Reconnecting people to wild places.
National geographic expeditions
EXPEDITION LEADER
liNDBLAD EXPEDITIONS
EXPEDITION LEADER
tcs WORLD TRAVEL
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES SPEAKER
During 15 years working at the forefront of marine research and conservation I have been incredibly privileged to see things and visit places that very few people have.
Some of this I have been able to share through my work with BBC, Discovery Channel and 60 minutes.
Now in my role as Expedition Leader I am taking people with me to the wildest places on earth. To the places that only the worlds best documentary teams and researchers have previously had access. From Antarctica to Svalbard, Russia to Tahiti, Serengeti to Sumatra. We are pursuing the wild places, the remote communities and the people, plants and animals that live there.
My purpose is to reconnect people with these wild places.
We will only protect what we love. Experiencing these environments first hand will rekindle your connection to the wild and maybe also your own advocacy for its protection.
Research
Post doctoral research fellow
World first tracking of dwarf minke whales
Doctoral Research
Efficacy of marine protected areas to conserve sharks
Smart state
Future leader of research, Queensland, Australia
Dwarf minke whales are a cryptic species that aggregate on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef every year for just a few short weeks. Until now nobody knew where they came from. Using satellite transmitters we were able to follow the whales and uncover the secrets of their migration. In a world first I did this while free diving with them. You can check out our work on Sir David Attenborough “Great Barrier Reef Series” currently on Netflix.
My doctoral research examined the role of marine protected areas play in the conservation of shark species. I lived on commercial fishing boats to understand how sharks interacted in the fishery, after all there is no substitute for first hand experience. Once I understood what was being caught and where, the next step was to track the animals to find their critical habitat. From here we can determine how much protection the marine protected areas actually afford each species.
Along the way I have also been on expeditions to tracked Tigers in the Sumatran Jungle, Anthrax on the Etosha plain, live with Australian Sea Lions in the southern ocean and uncover Horned Vipers in the middle-east.
Education
lindblad National Geographic expeditions
Citizen science coordinator
American universities international program
Lecturer and field program manager
Citizen Science creates opportunities for people to learn more about the environment they are visiting and contribute meaningful data that will ultimately assist in the understanding, management and protection of these ecosystems. Working with the team at Lindblad National Geographic Expeditions I am coordinating a program to create both regionally specific and global citizen science programs that partner with key conservation groups and research bodies.
In a decade of creating and delivering tertiary education course I have witnessed the profound impact that communities and their environment can have on individual student’s perspectives and their sense of self. I have a holistic approached to creating educational experiences for students. Recently I have combined mindfulness practice and ‘life-hacking’ strategies for community integration and resilience together with the delivery of Science Technology Engineering Art, Mathematics (STEAM) course material.
