National Geographic Expert

Paula Swart

Paula Swart is an expert on Asian culture and history, and has been a museum curator for more than 20 years. She is currently Adjunct Curator (Asia) at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, Canada. A popular expert on more than 30 prior National Geographic Expeditions, her travels have taken her to Vietnam and Cambodia numerous times. Paula holds degrees in archaeology, Asian art history, and Chinese history. 

She speaks five languages, including Mandarin, and has published several books and numerous articles on the art and architecture of Asian cultures. Paula also studied and lectures on artifacts from the shipwreck of the Dutch East India company ship Witte Leeuw (White Lion), which was found off the island of St. Helena and documented in the October 1978 issue of National Geographic magazine.