About us / Expedition team

Expedition Team

MARIO PLACIDI

Expedition leader

A lifetime adventurer, Mario has turned his passion into his lifestyle. Since 2015 he guides expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica. His adventures include a close up meeting with a polar bear, the solo climb of a mountain peak of 7000 m, and 30,000 km hitch-hiking in South America.

Dr. Huw Lewis-Jones

Expedition Leader

Huw is a historian with a PhD from the University of Cambridge. His award-winning books have been published in 14 languages. Huw was the Curator at the Scott Polar Research Institute and the National Maritime Museum in London.

Anja Erdmann-Rutten

Expedition Leader

Anja visited Greenland the first time in 2000 as part of her tourism management curriculum at university. She was quickly won over to the polar environment and feels that the Arctic and Antarctic are her true homes and professional arenas. Anja has been working since then mainly as Expedition Leader in the Arctic and the Antarctic regions.

ELOISA BERRIER

Kayak Master & Biologist

Eloisa grew up around water in Argentina, where she graduated as a marine biologist and collaborated on several research projects. Since 2008 she has been leading kayak expeditions in Patagonia, Antarctica and the High Arctic. Today she is the first female Level-4 sea-kayak instructor of the American Canoe Association.

CHAD BURTT

Expedition Guide

Chad joins us from South Africa. He has worked as a dive instructor, skipper and architectural designer. However, his passion is the Endurance story. In 1999 he was invited to Antarctica for his award winning IMAX movie about the iconic survival story of Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance expedition (1914), in which he starred as Frank Worsley.

Serena Yuan

Ornithologist

After studying at McGill University in Montreal, she was offered to work as a translator for a tour group to Antarctica. Serena fell in love with Antarctica and quickly traded her job at a big firm for a position in polar travel and pursued her master degree in biology. Specialized in seabirds especially albatross, she considers the Southern Ocean her second home.

Falcon Scott

Historian/Artist

Falcon is the grandson of Robert Falcon Scott, legendary leader of the Terra Nova Expedition. In addition to his outstanding work with the Antarctic Heritage Trust, Falcon`s many polar pursuits include capturing the unrivaled beauty of Antarctica in his art.

PIET VAN DEN BEMD

Photographer

During his childhood Piet developed a strong fascination with nature. He received his first camera at the age of 16 and immediately became passionate about photography. At the age of 17 he visited the Arctic for the first time and fell in love.

Christian Bruttel

Expedition Leader

After having traveled around the world many times in his pursuit of the adventurous life, Christian found his calling in the High Arctic settlement of Longyearbyen and started his immensely successful career as a polar guide and expedition leader in 2012. He has a well-earned reputation as a “polar bear whisperer”.

Marta Duch

Logistics

Marta, from Barcelona, has been going to sea since the age of eight. She was training in the Spanish Pre-Olympic sailing team for Athens 2004. She has spent three seasons in Greenland as a powerboat driver and tour coordinator.

Aaron Strahlke

Geologist

As a long time member of the non-profit organization Polarworld, Aaron also started to grow a passion for Polar Regions. His last adventure trips brought him to Iceland and Greenland. Aaron is pleased to be with you on board and hopes to spark an interest in the story-telling geology of the Polar Regions in you.