WHO WE ARE

Sarah started working in the outdoor industry in 2002 as a professional ski instructor. Hailing from the USA, her background is in senior management, leadership development, instructional design and coaching. She has worked in the Polar Regions since 2013 as an Assistant Expedition Leader, Trainer, PTGA Assessor and Expedition Guide with more than 100 trips logged. 

Sarah has a Master of Science from the University of Pennsylvania in Nonprofit Leadership focused in social innovation and cross-sector partnerships. She ran leadership development training and program operations at Wharton Leadership Ventures managing leadership expeditions in remote places such as Antarctica, Chilean Patagonia, Ecuador, and Tanzania. Sarah has also worked as an International Consultant for UN Women specializing in knowledge management and instructional design, co-authoring more than twenty publications. 

As PTGA’s Executive Director, Sarah is focused on leading our small team of staff, working with the board to implement strategic vision, and as the key contact for all organizational partners. She will also be in touch with members in regular communications and looks forward to connecting with the PTGA network of guides around the world. 

She is trained as a Professional Ski Instructor, an AMGA Single Pitch Climbing Instructor, a Wilderness First Responder, and is a certified PTGA Assessor and Senior Polar Guide. 

Introduced to adventure through fieldwork during her Geoscience degree, Stephi Walker began working in outdoor leadership in 2012. After several years of instructing and guiding adults and young people on and off the water, and across multiple continents, she leapt at the opportunity to guide in Antarctica in 2015.

Since then, she has built extensive experience working in polar regions as a sea kayak guide, geology lecturer, citizen science coordinator, PTGA Assessor, and Expedition Leader across a wide range of operators and vessels. Since becoming a PTGA Senior Assessor, Stephi has also taught PTGA Assessor Training Courses in both Europe and South America.

Alongside her expedition work, Stephi has strong professional experience in outdoor organization leadership, remote risk management, and education program development – developed and strengthened through a shore-side operational role with a polar operator and leadership of a Canadian outdoor youth non-profit. She is particularly interested in communication, leadership development and building practical systems that support both people and organizations in complex environments.

Outside of work, Stephi is a keen whitewater kayaker, general adventure-lover, and chronic wearer of hats. She is from Scotland, currently lives on the East Coast of Canada, and suspects part of her heart may permanently belong to Antarctica.

Alexandra has worked as a Lecturer, Staff Trainer, Assistant Expedition Leader, and PTGA Assessor across all seven continents and in more than 80 countries. With over seven years of experience in the expedition industry, she has built a career around sharing her passion for the world’s rich history, diverse cultures, and wild places. She holds a particular affinity for the polar regions and, much like the Arctic Tern, finds herself migrating between the North and South.

Alexandra graduated from Kenyon College in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, Asian Studies, and China Area Studies. She continued her academic journey at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)–Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in Nanjing, China, where she completed her graduate-level coursework entirely in Mandarin.

Alexandra is a Wilderness First Responder, Snorkel Instructor, and certified PTGA Assessor and Senior Polar Guide. When she’s not at sea, she can be found exploring some of the world’s most beautiful national parks. She is excited to serve as the Area of Responsibility Manager for the PTGA.

 

Raewyn joined the PTGA in June 2022 to assist in administration and membership focused projects. Raewyn has no desire to be in a boat, nor out in the cold, but is happy to hear from all of you! Feel free to contact Raewyn if you have any queries. If she can’t help, she will get you in contact with someone who can. Raewyn comes to us with a strong background in Administration and Office Management. She started her own business in 2009.

Living the quiet life in Wanaka for the past 21 years with her partner John. They host boarders in the winter season to help with the accommodation pressures and have met some amazing people from around the world.

Please reach out anytime with any questions and Raewyn will help. She’s also happy to receive photos from around the world! 

 

Pascale is a passionate conservationist whose goal is to shine a light on animal and environmental topics and to turn everyday people into passionate advocates for our planet and its fragile ecosystems.

She has worked on the frontline of conservation since 2014 with a range of endangered species across Asia, Africa, North America, Australia & Europe. After working in Churchill & Svalbard in 2018 and seeing firsthand the impacts of Climate Change, she decided to focus on the species in the poles. 

Since then, Pascale has taken part in expeditions in the Arctic and as a Flight Polar Guide across Antarctica as well as gaining her UN qualifications for Climate Change Fundamentals and working at the G20 Summit to gain experience on foreign policies. 

Pascale joined PTGA in 2019 supporting the Board of Directors and has worked across different projects, social media and growth. 

Colby brings a variety of experience to the board, from small business operations and strategic planning, to field work as an Expedition Leader and Program Manager. He is excited about the future of PTGA, what it offers guides, and its potential for development right now.

Colby has led expeditions in the polar regions since 2006, the brunt of that experience executing small-group departures from small yachts in Antarctica and remote camps in Canada and Greenland. He also moonlights aboard traditional expedition cruise ships in the Antarctic.

When not working as an EL in the field, Colby is the EL Manager for Natural Habitat Adventure’s polar bear expeditions in Canada and is a lead instructor and developer of guide training programs for the company.

