Our guides
We know that one of the other keys to a successful expedition is having knowledgeable and enthusiastic leaders. These are the guides that take you to some of the most remote corners of the world! Some of them have more than 20 years experience of the Polar Regions.
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Adam Rheborg
Guide and Expedition LeaderAdam has been guiding adventurous tourists like yourselves amongst polar bears and walruses in Svalbard since 1998. He works full time as expedition leader, dive master, television reporter, journalist and lecturer with the whole planet as his work place.
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Adrian Nordenborg
GuideAdrian has spent most of his life adventuring in over 100 countries around the world. As expedition leader and guide, he has done almost everything – from leading treasure hunting in Morocco and skiing in Iran to walks in Turkey to kayaking outside Manhattan. Adrian has a great love for nature and wildlife.
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Andreas Bergström
Guide and Expedition LeaderAndreas has studied biology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Science. In 2003 he started working as a guide and has been guiding ever since. He has also been working on different research projects and research stations, from gerbills in the Kalahari desert to green sea turtles in Costa Rica.
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Annette Bombosch
GuideGerman biologist Annette has swapped a job behind the computer for an office with a view since 2014 and has been working on various expedition cruises to the Arctic as well as the Antarctic. Up North, Annette has guided in Svalbard, Greenland and Franz Josef Land. She has stood at the North Pole nine times.
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Aríen Ramnfjell
GuideAríen has always felt a pull towards the high Arctic nature. Born in the mountains of Norway, she could early on nurture her love and sense of belonging in nature.
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Arne Naevra
GuideArne is one of the Nordic region's most prominent nature film makers and has produced a number of nature and wildlife films for Scandinavian public service channels and for international companies such as the BBC. Several of the series feature material from the Arctic (Russia, Alaska and Svalbard) and Antarctica.
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Beau Pruneau
Guide and Expedition LeaderGrowing up in a log house in the Canadian wilderness in Northern Ontario, Beau understood at an early age to appreciate the great outdoors while learning wilderness skills such as survival, navigation, tracking, and firearms marksmanship. He is happiest out on deck searching for polar bears.
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Boris Wise
Guide and Expedition LeaderBoris is a passionate naturalist, a wilderness guide and an accomplished photographer. He started off his career guiding in Southeast Alaska for 10 years before going on his first expedition cruise in 2010. The wildlife and the wilderness of both remote and familiar regions inspired him to keep exploring.
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Carol Knott
GuideCarol has been passionate about archaeology since her teens. After receiving a Masters degree in Archaeology and History from the University of Glasgow, she continued this work with excavations at some of the great medieval abbeys, Tudor and Jacobean palaces and historic gardens of England.
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Celina Fester
GuideCelina is a certified Arctic Nature Guide based in Longyearbyen. She is at her happiest when she is guiding other travelers either hiking, snowmobiling, out on boats or skiing over Svalbard’s beautiful glaciers. Sharing a great passion for the ocean she is also giving kayak courses on her days off. If you ask her about one of her greatest experiences in nature, she will answer, kayaking in the middle of a small pod of beluga whales in Svalbard.
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Christian Brüttel
Guide and Expedition LeaderAfter his teaching studies in Germany, Christian went after his long-cherished dream to live and study in the Arctic. He signed up for a yearlong guide study in Svalbard in 2012 and has since then been living in Longyearbyen, guiding in one of the most fascinating places in the world.
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Christian Engelke
Guide and Expedition LeaderChristian is one of PolarQuest's very knowledgeable and popular expedition leaders with extensive experience from our polar regions. Christian has spent many years in most places around Greenland and is one of our foremost experts on Greenland.
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Daniel Simonsson
GuideDaniel is a biologist and enjoy everything nature has to offer. He has a huge love for our oceans with a focus on fish and corals. He likes to constantly inspire people around him with findings from our nature. With his binoculars constantly in his hand he is an ornithologist on hobby level.
