Expedition Leader

Leader

For a volcanic archipelago, Galapagos doesn’t see too many eruptions. So when the call came over the radio of the bridge of National Geographic Islander that nearby Wolf Volcano was spewing lava into the sea, the ship’s expedition leader made the call along with the captain to change course and sail straight to the volcano. Guests aboard would be the first on the scene to see the lava rolling into the boiling sea, and footage shot by the ship’s video chronicler would play on news stations around the world the next day.

It’s these kinds of once in a lifetime experiences expedition leaders enable for guests. In this case, it helped that the expedition leader and captain had lived and worked in Galapagos for over three decades. That they had the trust of every person in the national park service who would need to give them permission to approach the island. And that they sailed with the full confidence of Lindblad Expeditions senior leadership and were empowered to make the decision to deviate from the plan on the fly.

Expedition leaders have worked in their fields and in the geographies where they sail for years. Most have advanced degrees and have conducted research or taught for years. They are deeply experienced naturalists, biologists, and historians who have achieved expedition leader status because they possess the skills, experience and the depth of knowledge necessary to continually craft the best expedition possible for guests.

They are empowered with the personnel, resources, and opportunities to ensure remarkable expedition experiences. Their institutional knowledge is virtually impossible to match. When wind or weather might preclude a certain landing, they're using their local knowledge and collaboration with the captain to reach a more protected spot where you can go ashore safely—to actively explore. And, because an expedition depends on flexibility and the ability to take advantage of unexpected moments, they will often rewrite the day’s plan on the fly or make an announcement just as dinner is being served if a 40-ton humpback whale suddenly surfaces nearby, bow-riding dolphins appear, or a pod of narwhals is spotted.

The caliber of the expedition leaders and their teams is the reason the Lindblad name is respected in the travel industry, and guests continually entrust their safety, valuable time, and intelligent curiosity to them.

Expedition Leader

Dan Olsen

Dan lives in Seward, Alaska, and has worked as a guide and naturalist his whole life. Dan taught sailing, navigation, mountaineering, and kayaking at Outward Bound and aboard tall sailing ships, before shifting to expedition ships.He has been a licensed captain since 1993 and has run roughly a thousand Alaska boat tours.Dan has driven boats and guided tours in Alaska, Antarctica, Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard, Chile, Panama, Costa Rica, Europe, and Hawaii. Dan began recording Killer Whales (Orca) in 2004 and was hooked when he learned that families could be identified by their calls. He obtained a Fisheries Biology Masters degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and now is a partner in a non-profit dedicated to monitoring the health of Alaska killer whale populations. Although his specialty is acoustics, he also studies diet and behavior, and is always excited to find whale poo! Dan recently presented for the BBC production, ‘Alaska Wild Live.’ In his spare time, Dan can be found mountain biking, skiing, sailing, canyoneering, fire juggling, slacklining, playing flamenco guitar, or performing improv in Seward.

Expedition Leader

Dave Katz

Dave grew up in a village in the heart of the rural Finger Lakes region of New York and at an early age fell in love with the outdoors. Dave’s mother, a high school earth science and biology teacher turned weekend hikes into informative lessons. The beautiful gorges, various lakes and hard wood forests made a lasting impression on him. At university, he continued to pursue his growing interest in the natural world through study of Geology and Ecology. At this time, he joined the Outdoors Club and began leading caving, rock climbing and winter camping trips with fellow students. After obtaining a bachelors degree in Geology at Binghamton University, he set out to explore the world, working seasonally as a wilderness field instructor while in the offseason pursuing a growing interest in photography and storytelling. Inspired by the desire to explore and learn, his prolific travels have drawn him to over 85 countries on all seven continents. His storytelling work has been published on television, in print and on the internet with HBO, Nat Geo Kids, PBS Nature and Outside Magazine. Identifying strongly with the concept of “Tenacity in Pursuit,” he aims to inspire curiosity through his work as a field educator and professional storyteller. Since 2004, he has led over 20 exploratory tree climbing expeditions to forest canopies around the world through his work with Cornell University’s Tree Climbing Institute. Always excited and ready for the next location, challenge or project, he is a proud member of the Lindblad-National Geographic Expedition Staff team.

