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EXPEDITION VOYAGE: Hosted by Dr. Brent Stephenson, Ornithologist
Building a career from a lifelong passion for birding keeps Dr. Stephenson busy. As does his bird guiding business, which he co-owns. He and his business partner also teamed up and rediscovered the seemingly extinct New Zealand storm petrel, a bird, whose existence has not been documented since the 1800s.
When he is not researching the ecology or mysterious birds for National Geographic, he treks across the globe, utilizing his vast birding knowledge to lecture aboard expedition ships. He has birded all over, from the Arctic to the Antarctic, the Americas, the South Pacific and Africa.
Dr. Stephenson is also an active conservationist and skilled photographer. His wildlife photographs have been published in books, a variety of periodicals, as well as the web.
EXPEDITION VOYAGE: Hosted by Stefan Kredel, Geologist
An avid cyclist, Kredel enjoys life up close. He has traveled extensively to places like Iceland, Greenland, and the North Pole. Never being an idle tourist, he has cycled throughout Europe; traversed Nepal’s Annapurna Circle; hiked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, Peru; and explored copper, gold and diamond mines in Austria, Italy, South Africa, and his native Germany.
His zealous spirit also led him to a bachelor’s degree in geology/paleontology from
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich. Later he moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, which today serves as his jumping off point. Kredel continues to pursue his dream via expeditions, where he shares his knowledge and experiences with others along the way.
EXPEDITION VOYAGE: Hosted by Dr. Tony Huntley, Biologist
What makes terrestrial and marine animals tick? How do they control their breathing while sleeping? What makes up the diving physiology of pinnipeds and marine birds? These are the very types of questions that have fascinated Dr. Huntley for the past three decades.
Always the academic, Dr. Huntley earned undergraduate degrees in both biology and chemistry from the University of California, Irvine; a master’s in zoology from California State University at Fullerton; and his doctorate in biology from the University of California at Santa Cruz. The 30-year veteran teacher now serves as Co-Chair of Biological Sciences at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California, where he was voted distinguished teacher of the year in 1996.
EXPEDITION VOYAGE: Hosted by Christian Walter, Historian
Mr. Walter’s expertise in anthropology, archaeology, art and history, has enabled him to traverse the globe extensively. He has lectured aboard expedition cruises in the Arctic and Antarctica, as well as throughout the Pacific.
Prior to his expeditionary work, his main interests revolved around Chile, where he conducted field research to compare Easter Island’s petroglyphs with the islands ancient writing system, Rongorongo. Still a passion of his, the Easter Island resident has since 1976, worked to improve the use of the Rapa Nui National Park. Additionally, restoring archaeological sites and artifacts while improving the island’s infrastructure and concepts of tourism are also top of mind for Mr. Walter. In this endeavour, he serves as consultant to Easter Island’s mayor and is vice president of the Easter Island Development Corporation.
This Swiss native was raised in Germany where he studied at the Insituto Alemán. He continued his studies in Chile at the Universidad Austral. He has authored several articles, which have been published in Flemish, French, German, Spanish and English. He is a member of the European Society for Oceanists (ESfO).
EXPEDITION VOYAGE: Hosted by Claudia Holgate, Environmental Lecturer
Dr. Holgate has an uncanny knack to view the world, and all that is in it, as her personal project grounds. She is dedicated, to the point of what can only be explained as an inherent moral commitment, toward making our planet the best it can be.
As an environmental management professional with a background in project management, she runs a consultancy in South Africa. She also teaches a myriad of courses on the subject and serves as an honorary research associate in geosciences at Monash University in Australia.
Dr. Holgate holds a master’s degree in environmental science and is completing her doctorate on climate change. The South African resident is also pursuing a second master’s degree in wildlife management. Additional credentials include: work at all levels of government; a variety of environmental projects for the United Nations and the World Conservation Union of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Always finding time for life’s most important activities, Dr. Holgate trains underprivileged children as bird field guides; works as a volunteer paramedic; and is actively involved in Soroptimists International (an international philanthropic organization of successful women who provide guidance and support to other women and girls).
EXPEDITION VOYAGE: Hosted by Juan Carlos Restrepo, Geologist/Naturalist
Spending half of the year in Antarctic and the other in the Arctic might make Mr. Restrepo seem a little “bi-polar”, but only in the most literal sense. With a geology degree from the Universidad de Caldas in Columbia, and a thesis relating to coastal geomorphology (the study of land and rock characteristics, configurations and their evolution), it is no wonder he is an avid traveller.
As a matter of fact, traversing the globe is pretty much a lifestyle for this Columbian native. Once he left the coffee-growing town of Manizales in the Columbian Andes, he was initiated into the boating world and never looked back. In addition to his polar expeditions, his travels via sailing vessels and motorcycle have transported him to the West Indies, the Mayan Caribbean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
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