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David Berg
Guide and Expedition LeaderDavid has spent a big part of his life travelling between the Arctic and Antarctica, working full time as an adventure guide and Expedition Leader. He has a wide range of experience having led expeditions in various places including Svalbard, Greenland, Scotland, Iceland and South Georgia.
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Debbie Bouma
GuideDebbie is a zoologist and works as an expedition guide in the polar regions and in her home country the Netherlands. She is passionate about tracking and recording fauna for various agencies, sites and projects.
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Dorothee Hippel
GuideGerman-born Dorothee has been passionately interested in the polar regions, especially the Northern Hemisphere, since her early years, which eventually led her to Iceland. She holds a master's degree in history, Scandinavian studies and literature from the University of Cologne.
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Eli Gunnemark
GuideAfter several years as a wilderness guide, Eli got the chance to work for two months in Svalbard. Two months turned into six years and today he works in the Arctic all year round, as a snowmobile, boat and glacier guide.
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Elin Sjöberg
GuideElin's background is strongly linked to the sea and mountains. She grew up on a sailboat, sailed around the world and crossed the Atlantic several times before she turned fifteen, and only attended a normal Swedish school for a few years.
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Elke Lindner
Guide and Expedition LeaderAlways fascinated by cold and snow, Elke soon discovered the Polar Regions. This German scientist has spent extended periods of time in Svalbard and shorter periods of time in Greenland and in Antarctica as a student, field biologist and naturalist, working on various expedition cruise ships.
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Erik Edvardsson
GuideThe passionate bird lover Erik is an educated biologist, specialized in ecology and conservation. He has great experience from field studies and surveys all over Sweden and has also worked several years as a guide at Nordens Ark, an animal park that works with endangered species.
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Eva Molin Westerholm
GuideEva is an animal loving outdoor enthusiast from Sweden. She has been exploring our Polar regions for the last 15 years and considers herself very lucky to been able to see so much of this beautiful place on earth.
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Fredrik Aurell
GuideA love for nature and wilderness has inspired Fredrik to seek out big and small adventures around the world. He has raced sailboats across the Atlantic and has worked as a dive instructor and guide. Both in cold waters at home in Sweden and on coral reefs in the tropics. Amongst other things he has studied Environmental Science and Marine Biology. He currently resides in Chamonix seeking adventures on glaciers and in the high mountains.
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Gary Miller
GuideGary’s love of the polar regions began over 45 years ago when he first travelled to the Arctic to study polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba for his MA in Zoology. He has conducted 20 seasons in Svalbard and East Greenland exploring the high arctic and his love of the wildlife, the landscape and the environment is apparent in his enthusiasm for and knowledge of the area.
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Gerard Baker
Guide and Expedition LeaderGerard Baker is a seasoned polar veteran having spent the past 30 years working in polar environments, including four over winters in Antarctica.
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Gunilla Lindh
GuideNilla started her career as a guide as her love for the white, remote and pristine places of the polar regions became too strong to materialise into anything but a lifelong passionate career as a polar guide. When not guiding expeditions, she is fond of skiing and photographing wildlife.
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Hadleigh Measham
Guide and Expedition LeaderEnglish Hadleigh has been living and working in the polar regions for over a decade, spending most of his time on ice-strengthened vessels and icebreakers. He likes sharing his impressive knowledge with lectures on a broad range of topics and is also a keen diver, skier and mountainbiker.
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Hannah Lawson
Guide and Expedition LeaderHannah studied Zoology at the University of Liverpool and gained a Masters in Natural History Illustration from the Royal College of Art, London. After studying the parasites of mountain gorillas, she changed direction and worked as an artist and mural painter at Chester Zoo and in East Africa.
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Henrik Haaning Nielsen
Guide and Expedition LeaderHenrik has always had an adventurous angle to his life and is considered to be a specialist in identification of seabirds and marine mammals, with particular expertise in the Arctic. He has participated in Arctic cruises with the purpose of counting and mapping the distribution of seabirds and marine mammals.
