Naturalists
Naturalists
There’s the naturalist who casually mentioned that he hadn’t been back to this remote Alaskan island since living here 20 years ago for a summer to study the familial habits of bears. Or the one who told you the last time he sailed past this South Pacific island a stranger ran out and began shooting a gun at them. Or the one who tells you she lived on that uninhabited Galapagos island for a year studying interactions between giant tortoises and introduced donkeys for her PhD while gathering rain and heavy mist for drinking and only occasionally bothering to wear clothes.
They are as different as their vast experiences and come from academic, natural history, museum, medical, and exploration backgrounds. Their specialistes—ranging from archeology to zoology—are tailored to every Lindblad Expedition to give guests a variety of interests and personalities to choose from while exploring. With an industry-leading ratio of 1 staff for every 10 guests (depending on ship size), Lindblad guests have the luxury of choosing which naturalist to explore with each day to indulge their interests and learning.
And the naturalists are much more than guides. They are engaging companions, participating fully in the expedition joining guests at meals and in the lounge over drinks. In fact, Lindblad guests consistently cite the expertise and engaging company of the naturalist staff as a key reason they return to the same ships to explore new regions.
There’s the naturalist who casually mentioned that he hadn’t been back to this remote Alaskan island since living here 20 years ago for a summer to study the familial habits of bears. Or the one who told you the last time he sailed past this South Pacific island a stranger ran out and began shooting a gun at them. Or the one who tells you she lived on that uninhabited Galapagos island for a year studying interactions between giant tortoises and introduced donkeys for her PhD while gathering rain and heavy mist for drinking and only occasionally bothering to wear clothes....
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Meet our Naturalists
Naturalist
Salvador Cazar
Salvador Cazar studied biology at the Universidad Nacional Del Sur, Bahía Blanca, in Argentina and at the Catholic University of Ecuador. Between 1988 and 1994, Salvador worked as a naturalist and tour leader for several national and international tour operators, leading groups of visitors across the Ecuadorian rain forest, Andean forest, and to Galapagos. From 1995 to 2011, he performed a number of functions at the public and private level for national and international organizations. Among others, he acted as the regional coordinator of the Feasibility Study for the Environmental Management Program for the Gal á pagos Islands financed by the Inter-American Development Bank; coordinator of the Ecuadorian Permanent Commission for the Gal á pagos Islands; consultant for the Project "Support to the Global Management Plan for Tourism Development and Ecological Conservation of Gal á pagos National Park and Galapagos Marine Reserve" funded by the UNDP; executive director of the Ecuadorian Association of Ecotourism; instructor of environmental interpretation for the Gal á pagos National Park and KAPAWI Ecolodge & Reserve; coordinator of the Sustainable Tourism Program of Fundación ESQUEL–Ecuador; Conservation International–Ecuador sustainable tourism specialist; and Conservation International–Ecuador socio economic coordinator. At the moment, Salvador is working as a naturalist taking groups of visitors across Gal á pagos and continental Ecuador and providing technical assistance on different aspects of responsible travel to NGO´s, government organizations and businesses.
Naturalist
John Pailthorpe
John spent the early years of his life in London, before an inspirational teacher took him to the highlands of Scotland on a school adventure trip. From then on the natural world has been his passion. After teacher training in Bangor, North Wales, John began a thirty-year career in outdoor education centres and schools, teaching and leading children and adults in such pursuits as mountaineering, rock climbing, kayaking, and sailing throughout the U.K. and Europe. During this time John took time out to be part of six polar scientific expeditions, as a field assistant/guide. Two of these were with the British Antarctic Survey; the first a two-month field expedition to the Eklund Islands on the Antarctic Peninsula; the second, eight months as part of a king penguin and elephant seal study on South Georgia. He served as a boat skipper/field guide on a geological expedition to the northwest of Svalbard. More recently, he took part in three expeditions to the Greenland ice cap for the Scott Polar Research Institute of Cambridge, as part of the European Space Agency's “Cryosat” project. John is well aware that his career, and the wonderful experiences it has included, all began with one special teacher. With this in mind, he likes nothing more than to pass on his enthusiasm for nature and all things outdoors, with the intention of promoting an awareness and caring attitude towards the natural environment.
