Global Voices

Donald Johanson

Dr. Donald Johanson, one of the most accomplished scholars in the field of human origins, is best known for his 1974 groundbreaking discovery of the 3.2 million-year-old skeleton known as Lucy. He and co-author Maitland Edey won the National Book Award in Science for their 1981 book Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind. As founding director of the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University, he has authored several books, appeared on numerous documentaries,  and hosted an Emmy nominated three-part NOVA series on PBS.

Join him on the October 8 & October 13, 2022, departures of Wild Galápagos Escape.

Greg Marshall

Greg Marshall is an inventor, biologist, conservationist, and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker. His most celebrated contribution to the research community is the invention of the National Geographic Crittercam, a small, lightweight, streamlined camera that has the ability to travel unobtrusively with its animal hosts where no camera has been before, capturing never-before-seen footage of the private lives of wild animals.

Join him on the October 28 and November 1, 2022, departures of Wild California Escape: Channel Islands National Park, or the January 21, 2023, departure of Baja California and the Sea of Cortez: Among the Great Whales. 

Dr. Sylvia Earle

Marine biologist Sylvia Earle is an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society. She is former chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and founder of SEAlliance, which partnered with National Geographic on Mission Blue to further global initiatives aimed at restoring health and productivity to the ocean. She has led more than a hundred expeditions, logged over 7,000 hours underwater, and has authored more than 190 scientific, technical, and popular publications.

Join her on the December 2, 2022, departure of Galápagos aboard National Geographic Endeavour II. 

John Francis

John Francis recently retired as Vice President for Research, Conservation and Exploration at the National Geographic Society. John began his career studying the behavioral ecology of seals and sea lions on remote islands in North and South America, and he has also worked as a producer of wildlife films. He currently serves on the Sustainable Travel International and Congo Basin Institute boards and advises the National Geographic/Lindblad Fund supporting marine and other projects visited by travelers around the globe.

Join him aboard the December 4, 2022, departure of From Southern California to Baja: Sailing the Pacific Coast. 

Maria Fadiman

Maria Fadiman is a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, multiple National Geographic grant recipient, two times TEDx speaker, Fellow in the Explorers Club, and a Professor in Geosciences at Florida Atlantic University. She researches the human/environmental connection throughout the globe, specializing in Latin American rainforests and cultures. 

Join her aboard the December 8, 2022, departure of Costa Rica's Cloud Forest through the Panama Canal, or the December 11, 2022, departure of Costa Rica and the Panama Canal.

Brian Kastl

Ecologist and National Geographic Explorer Brian Kastl leads coastal conservation projects across the Pacific. As a PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, he and his team track endangered California coho salmon migrations with microchips. Brian’s work is featured in the National Geographic Resource Library. Leveraging local knowledge, he has spearheaded fisheries, river, and reef research projects in Cambodia, Micronesia, Fiji, Barbados, and New Zealand.

Join him aboard the October 30, 2022, departure of Columbia & Snake Rivers Journey and the January 25, 2023, departure of Wild Belize Escape: Wildlife, Reefs, and Rivers. 

Dan Myers

Dan Myers, Senior Director of Public Affairs for Pristine Seas, manages a team of global experts to support the creation, expansion and sustainable management of marine reserves around the world. Myers has an extensive background in environmental policy and communications. Prior to National Geographic, he served as assistant director of communications for former United States Vice President Al Gore in support of his efforts to build awareness and promote solutions to the global climate crisis.

Join him aboard the February 25, 2023, departure of Under the Southern Cross: New Zealand to Melanesia. 

Stephen Cunha

​Geographer, educator, and author Stephen F. Cunha spent ten years as a national park ranger in Yosemite and Alaska. Now a geography professor at California's Humboldt State University, he studies diverse landscapes around the world. He is the author of National Geographic's Our Fifty States and How to Ace the National Geographic Bee: The Official Study Guide.

Join him aboard the April 16, 2023, departure of Columbia & Snake Rivers Journey.

William Saturno

Archaeologist and storyteller Bill Saturno is best known for his 2001 discovery of a 2000-year-old Mayan mural at San Bartolo in northern Guatemala. A National Geographic Explorer and a former NASA research scientist, he has conducted fieldwork around the globe, both on the ground and from space, to understand the ideological and environmental foundations of how the great Czars, Khans, Emperors, and Ajaws of the past ruled over their societies.

Join him on the May 23, 2023, departure of Mediterranean Gems: From Dubrovnik to Naples.

Sisse Brimberg

Award-winning photographer Sisse Brimberg has produced and photographed more than 30 stories for National Geographic magazine over the past 40 years. As contributing photographer for National Geographic Traveler, she has shot stories in Amsterdam, Casablanca, Oaxaca, Saint Petersburg, and beyond. She has earned first prize honors from the prestigious Pictures of the Year International (POY), and her images have been exhibited around the world.