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Henrik Løvendahl
Guide & Expedition LeaderHenrik's adventurous spirit and love of travel caused him to leave his native Denmark for more than 25 years ago to explore the world. He has travelled extensively to far and remote corners of the world. He has scaled Andean peaks, trekked and climbed in the Himalayas and dived in many exotic locations.
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Henrik Tornberg
Guide and Expedition LeaderHenrik became part of PolarQuest in 2018 as our Operation Manager. He works "behind the scenes" with security and logistics for our guests and guides. But the polar bug still has a firm grip on him, and he guides several trips every year to experience the polar regions.
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Ida Olsson
Guide and Expedition LeaderFormer history and physical education hight school teacher Ida has worked as a guide in the wilderness in the northern part of Sweden. At the moment she lives in Longyearbyen in Svalbard and guides travellers on kayak, snowmobile, glacier hikes and boat trips. She loves every second.
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Johan Carlsson Tjernström
GuideTo become a Polar guide and walk in both his father's and grandfather's footsteps was an easy choice for Johan. On a trip with PolarQuest onboard M/S Stockholm he truly fell in love with the arctic wilderness of Svalbard.
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Johnny van Vliet
GuideJohnny is an ecologist and works as an expedition guide. After more than 15 years as a freelance professional in tree technical research and fauna inspections, wildlife photography led him to expedition guiding.
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Karin Amby
GuideKarin lived in Longyearbyen for nine years and during that time she studied the fascinating Svalbard flora, gave birth to two children and founded the company FatBike Spitsbergen. Today she earns her living as a freelance guide in Svalbard and Greenland and is proud to be at home with her kids in between her working periods.
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Kuba Potrawiak
GuideKuba consider the wilderness his second home. He has been a mountain and glacier guide on five different continents and he has a huge interest and love for glaciers.
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Laura Mony
GuideThe ocean has always been part of Laura’s life. Having spent time on sailboats since she was a baby, Laura sailed around the world crossing several oceans when she was between 12 and 14 years old. That trip increased her passion for the ocean because she discovered its vastness and its importance for the earth’s dynamic.
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Lisa Ström
Guide and Expedition LeaderInterest in the nature and environment was what first brought Lisa Ström to Svalbard in 2001, where she undertook studies in environmental technology at the university of Svalbard. While she completed a master in biology, the interest for the arctic regions increased and she settled in Longyearbyen, Svalbard for 12 years.
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Magnus Danbolt
Guide and Expedition LeaderMarin biologist Magnus's work has taken him to many places around the world, all the way from the tropics to the polar regions. He has surveyed penguins in the Sub-Antarctic, Monk seals in Africa and has been researching blue whales in the seas surrounding Iceland and Greenland.
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Malenthe Teunis
GuideMalenthe has always had a fascination for the polar areas, thus when the University of Groningen offered classes about the Arctic she quickly signed up. Since then her love for the Arctic has only grown. She is a Master student in Marine Biology with a focus on the Arctic regions and new technologies.
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Manda Lundström
Guide and Expedition LeaderIn December 2015 Manda joined her first expedition as a team member off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. She loves to travel and has spent several years abroad both working and studying. One of her greatest passions is marine mammals, which led her to Iceland to study marine biology.
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Marcel Paul
GuideWith an interest in exploration history and as a keen hobby photographer, the North Pole and the Arctic have always been drawing Marcel's attention. At his first arrival to Svalbard in 2011, he felt connected with the remoteness of the place and the dynamics of the polar nature.
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Marcel Schütz
GuideMarcel Schütz was born and raised in Switzerland and has always had a passion for nature, landscapes and photography. He made his first acquaintance with the northern polar region in 2008, when he went on a private excursion to Svalbard at the age of 18.
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Margherita Lucadello
GuideMargherita fell in love with the Arctic while living at the Czech Research Station "Petuniabukta" in Svalbard for two months. She has also been living in Tromsø in Northern Norway and in the Maldives. Margherita has a master's degree in Marine Biology.