Naturalist
Madalena Patacho
Madalena was born and raised in Portugal. Her childhood was spent in Belem, surrounded by Portuguese maritime history, always dreaming about exploring the oceans. Her love for nature has led her to study biology and later to take a Master’s in management of natural resources, specialized in ecotourism. She has lived on Príncipe Island, off the west coast of Africa, working with local communities on a responsible tourism project. She is inspired by the principles of ecotourism and is always looking for the best ways to contribute and leave a positive footprint everywhere. To travel around the world is her biggest passion, connecting with different cultures, exploring the wilderness and having a taste of local genuine experiences. Following this passion has allowed her to extensively explore Latin America, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Arctic. Her knowledge and enthusiastic storyteller talks have taken her to several universities, lecturing about ecotourism, sustainable tourism and nature conservation. When she is not exploring the world, she dedicates her time to Ocean literacy and environmental education working as a marine educator with a variety of audiences raising awareness on ocean conservation.
Naturalist
Robin Patten
The natural world has always been central to Robin’s life. At an early age, she was out exploring the Montana backcountry, learning natural history through experience. She went on to earn a Ph.D. in landscape ecology from Colorado State University, followed by an M.S. in Environmental Writing from the University of Montana and a Post-Graduate Diploma from Scotland’s Centre for Mountain Studies. Her studies included environmental history and cultural geography, and her work often focuses on the interactions between cultures and landscapes. Robin still lives in Montana, writing and working from a small cabin near Yellowstone National Park. Robin has traveled in several continents, always considering how interactions of time, people, and place shaped the landscapes she encounters. Her interests include international topics of conservation and biodiversity, and her knowledge stretches across diverse subjects, from native woodlands to sustainable rural communities. Scotland has become one of Robin’s frequent destinations. She has studied, volunteered, and traveled extensively throughout Scotland, and delved into that country’s environmental history from Neolithic times onward. Robin enjoys experiencing the world on foot. She’s walked thousands of miles in several countries, from Norway to New Zealand, connecting with landscapes, people, and communities along the way. Robin also enjoys sharing the sense of discovery and learning that comes from exploring new places—on foot or by other means of transportation.
Naturalist
Martin Cohen
Martin grew up in Melbourne Australia playing cricket and Australian Rules football. While growing up, to his parents’ dismay, Martin brought home and kept a menagerie of wildlife including frogs, lizards, turtles and even poisonous snakes! After successfully completing a PhD. in tropical biology, Martin has spent much of the last 25 years using various mediums to impart his knowledge and passion about the natural world to people from all walks of life. During this time, he has also conducted numerous wildlife surveys and biodiversity monitoring programs throughout Australia, South-east Asia and the Amazon rainforest, worked with community conservation groups and guided eco-tours all over Australia. Martin has also authored several books (with over 40,000 sold), researched, directed and presented wildlife information on television and radio and written countless popular wildlife articles and interpretive signs. Martin still goes into the field as often as possible, however, much of his time nowadays is spent working as a naturalist for Lindblad – National Geographic to regions all over the world.
Naturalist
Deb Goodwin
Passionate about creating opportunities for explorers of all ages to engage with wild and under-studied places, Deb embraces the power of immersive experiences to inspire curiosity and conservation. Extended backcountry expeditions as a teen jumpstarted this commitment and continue to motivate her travels. No matter the location, she observes the natural environment with a detective’s mindset, seeking to understand how local history, geology, weather, and ecological processes together shape the coastal land- and seascape. Deb studied earth science at Carleton College and holds graduate degrees in ecosystem biology, oceanography, and experiential education. Over the last two decades, she has worked as a sailor, teacher, and research scientist in locations around the world, complemented by professional intervals focused on map-making and wilderness-based leadership development programs. As Associate Professor of Oceanography and Chief Scientist with Sea Education Association (SEA), Deb takes undergraduates on multi-month voyages aboard sailing research vessels, training them in scientific techniques, navigation, leadership, and environmental and cultural stewardship. Her own research efforts include mapping the distribution and abundance of marine plastic pollution and examining its ecological impacts; documenting changes in Pacific Ocean conditions resulting from El Nino events to better inform marine protected area management; and tracking the drifting seaweed Sargassum and the unique community of organisms it hosts throughout the North Atlantic. Deb is science advisor to the Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic microplastics citizen science project.