Formerly, Colby spent six years as the General Manager of Southern Yosemite Mountain Guides, where he oversaw daily operations, guide training curriculums, program development, risk management planning, and marketing initiatives.

Heather has worked in the polar expedition world for almost a decade and a half. She fell in love with the polar regions when she first visited Svalbard in 2007 and was overwhelmed by the peace of its vast landscapes. Soon, she was venturing south on an expedition to Antarctica, where she has since returned to over 40 times as a guide and general naturalist. 

In 2015 she founded Polar Tracks Expeditions, a now award-winning polar expedition cruise agency owned and staffed exclusively by polar guides. 

Committed to supporting the highest standards of professionalism in the polar guiding industry, Heather was inducted to the Board of Directors for the Polar Tourism Guides Association in 2018. 

She is passionate about the concept of 360 degree guiding, meaning an equal focus on the development of the soft skills required for excellence in professional experience delivery, on top of the traditional technical guiding skills required. 

Originally from Canada, Heather now calls Sweden home. 

Graham is uniquely qualified for this role and merger of polar guiding and performance-based vocational assessment. He has been assessing outdoor skills and teaching people how-to-teach for over 35 years and believes fully in the value of engaged testing.

Graham has been working/playing/expeditioning in the polar regions for over 20 years. He was part of New Zealand’s professional outdoor training and assessment scheme from its first day of inception in 1987 and has seen first hand the value of a structured testing, feedback and communications system that allows candidates to be fully accountable in the process of testing their own competence and judgment against a relevant industry syllabus.

He has a worked in training and assessment programs around the world as a developer, assessor and licensed trainer. Currently he runs the day to day operations of the PTGA, works free-lance as an Expedition Leader in the polar regions, and with the Leadership School at Wharton Business School developing their expedition model of leadership training.

Alex has a PhD in earth sciences from the University of Cambridge. He has worked in polar tourism in the Arctic and Antarctic as an Expedition Leader and guide since 2011 for a variety of companies on a range of vessel sizes from 12 to 134 passengers. Prior to this career he worked as a professional yacht-master delivering vessels and training people to the RYA ‘Yachtmaster Offshore’ level. In 2014 he took part in the South Georgia Guideline Review of extended walks, acting as the IAATO representative. This gave him good insight into the GSGSSI view of tourism and need for industry standards for operating in this environment.

In 2018 he co-founded the Polar Citizen Science Collective, an organisation devoted to coordinating use of polar tour vessels for data collection and scientific research.

He is enthusiastic about training and skill development and this opportunity to merge his experience as a trainer and as a polar guide with what the PTGA has to offer. Alex is a passionate climber and skier and when not on ships can usually be found with skis or sticky rubber on his feet, and is currently working through the UK Mountain Training scheme.

Marcus is the CEO of New Zealand largest Cycle Tourism business operating with over 100 staff across the NZ and the South Pacific.  He brings a strong mix of leadership, business and strategy skills to the PTGA Board combined with a full understanding of the PTGA Assessment model. He has had direct involvement in the polar industry as previous General Manager Commercial and Partnerships with the Antarctic Heritage Trust based in Christchurch, New Zealand and has guided on several Antarctic cruise ships

Prior to his current CEO position he was an executive leader for large NZ businesses operating in the safety sensitive Civil Construction and Electrical sectors.  He has twenty years’ experience in the Human Recourse, Organisation Development and training industry and is a Chartered Fellow with Human Resources NZ.

Marcus’ early career was in outdoor education and was an Assessor with the NZ Outdoor Instructors Association for over twenty years and held Level II Alpine, Rock and Bush awards. He has sea kayaked the length of the Antarctic Peninsula, completed the first circumnavigation of Sth Georgia by sea kayak (see the display in Grytviken museum) and dragged a sled across Greenland. Marcus has love of wild and polar places and is keen to help the development of organisations that operate in this space. He is a keen skier, climber and tramper and with his family gets out at every possible opportunity in the NZ mountains and back country.

 

Erica is an experiential educator with over 15 years of experience leading wilderness
expeditions. A former instructor for Outward Bound and NOLS, she has been a prominent leader in the outdoor industry since 2009. Erica has played key roles as a trainer and assessor for wilderness guides across the U.S. and has developed curriculum for expedition-based outdoor education programs in a variety of settings.

Currently, Erica leads Wharton Leadership Ventures, a world-class experiential learning program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She designs and delivers leadership training and expeditions in some of the most remote regions of the world and facilitates relationships and partnerships with some of the best in the outdoor industry. A dedicated educator, she is passionate about using the wilderness as a vehicle for learning.

In addition to her work with Wharton Leadership Ventures, Erica serves on the teaching team for the Penn Athletics Wharton Leadership Academy, supporting leadership development of over 30 varsity athletic teams. She is also the Learning Director for the Women’s Executive Leadership program in Wharton’s Executive Education and co-teaches Wharton’s highly experiential course
on business ethics and sustainability.

Erica’s academic background is rooted in psychology. She holds a doctorate in human development and is a certified executive coach and consultant from the University of Pennsylvania.