Join her aboard the April 18, 2023, departure of Islands of the Azores: Fado Music to Fin Whales; the May 9 or May 23, 2023, departures of Circumnavigating the Baltic Sea; the June 29, 2023, departure of Legendary Northern Isles: Scotland, Faroes, & Iceland; or the July 29, 2023, departure of Iceland & Greenland: Edge of the Arctic.

Michael Melford

Michael Melford has produced more than 50 stories for National Geographic and National Geographic Traveler magazines over the past 30 years. His work has also been featured in LIFE, Smithsonian, Time, and Coastal Living, among other publications. His assignments have focused on conservation, preservation, and celebrating the beauty of wilderness and national parks around the world. His work has garnered prestigious honors, including the Lowell Thomas Award for Travel Photography and recognition from World Press Photo. The United States Postal Service also recently honored him by featuring several of his images on a set of Forever stamps celebrating Wild and Scenic Rivers.

Join him aboard the February 26, 2023, departure of South Georgia and the Falklands.

Susan Seubert

Award-winning travel and editorial photographer Susan Seubert has photographed more than 30 feature stories for National Geographic Traveler. Most recently, She has been participating as a travel expert in a series of workshops hosted by the University of Southern Denmark, where she, along with her academic colleagues, try to solve the issues surrounding sustainable travel in the polar regions. Her work has been recognized by Columbia University's Alfred Eisenstadt Award and the North American Travel Journalists Association for excellence in photography. She also lectures regularly at such institutions as Harvard University and the Portland Art Museum.

Join her aboard the January 26, 2023, or February 5, 2023, departure of Journey to Antarctica: The White Continent.

Rich Reid

Award-winning photographer and filmmaker Rich Reid has specialized in environmental and adventure photography for over two decades. North American Nature Photography Association elected Rich as a Fellow for his significant contributions to the nature photography industry, and he was a finalist for the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year for his time-lapse video documenting forest fire ecology. 

Join him aboard the October 28, 2022, or November 1, 2022, departure of Wild California Escape: Channel Islands National Park; or the September 8, 2023, departure of Galápagos Aboard National Geographic Endeavour II or Galápagos Aboard National Geographic Endeavour II + Peru's Land of the Inca.

Karen Kasmauski

Photographer Karen Kasmauski has produced 25 stories for National Geographic magazine on topics ranging from earthquakes in Japan to oil exploration in Alaska. As a senior fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers, she also specializes in looking at how the health of the land affects the communities on it. Karen's book Impact: From the Front Lines of Global Health, published by National Geographic, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Another book, Nurse: A World of Care, tells stories of dedicated medical professionals—“frontline soldiers” in the war against suffering and disease—from the frozen rivers of Alaska to the slums of Nairobi.

Join her aboard the May 4, 2023, departure of A Remarkable Journey to Alaska, British Columbia & Haida Gwaii and the September 3, 2023, departure of Coastal Japan: Imperial Dynasties & Modern Culture.

View More Experts

More than 30 National Geographic Photography Experts are traveling on Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic voyages in 2022 and 2023. View the full directory below. 

Sven Lindblad

Sven-Olof Lindblad was born in Switzerland and traveled extensively with his father, renowned adventure-travel pioneer Lars-Eric Lindblad, who led some of the first non-scientific groups of travelers to Galápagos, Antarctica, and many other regions of the world. As the founder of Lindblad Expeditions, Sven has carried on the legacy in this enchanted archipelago while continuing to innovate and enhance the guest experience. 

Join him on the October 22 and 27, 2022, departures of Wild Galápagos Escape.

Jamling Tenzing Norgay

Jamling Tenzing Norgay, son of the Everest pioneer Tenzing Norgay, is a member of a living dynasty of climbers, with 11 of his relatives summiting Mount Everest. Jamling's spiritual journey has led him to an attachment to the Himalayan region and its magestic jagged 8000-meter peaks.

Join him on the November 27, 2022, or December 7, 2022, departures of Journey to Antarctica: the White Continent.

Dr. Lawrence Blair

Lawrence Blair has spent much of the past three decades exploring and making films in Indonesia. He is the writer, presenter, and co-producer of the PBS and BBC TV adventure series Ring of Fire, which won two Emmy awards in 1988. He has lectured and appeared widely on international radio and tv, elucidating psycho-anthropology, tribal mysticism, and the ‘secrets’ of Indonesia. 

Join him on the November 27, 2022, departure of Exploring Indonesia: Bali, Raja Ampat & Papua New Guinea.

Peter Hillary

Peter Hillary is the son of Sir Edmund Hillary, who was the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest with his climbing partner Tenzing Norgay in 1953. He is the first second-generation to climb Mount Everest, he has climbed the Seven Summits (the highest mountain on each of the seven continents), and he has been on more than 40 mountaineering expeditions around the world.

Join him on the December 27, 2022, departure of Southern Odyssey: New Zealand and the Subantarctic Islands or the July 17, 2023, departure of Kimberley Expedition: Australia's Wild Northwest.

