Our guides (old)
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 & 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, photographer, journalist and lecturer with the whole planet as his working ground.
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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 & 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 and green sea turtles in Costa Rica.
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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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Caroline Svärd
GuideWith a university degree in Biology, Caroline has worked in many places, from Canada to Kenya. Since early age Caroline has a passion for environmental issues and sustainable development. She has conducted research on sea lions in Canada and studied marine ecosystems in East Africa.
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Cecilia Sandström
GuideCecilia Sandström lives “where her heart is” and currently calls Luleå in northern Sweden her home. During her worldwide travels, she discovered her passion for snow, ice, and cold waters. For 13 months she studied in Svalbard, and considers the high Arctic as her second home.
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Christian Engelke
Guide & Expedition LeaderChristian was born in Germany, but ever since his first vacation in Norway he has suffered severely from a “Scandinavia fever”. He has curiously explored the mountain and coastal regions of Norway, Sweden and Greenland. Since 2009 he works as a fulltime guide in the Arctic and Antarctic.
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David Berg
Guide & Expedition LeaderDavid is a Swedish adventurer with a love for nature which started early. He has always been interested in the Polar Regions, and now has two university degrees in Earth science and Nature guiding. He caught the famous polar bug during his first visit to Svalbard and since then he has visited Svalbard several times.
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Eirik Grønningsæter
GuideEirik grew up on the west coast of Norway. Through his keen interest in birds already from early childhood he is an acknowledged birder in Norway. After finishing his university studies in Zoology he started his own company, designing and running fieldwork for various scientific projects.
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Elke Lindner
Guide & 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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Hannah Lawson
GuideHannah 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
GuideHenrik 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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Kerstin Langenberger
GuideKerstin Langenberger has fallen in love with the Polar Regions. Deeply. Originally from Germany she spent seven years in Iceland, where she graduated in Environmental Science before she started working with tourism. She studied in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, to become an Arctic nature guide.
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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
GuideIn 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 biggest passions is marine mammals, which led her to Iceland to study marine biology.
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Martin Berg
GuideMartin’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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Marty Garwood
GuideBorn in Sydney, Australia, Marty’s love for the ocean led him to a degree in Marine Science and a very hands on job with an assortment of marine animals as a senior keeper at Sydney Aquarium. This role provided Marty some very unique experiences such as being foster parent for penguin chicks and hand feeding sharks.
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Mattias Horntrich
Guide & 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 and the Galapagos.
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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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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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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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Sara Orstadius
GuideSara 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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Thérèse Horntrich
Guide & 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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Zet Freiburghaus
GuideZet is a former successful member of the Swedish national kayak team who after his active career gained a Master's degree in Molecular Biology. He has also travelled around the world. His sharp eyes and great experience in nature implies he rarely misses an animal.
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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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