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Martin Berg
Guide and Expedition LeaderMartin’s passionate interest in birds and mammals has brought him all over the globe. He has always been drawn to adventures and has participated in several expeditions, for example to the Amazon rainforest, Caucasus and the Himalayas to study rare and endangered bird species.
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Mattias Horntrich
Guide and Expedition LeaderMattias started his career as guide at PolarQuest 2012 after he had been working as a diving instructor for many years. His great passion is the arctic mammals, but he is also a newfound bird enthusiast! Mattias also works on our expeditions in Antarctica, Africa and the Galapagos.
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Max Schweiger
GuideMax was born in Nuremberg, Germany and first started to work in the film industry, which brought him to Abisko in the Swedish Lappland where he got addicted to the Arctic landscape and decided to move to Svalbard. He works as a snowmobile guide in the winter and does hiking during the summer.
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Meike Sjoer
Guide and Expedition LeaderAlready as a child Meike did spend a lot of time in the forest in the Netherlands. During this time she developed a love for nature, wildlife, adventure and especially birds. All kinds of birds have always been a big interest for Meike.
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Mia Lundqvist
GuideIn 2010 Mia started working at PolarQuest and she now works as Staff Manager, putting the guide teams on the ships together. The same year she visited Svalbard for the first time, and as for most visitors, it was love at first sight. Today she is splitting her time between the PolarQuest office, the Arctic and the Antarctic.
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Miriam Vermeij
GuideDuring her youth, Miriam travelled a lot with her parents and sister in Europe. She developed an interest in nature at an early age and spent most of her free time outdoors exploring local insects and plants. Her interest in nature led her to environmental science studies and she’s got a degree with a specialisation on soil pollution.
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Morten Jørgensen
Guide and Expedition LeaderMorten has visited all seven continents and worked as a guide, lecturer, zodiac driver and expedition leader ever since 1997. Morten is a skilled and very keen observer of wildlife, an active ornithologist and there are no areas of nature that do not fascinate Morten.
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Nikita Ovsyanikov
GuideNikita has spent much longer time in the Arctic and around polar bears than most people on the planet. He is the Deputy Director for science and senior research scientist of Wrangel Island State Nature Reserve. On Wrangel Island, Nikita has in particular studied the polar bear population for decades.
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Nils Carlsson
Guide and Expedition LeaderNils is a Ph.D. in limnology/invasive species biology and splits his time between guiding in polar regions and working with issues regarding invasive species and wildlife management at different Swedish government bodies. He is a quite a storyteller and is very passionate about fishing.
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Noee Knecht
GuideAn environmental scientist at heart, Noee is fascinated by all living and non-living things around her. After studying in Svalbard for half a year she fell in love with snow and ice. Her adventurous spirit has always led her to different places around the globe.
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Olivier Kopp Wålberg
Guide and Expedition LeaderOlivier started connecting with nature at the early age of 6 and has always been fascinated by its beauty, power and vulnerability.
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Patrik Jonasson
GuideMulti-tasker with many interests, but with the greatest love for birds, animals and nature. Works as a firefighter/rescue-teacher at the Rescue Service Storgöteborg. He also has a vocational teacher's degree from the University of Gothenburg with a focus on healthcare, care and social work.
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PA Åhlen
GuidePA is a northern biologist with a great interest in nature, which has resulted in countless trips to different parts of the world and exciting encounters with wild animals.
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Pablo Zenteno
GuidePablo studied Geography at the Universidad de Chile and has many years of experience carrying out glaciological research. He arrived in Antarctica for the first time in 2009 during the International Polar Year as a research associate in a project aimed to better understand the relationships between ice shelves and glaciers.
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Piet van den Bemd
GuideAs a child Piet developed a strong fascination for nature and wildlife. Together with his parents, he travelled to many different continents and countries, experienced new cultures and more wildlife than he has ever seen in his home country, the Netherlands.