Naturalist
Conor Ryan
Conor Ryan is a congenital ecologist. His career began in the late 1980s, when he developed a keen interest in intertidal ecology, undertaking almost daily field trips to the seashore across from his home in Cobh, Ireland. Though he logged significant hours searching beneath barnacle-studded rocks for eels, his publication record on this seminal research was sorely lacking because he was five years old. As he grew, so too did the size of the marine creatures that he was preoccupied with. He completed his PhD in Galway on the ecology and population structure of baleen whales in the Celtic Sea and West Africa, using stable isotope analysis, molecular genetics and organochlorine contaminants. During this time, he realized that the lab was not his natural habitat, so he now works as a research scientist primarily in the field, using passive acoustics and line transect surveys to map whale distribution and estimate population sizes. Conor is a Research Associate on the research vessel Song of the Whale and has published over 30 peer-reviewed papers and several book chapters. His whereabouts mirrors that of an arctic tern, although he has a much more placid temperament. Although he calls the Isle of Mull in the Hebrides “home”, he is scarcely found there. Conor is a keen swimmer, surfer, kayaker and mushroom forager.
Naturalist
Julia Huggins
Julia grew up skiing, camping, and climbing in the mountains of Wyoming and sailing, sea kayaking, and tide pooling along the coast of Maine. She studied biology and environmental studies at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. As an undergraduate, she studied fungal ecology and soil chemistry in the Pacific Northwest old growth forests. Her work focused on how symbiotic relationships between trees, mushrooms, and soil bacteria drive ecosystem-level processes. This research in microbial ecology has brought her to remote corners of the world, including the rainforests of New Zealand, Patagonia, Ecuador, and Alaska. Julia is now working on her PhD in biogeochemistry at the University of British Columbia where she studies how chemical processes carried out by tiny microorganisms shape the global environment. Though her background is in forest ecology, she enjoys masquerading as an oceanographer in her current role as chief scientist on marine research expeditions in the Pacific Northwest. Julia is inspired by the complexity of interactions between microorganisms. She believes they hold the key to addressing many global challenges, such as adapting to climate change and cleaning up environmental contaminants. She loves whales, bears, and bald eagles, but she will probably be most excited about the rare variety of Usnea lichen on the tree branch next to the charismatic megafauna. Throughout her research career, Julia has combined her love of the outdoors with her work as an educator and naturalist. Julia was an intern with a program that teaches college-level biology courses on backcountry kayaking expeditions through Southeast Alaska’s Inside Passage. She has also worked as a naturalist on backpacking trips in Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii, and she is a co-founder of a non-profit that supports outdoor education for underprivileged youth. She believes deeply in the power of place-based education; sharing the things that inspire her about the natural world is the root of her motivation for research and science outreach.
Naturalist
Javier Cotin
Javier 's passion for birds and nature began as a child exploring the Pyrenees mountains with his father. The mystery that surrounds the Lammergeier silhouette triggered his curiosity and interest towards wildlife. Javier studied biology in Spain and Norway, and was awarded his PhD at the University of Barcelona in 2012, titled “Birds as bioindicators of pollution in terrestrial and aquatic environments”. Within it he mainly studied the trophic ecology and pollution levels of land and waterbirds, with a particular focus on how human activities affect bird populations and dynamics. His work provided important information for conservation management of wetlands and terrestrial habitats and the species that utilize them. Through research and conservation, Javier has followed his interest in birds and nature by participating in several projects, which have taken him to isolated islands and remote archipelagos across the globe. Columbretes islands and their Eleonoras Falcons in the heart of the Mediterranean, Tasmania, Heligoland in the North Sea, Tromsø in Norway, the Seychelles archipelago and their graceful White-tailed tropicbirds in the Indian Ocean, Costa Rica or the Galápagos islands and their impressive landscapes and fauna are just some examples where Javier had the chance to learn, research and protect wildlife. One of his latest projects was with the University of Hawaii in Oahu, trying to unravel the mysteries of the Pueo or the Hawaiian Short-eared Owl. Currently, he is back in Spain, living in the heart of the Pyrenees with his loyal border collie, Orion. Javier, as a keen ornithologist and world traveler, is always up to new adventures or new places to explore, the more remote, the better! His enthusiasm for the natural world will undoubtedly help you enhance your once in a lifetime experience with Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic.