Bill has worked in the expedition cruise industry since 1993, both in the field and with land-based teams. During that time, he has led and participated in more than 200 voyages on vessels carrying between 12 and >400 passengers on everything from sailboats to nuclear icebreakers.

While holding senior strategic and operational shoreside positions with prominent expedition cruise companies, Bill has also been highly involved in industry organisations (IAATO, KMTA & AECO) by belonging to several committees in each, including 13-years sitting on the executive committee of one of them.

He’s a strong proponent of training and development of field and shoreside staff and has demonstrated his own desire to learn and grow by going back to school at the age of 40, where he was awarded a MPhil degree in Polar Studies at the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge University.

One of Bill’s passions was hot air ballooning, which culminated in a flight at the north pole. His other is kayaking and he was fortunate to spend a month in an unsupported kayak expedition to NE Greenland, where Bill and his kayak-partner conducted physical site surveys and inventories of the many hunters and trappers huts they encountered on the coast, for NANOK http://www.xsirius.dk/da/nanok.html .

Bill is proud and honoured to be associated with the PTGA and looks forward to going back into the field after retiring from shoreside duties. He is currently upskilling and re-certifying qualifications, before getting back into the field.

Latifa AlGurg was born in Dubai and from an early age, she grew up with a talented family who were heavily involved in the construction and architectural design field. This allowed Latifa to attain a great eye for detail, structure, and clean lines. She acquired a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the American University of Sharjah in 2003 and pursued a career in construction alongside her father, a civil engineer. Latifa’s passion for design came to fruition when she identified a gap in the market for high-quality, contemporary clothing for travel and decided to create her own brand, Twisted Roots, in 2014.

The brand mirrored her appreciation for structure and lines, seen in construction and architecture, through clean silhouettes, top-quality fabrics, and layering. The name ‘Twisted Roots’ reflects her passion for travel and the realization that despite cultural and environmental differences, people share a common foundation. The brand evolved to offer services such as pattern making, fabric sourcing, sampling, and manufacturing services. During this time, Twisted Roots won the design competition for the volunteer uniforms for EXPO2020 Dubai.

 In 2020, Latifa shifted her focus toward coaching and consulting design and fashion brands. She helps them realize their visions and grow sustainable and reliable businesses. This coaching-consulting model provides a holistic view of the business and identifies each brand’s individual needs. In recent years, Latifa has expanded her work to include social impact initiatives within the UAE. She is deeply passionate about creating positive change within her community. She also continues to expand her knowledge and expertise, pursuing a Master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership.

She recently immersed herself in the polar tourism industry on an expedition cruise to Antarctica. This past year, as a part of her Master’s program at the University of Pennsylvania, Latifa joined the Polar Tourism Guides Association as a practicum student.

Pam is a marine scientist, PADI dive instructor, zodiac skipper and sailor, and has worked in and on the ocean just about every day for the past 20 years. Hailing from South Africa she worked in the expansive dive industry while gaining a BSc in zoology and physiology. She progressed to managing the dive school before starting up her own whale watching charter and boat business.

Pam has participated in several marine research cruises, has published three smartphone apps on sharks & rays, whales & dolphins, and Antarctic Wildlife and her passion for teaching people about the oceans and conservation is legendary in the industry. Pam started expedition cruising in 2008 and has been almost everywhere a small cruise ship can take you. She is now Head of Expedition Operations at Noble Caledonia and represents them at AECO & IAATO where she participates in several committees and working groups, and she leads Noble Caledonia’s sustainability initiatives. She is excited about the direction the PTGA is taking and believes new people in the industry need to have a basic standard of competency and something clear to aim for.

Pat Lurcock is well known to anyone who has worked in the south and been to Sth Georgia and after 25 years working for the South Georgia government, he has a real grasp of the issues that arise when operating in, and managing activities within, remote wilderness areas and is keen to observe and advise the PTGA in its infancy.

After graduating with a degree in electrical and electronic engineering, Pat joined the British Antarctic Survey as a geophysics technician and spent a double winter at Halley base studying the earth’s magnetic field and learning about computers. He then joined the Falkland Islands Government after a short stint programming in the UK, and lived in Stanley for three years, providing IT support for all departments with the fishery administration. This led to a four-month tour on South Georgia doing basic harbour administration, which eventually extended to 25 years, during which he played a part in developing the fishery administration, tourism administration, biosecurity procedures. He also developed a keen interest in all aspects of South Georgia – biology, geology, history, environmental management and industry.

Pat enjoys Nordic ski touring, with multi-week tours in the USA, New Zealand and longer expeditions as a leader with BSES Expeditions in Chile, the Falklands, South Georgia and Svalbard. He also took part in the first end-to-end traverse of South Georgia in 1999.

Franka is an experienced Arctic guide and expedition leader based in Longyearbyen. Since completing the Arctic Nature Guide program in 2017, she has led a wide range of trips across Svalbard and now works in field safety at UNIS, where she trains students, staff, and professionals for safe operations in remote environments.

As president of the Svalbard Guide Association and a senior polar guide and assessor with the PTGA, Franka is committed to raising guiding standards and supporting professional development across the industry. Originally from Germany, she combines deep local knowledge with a strong passion for community and collaboration in the polar world.