Meet our new Operation Manager Henry
We are happy to welcome Henry Páll Wullf as our new Operations Manager, with a primary focus on Greenland and Antarctica. Born in Germany, an Icelander at heart, and currently living in Transylvania, Henry likes to define himself as a world citizen. He brings extensive experience in guiding and field operations management in the polar regions. Read the interview to get to know Henry better.
Welcome to PolarQuest, Henry! Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
– I’m travelling on a German passport, as I was born and raised in Berlin, Germany. However, I’d rather define myself as a European or world citizen. I never truly understood the purpose of political borders, fences, or passports. I didn’t choose to be born in Germany; I suppose I was just lucky. But the era I was born into enabled me to travel and live abroad. I’ve lived in the Netherlands, the UK, Norway, and, for quite some time, in Iceland, which deep down I still consider the place where I belong. During all that time, I adopted traits and features from all those places, making it hard to be called "a German," as I am possibly the least “German” German you might know.
Currently, I live with my family in the heart of Transylvania, right at the junction of three geographical regions: the Transylvanian Plain, the Mureș Valley, and the Niraj Valley. Our village, in the rural countryside of the Niraj Valley, is part of a commune of roughly 2,000 people and is only 30 minutes from the nearest town, Târgu Mureș. I am often asked why I live here, and the simple answer is that my wife is from here. I met her in Iceland, and at the beginning of the pandemic, we decided to move back, which was the best decision we could have made. Our son, Leo, was born here last year, and I couldn’t be happier that he’s being raised close to his grandparents and dozens of relatives.
Started in advertising
Professionally, I started in advertising. During my A-levels, I founded a web design agency with a friend that still exists today. After school, I completed my professional education in advertising and moved to Munich, where I joined a small agency working primarily for Siemens and Telefónica O2. I eventually left the industry, wanting to become an A&R manager in the music industry. I loved music but had no talent for playing an instrument. No record label, however, thought I was a good fit, so I ended up at a film production company that primarily produced music videos and concert recordings. After travelling to nearly every major music festival across Europe, I left the company to start my own, which lasted nearly ten years. During that time, I produced numerous music videos for both emerging and established artists, TV documentaries for the German and British markets, and commercials for well-known brands. We primarily produced in Iceland, giving me the perfect reason to move to this beautiful place.
From hiking guide to cruise ships
At one point, I was asked if I wanted to lead a group of hikers on a 14-day trek through the Westfjords, which I did. I enjoyed the trip a lot and was baffled that one could make a living from that, so I slowly started working as guide – first for German companies operating tours in Iceland, then for Icelandic companies. I started as a hiking guide in the Highlands, on volcanoes and glaciers, and later as a guide on tours around the Ring Road or through the Highlands. From there, it was a small step onto a cruise ship for a circumnavigation of Iceland. I immediately fell in love with life on board and the lifestyle. When I left the Ocean Diamond at the end of the season that year, I moved on to smaller ships in Northern Norway. Twelve-passenger vessels became my home for a long time, and I deeply enjoyed the relationships built with guests. But this lifestyle takes a toll if you continuously work back-to-back trips year after year. So, I transitioned to larger vessels – first a tall ship, then a 100-passenger vessel, and eventually 200-passenger ships in both the Arctic and Antarctica. The passion I developed for geology and ice in Iceland stayed with me, and I soon became a well-regarded lecturer, particularly in glaciology and volcanology in both polar regions. Later, I was also hired as a historian, as polar exploration history is a topic of great interest for me. In general, I am much like a sponge; I soak up everything related to the polar regions and their connection to the world’s biosphere. This ultimately led me to join the Curiously Polar podcast, which I now co-host with the two founders, Chris Marquardt (a well-known photographer) and Mario Acquarone (Deputy Director of the Arctic Marine Assessment Programme, AMAP, and an Expedition Leader himself).
Served as Field Operations Manager
During the pandemic, when our work literally ceased to exist, I was fortunate enough to be offered the opportunity to set up expedition operations for a new company, and I am proud to have put a new-build vessel into service in Antarctica only ten months after starting from scratch. Following that, I helped Ponant reposition their product around the icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot, which I was also fortunate enough to help put into commercial service in the Arctic. Later, I served as Field Operations Manager for Quark Expeditions, focusing strongly on Health & Safety, including incident reviews, SOP development, and field staff training and development.
Returned to a small ship company
Now, I am happy to have returned to the smaller ship size that started it all for me. The particular challenges we face with a changing Arctic make our operations increasingly complex, and I am glad to join the team around Marie, Johanna, Mia, and Henrik to not only ensure safe operations for our Greenland and Antarctica products but also to set a successful course for PolarQuest for the future.
What is it about polar destinations that fascinates you?
– The remoteness is certainly a big factor in my fascination, but also the vulnerability of the ecosystems, and the way they serve as the "canary in the coal mine", if you will – an indicator of extreme change in the time of the climate crisis. The polar regions work very well as a living classroom; there are very few places where you can better visualize the changes we anticipate for the world, as well as the impact of our way of life, than in the polar regions. And while Antarctica boasts incredible wildlife and massive ice, the Arctic presents indigenous cultures with over 4,000 years of history and tradition. There are no better places to see how everything in our world is interconnected, and sharing my passion for these regions, using them as a backdrop to explain what I need, makes me feel humble about my own role in this world.
Do you have any areas of expertise?
– I’m basically a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none, but I’m a total nerd when it comes to all kinds of ice (including ice cream) and volcanoes. Bathymetry and oceanography are other topics that really excite me, as well as the history of polar exploration. Geopolitics is also fascinating, especially when it comes to the specifics of the polar regions. Literally everything polar.
My true expertise (and after many, many years, I still consider myself a novice here) lies in Japanese green tea. I’m a true believer that there’s no better green tea out there than Japanese, and that brewing a pot of green tea is more of a ceremony than a task. Drinking this wonderful elixir brings me joy and much-needed caffeine, and I’m always happy to share rare, high-quality teas with anyone interested. It’s almost impossible to find really good green tea in regular tea shops, let alone restaurants. So, if I can help, I’m happy to!
What do you think you can mainly contribute to the team?
– Being the least “German” German, everyone expects me to be the most organized person in the building. And to be fair, compared to most others, maybe I am. So yes, I hope to bring a bit of that to the table. I have been around the industry quite a bit, and I hope to contribute with my experience from all the different ways operators organize their businesses and operations, helping to put things into perspective. And while I’m an introvert who truly hates networking events, I feel I am fairly well-connected in the industry, which helps solve a lot of the complex issues we are currently facing across the Arctic. Training and Development is a personal passion for me, and I hope to contribute to that for PolarQuest in the future as well. My dry sense of humor, irony, and sarcasm are surely already much appreciated by my colleagues in the office, and they’re probably quite happy to only have me around in person once a month.
If you have anything else you would like to add, feel free!
– I’m a firm believer in the degrowth movement as well as in lifelong learning. Further, I am deeply invested in American Football and work with a local team in Romania’s American Football league. Using the sport to shape boys into men, teaching them lessons that go far beyond the sport, and breaking the toxic masculinity still present in vast areas of the country is one of my more ambitious side hustles, that’s for sure. But seeing the Mureș Monsters grow is one of the most fulfilling things I’ve been part of.
The true gift in life, however, is quality time with my family. Being able to spend time with my son – bringing him to daycare every morning, picking him up for lunch, playing with him in the afternoon, or simply exploring the forests around our village – these are the most precious moments in life. And that puts everything in perspective again. Working in an environment where family is valued and not considered a burden is just as precious, making me even more appreciative of being part of the PolarQuest family.