Naturalist
Stefano Pozzi
Stefano is originally from Italy and nature has always been the greatest of his passions. Spending time outdoors is his daily priority with a special devotion rock climbing during summer, accompanied by ski and snowboarding during winter. Stefano has a mathematical background and graduated with honors at the University of Milan after 4 years of combined studies in Italy, India, Norway and Sweden. This represented for him the final fulfillment of his student duties and he celebrated by taking off to a 3-month solo bike-trip from Milan to Lisbon and back, following the pilgrimage route "Camino di Santiago" and covering a distance of 8000km. The taste of freedom gained through his bike tour and his travels led Stefano to move to the wildernesses of Norway in 2011, working as ski instructor and tour guide. In search of new challenges, in 2014 Stefano moved to the very high arctic of Svalbard and here he took the university education of Arctic Nature Guide and increased his skills on flora and fauna of the arctic. Today Stefano is a full-time outdoor professional and has working experience from Arctic, Antarctic, Italy, Norway, Australia and Nepal. His expertise is long ski and hike expeditions and he logs more than 100 field days and tent nights in the Norwegian Arctic. His everyday mission as naturalist is to share his knowledge and bring his guests even closer to nature, be able to provide them with the means to "live" in the wilderness rather than merely survive. In return he loves to learn something new every day from his guests.
Naturalist
Jeff Campbell
Jeff Campbell fell in love with the ocean while attending boatbuilding school in Eastport, Maine. Since completing his MS in Marine and Estuarine Science at Western Washington University, he has worked for NOAA documenting the ecological impacts of transoceanic fiber-optic cable; the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife developing an aging method for sixgill sharks; the Lummi Tribe as a Harvest Biologist; Northwest Indian College teaching Fisheries and Wildlife Biology, and as a volunteer for the Whatcom County Marine Mammal Stranding Network. He has been involved in research developing mitigation methods for harmful algae blooms, sterilization methods for oil tanker ballast water, and techniques for screening refinery effluent for harmful ecological effects. He also served as Principle Director on a USDA-funded grant using student interns to study the impact of nutrient-rich run-off on seasonal dead-zones in Bellingham Bay. Jeff is passionate about the marine environment, particularly the northeast Pacific, and believes that the key to preserving this fragile biome is lighting the spark in others by sharing his knowledge on the interconnectedness of seemingly disparate systems. He is particularly interested in the effects of ocean acidification on the larval stages of mollusk, and arthropod larvae. Summers for the last three years have found him driving expedition landing craft and sharing the joys of whale watching with guests. A Lummi Island, Washington resident for more than 18 years, Jeff lives with his wife Penny, who has been a marine naturalist on whale watch boats in the Salish Sea for many years, and their cat, Boo.
Naturalist
Robert Edwards
Growing up in the Appalachian foothills of the Garden State, Rob instinctively knew it made a lot more sense to head over the hill into the fields, forests, lakes, and streams behind his house, rather than down the road to the shopping mall in front of it. The natural world piqued the inherent curiosity in all of us and set his life course based on these questions: how does the world work, and how do we as humans fit into it? As an undergraduate it was a revelation to Rob that one could get paid to hike through clouds of mosquitoes and berry brambles just to collect a water sample, and by the completion of graduate school he had worked on a variety of ecological research projects from the Southern Appalachians to northeastern Quebec. After moving to the western U.S., opportunities included studying the impacts of the oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, crawling through mountain streams to count salmon fry, climbing the Continental Divide to elucidate air pollution effects on mountain ecosystems, and more than a decade working with projects to study the ice and ecology of Antarctica. Currently based in Montana, Rob happily combines work and play to explore interesting places wherever they can be found.
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