Expedition Leader

Russell Evans

Russ Evans is a sixth-generation Falkland Islander now living in Orkney, Scotland. In 1997, he was drawn away from his work on the family farm by the lure of the sea. Since then, he has made his living at sea. As a licensed captain, Russ has been part of a variety of marine endeavors, including commercial tugs, dive boat support, scientific research, sightseeing tours, cruise ships, and since 2003, an expedition leader on expedition ships worldwide but specializing in the polar regions. Russ is committed to the environmental impact of tourism and its future in the Antarctic through his advocacy with the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), and shares their commitment to responsible tourism. Although his chosen place on the globe is the Antarctic and its surrounding waters and islands, he is as at home in the far north as he is in the far south. Also having led expeditions in lower latitudes and warmer climates, his passion for the oceans is coupled with keen expertise on the natural history of these places of extremes. His intimate knowledge of, and love for, remote islands and hard-to-reach corners of the world, (especially if they can only be reached by sea), makes him a natural for sharing his passion with others. His adventuresome spirit, along with his thirst to deliver the most extraordinary experiences to the guests of each expedition, provides a compelling and insight-filled backdrop for exploring.

Expedition Leader

Andy Wolff

A Midwestern kid with an insatiable curiosity about places far and foreign, Andy has converted a lucky break after college into a career at sea. From swabbing the decks to advocating for artisans and zooming in Zodiacs, he knows the operation from every department on board. What keeps him fresh after nearly two decades working at sea is waking up somewhere new every morning, the day ahead a blank slate with no way of knowing what marvels nature and serendipity may bring his way. Andy looks forward to sharing this sense of wonder and possibility with guests as they venture together into new realms with Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic. Having traveled everywhere from Madagascar to Moscow, Andy’s happy place is amongst icebergs and whales on a sunny Antarctic summer day. When not aboard ship, he often winters near tropical seas, typically hunting below the water’s surface for nudibranchs. A happy Pacific Northwest transplant, Andy now calls the evergreen forests of Olympia, Washington home. There he enjoys crafting homemade soap, trail running, and consuming copious quantities of coffee. If you end up sharing a table in the dining room one evening, be sure to ask about his international gold medal in barbershop. Andy was thrilled to join the Lindblad Expeditions team in 2010. Among so much photographic talent, he is a firm believer that the best camera is the one you always have with you. For a look at life through his lens, investigate instagram.com/travelingandy.

Expedition Leader

Larry Prussin

Larry has been a naturalist for more than 50 years. His experience includes extensive work in environmental education in Ohio, Vermont and Yosemite National Park where he was program director for the Yosemite Institute. He has been a ranger at Mohican State Park, Lehman Caves National Monument, and Glacier Bay National Park where he first met up with Lindblad Expeditions–National Geographic in 1990. Since then he has traveled to every continent, from the tropics to both polar regions, rain forests to deserts, wilderness areas to sites of ancient civilizations to some of today's largest, most cosmopolitan cities. Being a naturalist enables Larry to combine his passion for natural history with his training as a teacher. While birds and their adaptations are Larry's first interest, he enjoys viewing the world from an ecological perspective, studying the interrelations among rocks, plants, animals and other elements that affect the biosphere.

