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JON BOWERMASTER Expedition Leader
For nearly 20 years, writer and filmmaker Jon Bowermaster has explored the environment, and exotic corners of the world for a variety of national and international publications, ranging from National Geographic to the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly to Outside. He has written eight books, three with renowned polar explorer Will Steger. His travels have taken him to seven continents and included two-person sledging across Antarctica, sailing a 60-foot sailboat across the Atlantic, and first descents of rivers from Chile to China. His expeditions have been supported by six grants from National Geographic's Expeditions Council.
Jon's OCEANS 8 project is a series of expeditions launched to explore the world's oceans from the seat of a sea kayak. Used as both transportation and as floating ambassadors, sea kayaks allow Bowermaster and his teams - comprised of some of the world's top photographers, filmmakers, scientists and navigators - to reach corners of the world rarely seen. The goal of each expedition is adventure crossed with exploration of local cultures, histories, environmental issues and the future of these varied regions.
Around the planet more than 3 billion people live within 35 miles of a coast and depend on the seas that surround. Meanwhile, impacts on marine ecosystems have compromised the relationship between the world's oceans and humanity. OCEANS 8 allows for a unique exploration of this profound connection.
So far, expeditions to the Aleutian Islands, Vietnam, French Polynesia, South America's Altiplano, the wild coasts of Gabon, Croatia and Tasmania have resulted in coverage in a variety of media in several countries, including online, television and magazine interviews and reports.
Jon lives in Stone Ridge, New york.
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GRAHAM CHARLES Sea kayaker
Graham Charles has the dubious distinction of having spent more time in Antarctic waters in a kayak than anyone in the world. One of New Zealand's most versatile and well known outdoor professionals, Graham has been teaching, managing and playing in the outdoors for over twenty five years. Graham's vision and passion for sharing the values of an active lifestyle and outdoor experiences lead to the formation of Adventure Philosophy and the successful world first expeditions to the Antarctic Peninsula, Darwin Cordillera and South Island Georgia. Now established as one of the country's leading outdoor photographer / writers he is the author of New Zealand's 'bible' of whitewater destinations , and was the principle photographer of The Frozen Coast and The Unclaimed Coast chronicaling the teams journeys in Antarctica and Sth Georgia. His work has also been published widely in New Zealand, USA, UK and Europe. A former national representative in whitewater slalom racing he has climbed, paddled and adventured in over a dozen countries and pioneered new rock routes, new ascents in the mountains and rivers of New Zealand. In between photography jobs and adventures he leads expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic for Peregrine Adventures, teaches whitewater kayaking at Otter Bar Lodge in California and tries to spend time in his patch of native forest on the wild west coast of the South Island.
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RODRIGO JORDAN Climbing Leader
Rodrigo Jordan is founding director of Chile's Vertical S.A., a leadership consulting firm devoted to using the mountains as a classroom for groups ranging from Fortune 50 company managers to MBA students to elementary schoolchildren. Vertical S.A. utilizes outdoor education as a means for teaching leadership skills, communication skills, teamwork, and entrepreneurship...skills important not only in business, but in life.
Jordan earned an undergraduate degree in civil and industrial engineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. He then studied at Oxford University (England), where he earned a Ph.D. in organizational administration. Today, Jordan is a professor in Innovation Processes and Management in the MBA program at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
During his undergraduate days in Chile, Jordan began mountaineering throughout South America and the United States. He continued climbing while at Oxford, during which time he also took a specialized course as a mountain-climbing instructor. After two failed expeditions, in 1992, Jordan led a successful Chilean expedition to the summit of Mount Everest, the first ever from Latin America to reach the summit and only the second in the world to do so by way of the difficult East Face. In 1996, Rodrigo led a Chilean team to a successful ascent of K2, the world's second tallest peak. In 2002, he led a four-person team in an unsupported 250-mile (420-kilometer) traverse, much of it unexplored, of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica. In 2004, Jordan once again led a successful expedition to the summit of Mount Everest.
Jordan has received numerous climbing awards. He is also a full member of the Royal Geographic Society of the United Kingdom and was appointed a member of the selection committee for the 2000 Rolex Awards for the Spirit of Enterprise. In 1995, Time magazine identified him as one of the leaders of the "new millennium."
Jordan and Vertical have worked actively with many corporations, universities and other non-profit organizations to bring his leadership message to the classroom, lecture hall, and to the great outdoors in places such as Chile's Patagonia region and Antarctica. He has lectured in the US with diverse companies and not-for-profit organizations such as J.P. Morgan Executive Group, Outward Bound Conferences Series, Babson College Leadership series, Wharton Leadership Conferences Series, and the United States Naval Academy among others. They have recently developed joint programs with New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business, the MIT-Sloan School of Business and Notre Dame-Mendoza School of Business. Vertical's corporate clients have included Shell, Unilever, Coca Cola Export, Pepsi, Exxon, Proctor & Gamble, J.P. Morgan, Pfizer, Merck, and others.
Jordan lives in Santiago, Chile.
