Svalbard (Spitsbergen)

The guides

• Adrian Nordenborg

  Guide

  Adrian 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.

• Christian Engelke

  Guide & Expedition Leader

  Christian 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.

• Elke Lindner

  Guide & Expedition Leader

  Always 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.

• Hannah Lawson

  Guide

  Hannah 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.

• Malenthe Teunis

  Guide

  Malenthe 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.

• Manda Lundström

  Guide

  In 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.

• Martin Berg

  Guide

  Martin’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.

• Mia Lundqvist

  Guide

  In 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.

• Nikita Ovsyanikov

  Guide

  Nikita 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.

• Thérèse Horntrich

  Guide & Expedition Leader

  Thérèse 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.

• Zet Freiburghaus

  Guide

  Zet 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.

• Åsa Lindgren

  Guide

  Normally 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.

• Gunilla Lindh

  Guide and Expedition Leader

  Nilla 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.

• Beau Pruneau

  Guide and Expedition Leader

  Growing 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.

• Johan Carlsson Tjernström

  Guide

  Johan began his career as a guide on board M/S Stockholm in 2019, and since 2022, he has spent most of his summers in Svalbard. Between the seasons in Svalbard and Antarctica, he has devoted himself to studying history, and his interest in the rich history of these harsh climates has been a major driving force in his guiding.

• Margherita Lucadello

  Guide

  Margherita 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.