Expedition Leader

John Frick

Although he didn’t set out for a life of travel, John has combined his passions for education and exploring the world and turned them into a successful career leading trips around the globe. After completing an undergraduate degree in engineering at the University of Notre Dame, John moved to Alaska in search of a more adventurous future. From there he continued on to Tansen, Nepal, where he served for two years in the Peace Corps. He then moved to New York City to teach as part of the Peace Corps Fellows Program while pursuing a master’s in science education from Teachers College, Columbia University. John began leading family programs to Mediterranean sites of antiquity during his summers, and this quickly expanded to other regions: Africa, India, Antarctica, the Transatlantic, Greenland, the Canadian Arctic, Alaska and the South Pacific. As comfortable exploring archaeological and cultural destinations as he is leading expeditions to the world’s most remote areas, John looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for the best in travel with guests of Lindblad-National Geographic. When possible, he especially enjoys sharing his knowledge of astronomy and expertise in stargazing from the deck of a ship.

Expedition Leader

Lucho Verdesoto

Born and raised in the tropical country of Ecuador, Lucho is a passionate naturalist that has been working for Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic since 1998. With a marine biology background, he started as a naturalist in the Galápagos Islands in 1994. Since then, he has filled numerous roles with Lindblad-National Geographic, such as naturalist, undersea specialist and expedition leader in the Galápagos Islands, Costa Rica and Panama, and Baja California. Currently, Lucho spends much of the year traveling the world aboard the National Geographic Explorer. Working for Lindblad-National Geographic has given him the opportunity to explore remote locations from the Arctic to Antarctica and everything in between, while the opportunity to lead and explore the Amazon has only increased his passion for evolutionary biology and the understanding of how biological communities interact in such a complex ecosystem. During his time off, Lucho enjoys traveling and spending time getting to know the vast National Park system in Ecuador. Holding a dive master's license, he tries not to let a place pass without exploring the underwater ecosystem - he considers Antarctica to be the wildest place he has ever been able to dive! He also enjoys writing nature articles for a major newspaper in Ecuador, as he strongly believes that nature can only be protected when it is fully understood and appreciated by its inhabitants.

Expedition Leader

Doug Gould

Travel and adventure were an integral part of Doug’s upbringing in a small town on the south shore of Long Island, New York. Growing up on the Great South Bay, his family claims Doug learned to sail before he learned to walk. Whether it was camping, sailing, birding, traveling across country or spending most of fifth grade living in Europe, Doug’s formative years left him with a love of wildlife, the outdoors, and a desire to keep moving. After receiving a B.A. in dramatic arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara, Doug mixed a short career in the film and TV industry with two summers working for the Catalina Island Harbor Patrol, which led to his owning the third largest private marine rescue company in California. Doug sat on the Board of Directors of the Vessel Assist Association of America for three years and has lectured extensively to the marine assistance industry about safety and risk management. In 2003, he volunteered to work for Oceanites as a member of their Antarctic Site Inventory wildlife census team (aka: a penguin counter). This opportunity included numerous trips to the Antarctic Peninsula over the span of three seasons. The Antarctic Site Inventory focused on gathering data about the impact of tourism on Antarctic wildlife, and helped to develop some of the Antarctic Treaty recommendations that govern tourism today. Since 2011, Doug has worked full time as a naturalist, photographer and expedition leader, working primarily in the polar regions. In 2015 he joined Lindblad Expeditions, and continues to share his enthusiasm for travel and adventure as an expedition leader and certified photo instructor.

Expedition Leader

Mario Acquarone

Mario Acquarone, born in Turin, Italy, began sailing, mountain hiking and skiing as a child, with his parents who gifted him with curiosity and passion for all aspects of Nature. Skipper and guide in the Mediterranean in the early 90’s, he was studying fin whales. In 1995 he took his first sea voyage to a Polar area, Svalbard, in a team to assess whale abundance. Then he worked in Greenland on beluga, narwhal, and bowhead whale abundance from airplane surveys as well as ringed seal, polar bears, and walrus ecology. In 2004 he obtained his PhD on walrus ecology. He then worked with goat and llama farmers the Bolivian highlands, was Scientific Secretary at The North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission coordinating research on marine mammals between Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland, and has taught biology and animal physiology as well as researched novel methods for assessing energy consumption and body conditions in marine mammals. Since 2020 Mario has been Deputy Secretary of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program. In parallel, Mario has worked on expedition vessels as skipper, lecturer, and expedition leader. He is also a Randonnee skier, a kayaker, and a professional diving instructor. You can communicate with him in Italian, French, English, Danish, Norwegian and Spanish.