Tua Pittman

Internationally acclaimed as a traditional master navigator, Tua Pittman has navigated canoes from the coastlines of Asia through to the shores of the Americas for more than 30 years, without the use of modern instruments. He is a respected chieftain of his island homeland, a dancer, drummer, athlete, and gifted speaker.

Join him on the December 27, 2022, or January 14, 2023, departures of Southern Odyssey: New Zealand and the Subantarctic Islands, the February 25, 2023, departure of Under the Southern Cross: New Zealand to Melanesia, the March 10, 2023, departure of Rites and Relics: From the Solomon Islands to Fiji, or the March 22, 2023, departure of Tahiti to Fiji: Reefs, Lagoons & Volcanic Isles.

Kike Calvo

Award-winning photographer, journalist, and author Kike Calvo (pronounced Kee-Keh) specializes in culture and environment. His images have been published in National Geographic Magazine, The New York Times, Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair, among others.

Join him on the October 29, 2022, or November 5, 2022, departures of Panama and Colombia: Exploring the Caribbean Coast; the October 7, 2022, departure of Exploring Indonesia: Bali, Raja Ampat and Papua New Guinea; the November 30, 2022, departure of Best of Chilean Patagonia: From Torres del Paine to Cape Horn; the December 4, 2022, departure of Patagonia: Chilean Fjords and Argentina's Staten Island; or the March 25, 2023, or April 1, 2023, departures of Upper Amazon Aboard the Delfin II.

Richard Vevers

Richard Vevers is the founder and CEO of The Ocean Agency, an ocean conservation non-profit accelerating ocean science and conservation through the power of creativity, and collaboration. He is a fellow of the Explorers Club and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Rhode Island. He is best known for his leading role in the Emmy Award-winning documentary Chasing Coral on Netflix, and his work has been featured in numerous publications and documentaries.

Join him on the May 24, 2023, departure of Ancient Polynesia: Tuamotus and Marquesas Islands.

Ruth Reichl

Food expert and author Ruth Reichl served as Editor in Chief of Gourmet Magazine from 1999 to 2009. Before that she was the restaurant critic of both The New York Times (1993-1999) and the Los Angeles Times (1984-1993), where she was also named food editor. She is the author of five bestselling memoirs, including Comfort Me With Apples, Garlic and Sapphires, and Save me the Plums, as well as the 2014 novel Delicious!.

Join her on the October 20, 2022, departure of Exploring the Hudson River: Fall Colors, Conservation & Creativity. 

Susan Orlean

Susan Orlean is a bestselling author and one of her generation’s most distinctive journalistic voices. Her nonfiction works range from Rin Tin Tin to The Orchid Thief, on which the 2002 film Adaptation is loosely based. Her latest is On Animals, an essay collection about the creatures with whom we share our homes, lives, and the world. A staff writer at The New Yorker for over three decades, she is currently at work on adapting The Library Book for a forthcoming limited series with Paramount TV.

Join her on the November 18, 2022, departure of Galápagos aboard National Geographic Endeavour II.

Christina Thompson

Author of Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia, which won the 2020 Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Award and Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, Christina Thompson has worked at Harvard University since 2000, where she edits the literary journal Harvard Review and teaches in the Writing Program at Harvard University Extension. Her first book, Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All: A New Zealand Story, was a finalist for the 2009 NSW Premier’s Literary Award and the 2010 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing.

Join her on the April 5, 2023, departure of Easter Island to Tahiti: Tales of the Pacific. 

Ian W. Toll

Ian W. Toll is the author of Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the US Navy, and The Pacific War Trilogy, a three-volume history of the war in the Pacific. Six Frigates was the 2007 recipient of the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature and the William E. Colby Military Writers Award. Toll has been widely published in newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Boston Globe. 

Join him on the March 10, 2023, departure of Rites and Relics: From the Solomon Islands to Fiji.

Andrew Garling

Earth Day Co-Founder Andrew Garling was one of six activists who organized a historic event on April 22, 1970, that drew 20 million Americans (at the time, 10% of the total U.S. population) to participate in massive protests, rallies, and demonstrations across the country in support of greater environmental protections and to advocate for a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable planet. That event was EARTH DAY. 

Join him aboard the April 18, 2023, departure of Islands of the Azores: Fado Music to Fin Whales.

Carl Safina

Carl Safina writes about the human relationship with the natural world. His books include Song of the Blue Ocean, Voyage of the Turtle, and Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel. He hosted the PBS series Saving the Ocean. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, TIME, Audubon, and on the Web at National Geographic News and Views, Huffington Post, CNN.com, and elsewhere. He is now the first Endowed Professor for Nature and Humanity at Stony Brook University and runs the not-for-profit Safina Center.

Join him on the December 9, 2022, departure of Galápagos aboard National Geographic Endeavour II. 

Michelle LaRue

Michelle LaRue is a Lecturer of Polar Marine Ecology at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, where she jokes that she spies on animals from space for a living. More technically speaking, she studies biogeography and population dynamics of Antarctic penguins and seals using high-resolution satellite imagery. 

Join her on the the January 16, 2023, departure of Journey to Antarctica: the White Continent.