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Pär Skog
GuidePär’s interest for travel and nature has followed him throughout his life. After his military service in the Mountain Rangers, he started his career in the travel industry within the hotel business in the United States, continued in mountain hotels in Sweden, and has worked with the indigenous people in Finland.
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Ryan Hope-Inglis
GuideBrittish Ryan lives in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, and guides winter trips on the snow and ice when not onboard. In his spare time Ryan enjoys rock climbing, mountaineering and mountain biking. He began his guiding career in Southern France as a white-water canoe instructor.
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Rustyn Mesdag
GuideBorn in Seattle, Washington, Rustyn grew up in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, including Alaska and Oregon. At a young age he quickly discovered his love for snow and ice which led to climbing and then travelling abroad. After two years of working as a professional alpine guide in the United States he relocated to Patagonia where he started a guide service outside of Torres del Paine National Park - Chile.
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Rutger Bianchi
GuideRutger has studied biology and has a particular fascination for animal behavior. He loves cold climates and the cold serenity of a winter landscape. The adaptations needed for animals and plants to survive in the rough Arctic is what fascinates Rutger. He loves being a guide in this magnificent place.
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Sandra Petrowitz
GuideOver a decade ago Sandra visited the polar regions for the first time. She immediately fell in love with the high latitudes’ nature, the beauty and the light. Sandra is an avid naturalist, traveler and photo-grapher with a keen interest in all kinds of nature observations.
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Sara Orstadius
Guide and Expedition LeaderSara grew up in Uppsala, Sweden, but lives since 2013 permanently in Svalbard. Sara has a master’s degree in linguistics and used to work as a translator in Stockholm and Berlin. But one day she decided to leave the office for the mountains and wilderness, and she spent the next couple of years up north.
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Sergei Sakharov
GuideSergei grew up in a small isolated village far in the north of Russia beyond the Arctic Circle. However, it was Antarctica that truly captured his heart when he first set foot there in 2010.
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Sven Lidström
GuideSven has extensive knowledge about our polar regions where he has lived and worked for many years. He has worked on all the seven continents and has participated in countless research expeditions. Today Sven lives in Tromsø, northern Norway.
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Szymon Niezabitowski
GuideSzymon was born in Cracow, Poland. He studied biology and geography in Cracow where he received his graduate degree in “Facility of Biology and Earth Sciences”. His final thesis was about volcanic soils on Iceland.
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Thérèse Horntrich
Guide and Expedition LeaderThérèse is Swiss and grew up close to the Alps. She has a master degree in media and communication but her life changed direction when she visited Svalbard for the first time in 2010. Already the next summer she returned to Svalbard and worked as a trekking guide. In 2012 she left Switzerland and moved to Longyearbyen.
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Thijs Holkers
GuideThijs was born in the Netherlands. He has a huge love for snow and mountains, something that started already at a young age.
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Ursula Tscherter
GuideUrsula grew up far away from the oceans in landlocked Switzerland. When her childhood dream to see a whale came true, her life took a turn. For the following 20 years she studied whales, especially the highly fascinating yet poorly known minke whale in Eastern Canada.
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Vide Brandt
GuideVide is born and raised in Gothenburg, Sweden, but has been a Longyearbyen resident since early 2007. Ever since moving to Svalbard he has had an above average interest in hunting, fishing and outdoors activities such as snowmobiling and hiking. These interests gradually developed into a lifestyle, and hobbies became work.
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Zet Freiburghaus
Guide and Expedition LeaderZet is a former successful member of the Swedish national kayak team who after his active career gained a Master's degree in Molecular Biology. His passion in life is to travel and when he is not guiding for us, or working as a kayak guide in Antarctica, he is planning his next travel adventure.
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Åsa Lindgren
GuideNormally Åsa's work consists of planning and conducting research expeditions to the Polar Regions; Antarctica, Svalbard and the Canadian and Russian Arctic. She previously worked for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, with projects focusing on ecotourism.
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