Expedition Leader

John Mitchell

Raised in the mountains of Crested Butte, Colorado, John has always been a “child of nature,” where the natural world around him was life’s classroom. After graduating from Colorado State University with degrees in Speech Communication and Biology, John joined Lindblad Expeditions. Over the years with Lindblad he tried to learn every aspect of vessel operations while spending his “free time” learning all that he could from the naturalists on board. His time off the boats was spent traveling throughout North, South, and Central America learning more about the areas. John left “for a spell” to pursue a post-graduate degree in marine ecology in Hawaii, fell in love with island life and now calls Maui home. Most recently working as a Coastal Management Specialist for NOAA Pacific Region, he has also been the Program Director for an educational non-profit whose mission was to excite youth about science and all things natural. John has also served as a naturalist, junior high and high school marine science field teacher. He also worked on the Marine Turtle Research Project, and spent five years as the Fish and Habitat Monitoring Coordinator for the State of Hawaii. John is passionate about the need to re-connect our youth to the environment in order to sustain meaningful education.

Expedition Leader

Lisle Gwynn

A native of the southern heathlands of England, Lisle has been a naturalist and dedicated ‘birder’ since early childhood. After an undergraduate degree in Geography, and 6 months on a Spanish ferry as a whale watching guide, a DST-NRF scholarship led him to study birds of prey and fynbos-endemic bird communities at the University of Cape Town. After 3 years in the Southern African bush being stalked by big cats and convincing farmers not to persecute wildlife, he returned to the ocean in the Arctic and South Pacific to conduct marine mammal surveys and research, before settling into a varied career as an expedition guide, naturalist, ornithologist, ecologist, expedition leader, consultant and wildlife and birding tour leader. From the Solomon Islands to East Antarctica, Papua New Guinea to Ethiopia, the Russian Arctic to Madagascar, Lisle’s passions for wildlife, photography and adventure have led him across 70+ countries and 7 continents, by way of time at sea measured in years. Along the way he has gathered experience with more than 6,000 species of bird and 85% of the world’s seabirds and marine mammals, a wealth of experience he revels in sharing with others in the field. Ultimately, he has built a reputation as calm, unflappable, resourceful, entertaining and exactly the person you want by your side on the rare occasion that things don’t go to plan.

Expedition Leader

Jason Heilmann

Growing up in northern California, Jason was surrounded by the incomparable nature of the Pacific Northwest. While attending university there, Jason met and eventually married an Ecuadorian woman who happened to be from a small group of islands off the coast of western South America. It was thus that Jason’s path led him to Ecuador and, in time, to one of the most revered natural environments on earth, the Galápagos Islands. Having found his niche in the Galápagos, and eventually becoming a professional SCUBA diver, Jason volunteered as a dive assistant on various scientific projects. Developing his enthusiasm for nature, in 1999 Jason took the only logical course: the Galápagos National Park naturalist program. Interpretation of the Galápagos, whether in the underwater realm or on land, has become a passion with Jason. Eventually he would also work as a naturalist in Alaska and British Columbia. Jason and his family also had the opportunity to take a year-long sabbatical to Sweden to continue their education in ecology and environmental communication. After almost 20 years, Jason still resides on the Galápagos Islands with his wife Graciela and son Matias. He received his Photo Instructor certification in a training workshop in 2010. Developed and taught by National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions photographers, the workshop equipped him with the insight and skills necessary to help you better understand your camera and the basics of composition—to better capture the moments at the heart of your Lindblad-National Geographic expedition.

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