took her back to Polar Latitudes as staff, which is an amazing way to continue with her International Law career. Also she’s translating books about Antarctica to Chinese with her partner. Now she lives in Beijing and San Francisco，with a four year old son who can tell the differences of all 18 species of penguins.

Bryan was introduced to the ocean environment at a young age, surfing on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. He began sharing his knowledge and love for the remote, natural areas of the world from the age of 19, as a guide on Haida Gwaii. Free-diving, playing music, surfing, building with salvaged materials and food gathering are a few of his passions.

With a strong sense of adventure, he continues to push further not only into the remote stretches of his own backyard, but to other countries where there are new things to learn everywhere you look. The natural world truly is his classroom. When he is not guiding he lives in a bus in Haida Gwaii, that he converted into quite the cozy little living space.

Growing up, he heard stories from family and friends who worked as guides in Antarctica, which sparked his interest in the polar regions and led him down the path he follows today. He is always excited to share the natural world with anyone who is ready for an adventure.

David grew up in the Great Lakes region in Ontario and spent the summers of his youth exploring the islands of Georgian Bay. He began leading expedition canoe trips at the age of 16 and spend much of the following decade guiding canoe and kayaking expeditions down rivers in Northern Ontario and Quebec.

After completing a degree in Outdoor Adventure Leadership he moved to British Columbia and eventually bought an old Nikon 80-200 2.8 lens and dove head first into the world of visual storytelling, eventually even buying some cameras to go along with the lens. He has spent the past 8 years working as a documentary film director, cinematographer, and photographer, all while continuing to pursue his love for canoeing and kayaking in wild places.

He works on a wide variety of projects but loves most an opportunity to haul way too much camera gear into remote locations. He has organized and led expeditions from the Great Bear Rainforest to the Hudson Bay Lowlands and spent the summer of 2019 working on a project about humpback whales in the northern reaches of Vancouver Island.

Echo graduated from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in the major of Restoration Ecology. From 2005, she has been focusing on and engaged in researches related to the restoration ecology, animal behaviors and environmental education in different eco-environments.

She has written many popular science books, such as Hulun Buir Grassland Food Chain and Natural History of Palace Museum: Children’s Hai Cuo Tu (marine animals), translated books, such as BBC: Life on Earth, and published a lot of popular science books as an editor.

Over the past decade, she conducted a series of environmental education activities and citizen science projects. She hopes to share the science with the public by interesting and effective ways helping them understand our environment and discover the impact they can have on their world and their communities.

During childhood, Randy learned how to play various instruments and how to conduct orchestras. At Brno University he studied engineering but quickly discovered music was the only thing he was interested in.

As a One Man Band, Randy worked in German, Swiss and Austrian Spa Hotels & Alpine Ski resorts. During his off time, he developed a passion for skiing and became a certified ski instructor.

Since 2006 Randy has been working aboard the finest European River Cruise vessels on Rhine, Main and Danube, entertaining his passengers with a wide repertoire of Jazz, Rock & Roll, Blues, Oldies and the Best of the Top Charts.

Ashley is an adventurer, outdoor educator, and traveler who lives for exploring the natural world and meeting new people. Her passion for the outdoors began in Niagara On The Lake, Ontario where she was born and spent almost every summer day mountain biking, swimming, and canoeing. Her thirst for adventure continued through University where she led social justice programs abroad for young adults to Morocco, India, and Belize.
She is a certified teacher with a science degree specializing in Kinesiology, Biology, and Psychology and has spent the past eight years working with inner-city youth from Toronto teaching and directing at an outdoor experiential school.

Currently she spends her summers on the BC coast, leading educational sea kayak expeditions through various regions of the Pacific Northwest, such as the Broughton Archipelago, Johnstone Strait, and the Great Bear Rainforest, in the great company of Orca, Humpback whales, and so many more magnificent creatures. In the winters, she works in the snowy wonderlands of Northern Ontario developing educational programs and leading dog sledding expeditions working alongside her incredible team of Alaskan huskies. In her spare time, she loves trail running, playing guitar and piano, mountain biking, and cooking delicious meals with friends.