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SEAN FARRELL Navigator
Sean Farrell is an (intermittent) attorney who enjoys sailing, climbing, kayaking, and various other outdoor diversions. Highlights of Sean's sabbaticals from the practice of law include: Jon Bowermaster's original Oceans 8 sea-kayaking expedition in 1999 (Alaska's Islands of the Four Mountains, with Jon Bowermaster and Barry Tessman); retracing Jack London's Alaska/Yukon travels for National Geographic Adventure magazine in 2000 (with Geoffrey Norman and Barry Tessman); various trans-oceanic sailing voyages and offshore races; Arctic and Alaskan excursions by foot, paddle and dogsled; some international climbing jaunts to Canada and Peru; and most recently, several horse drives in his home state of California.
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PETE MCBRIDE Photographer
Colorado native Peter McBride got his start in journalism in 1994 at the High Country News in Paonia, Colorado where he was a writer and photographer. Since 1997 he has worked as a freelance photojournalist and writer for a number of publications, including National Geographic, Smithsonian, Esquire, Men's Journal, Outside, the Washington Post Magazine, GEO France and other national and international magazines. A graduate of Dartmouth college and former U.S. development ski team member, Peter's passion for the outdoors and foreign cultures have led on a array of assignments to more than 50 countries covering subjects ranging from honor crimes in Jordan to Cuban tobacco farmers to his most recent work covering the narcotic trade in the horn of Africa and a story on the Khumbu icefall of Mt. Everest in the Himalayas of Nepal.
In 2006, Peter was awarded a nine month John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford University where he focused on Latin America and multimedia story telling. His recent work on Mt. Everest won an award of excellence for sports action photography with Pictures of the Year International 2007. Peter has worked on five Oceans 8 teams.
Pete Lives in Basalt, Colorado.
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JOHN ARMSTRONG Videographer
Director of Photography John Armstrong has been shooting documentaries and other television genres around the world for twenty-two years. He is best known for his work on the PBS NOVA special "Mountain of Ice," for which he won the Primetime Emmy for Non-Fiction Cinematography in 2004. He has also garnered four Sports Emmys for his work on assorted adventure documentaries. In addition Armstrong has been nominated three times for primetime Emmys for his work on the reality shows "The Amazing Race" and "The Contender."
Armstrong has also produced, directed, and written a number of documentaries. His two-part History Channel Special "Cliff Mummies of the Andes" was nominated for a Distinguished Achievement Award by the International Documentary Association in 2003. "Bashkaus: Hard Labor in Siberia" won the 1989 Grand prize at Telluride Mountainfilm, "Curtain of ice" won Best Documentary in 1991 at Mountainfilm, and "Paucartambo: The Rest of the River" won the Cable Ace Award for Best Leisure or Recreation Film in 1988 as well as the People's Choice Award at the Banff Festival of Mountain Films. Armstrong's most recent producing/directing effort was the 2005 Travel Channel show "Peru: The Royal Tour," which featured President Toledo of Peru.
Armstrong is a graduate of Harvard University (BA 1974) and the American Film Institute (Directing Fellow, 1988). John lives in Malibu, California.
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ALEX NICKS Videographer
Alex Nicks was born and raised in Devon England. Alex was educated to degree level in the earth sciences before departing the UK in search of rivers. No stranger to a kayak, he worked as a video kayaker on the Zambezi before traveling to compete on the British team in white water freestyle and in 2000 won the European championships.
Alex has been the videographer for five Oceans 8 expeditions. Learning to paddle a sea kayak has been endless fun and remembering not to turn too quickly or to try to go at the pace of some of the more mature members of the team were some of the more rewarding challenges.
Alex counts National Geographic, PBS, ABC, MTV and Calvin Klein among his broadcast credits.
Alex lives in New York City.
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FIONA STEWART Onsite Communications Management
Graphic designer and artist, Fiona Stewart is co-author of two books about Antarctica's wild places - "Albatross: Elusive Marines of the Southern Ocean" and "Subantarctic Wilderness: Macquarie Island." A native of Flinders Island, a remote island located in the midst of the Bass Strait that separates Australia's mainland from Tasmania, Fiona has worked in the publishing business the past decade. On Flinders, she is also known for her adoption of orphaned marsupials - wombats, specifically - a boom business on an island where kangaroos, wallabies and wombats outnumber people 400 to 1. Aboard the "Pelagic Australis" she will coordinate communications, sending out daily dispatches, photos, video and podcasts.
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WILL STEGER Antarctic Advisor
Educator, polar explorer, photographer, writer and lecturer, Will Steger has become a voice calling for understanding and the preservation of the Arctic. Steger has led the most significant feats in dogsled exploration such as the first confirmed dogsled journey to the North Pole without re-supply (1986), the 1,600-mile south-north traverse of Greenland - the longest unsupported dogsled expedition in history (1988), the historic 3,471-mile International Trans-Antarctica Expedition - the first dogsled traverse of Antarctica (1989-90), the International Arctic Project - the first and only dogsled traverse of the Arctic Ocean from Russia to Ellesmere Island in Canada (1995). Historic feats for which Steger has received numerous honors and recognitions among others include: Explorers Club Finne Ronne Memorial Award (1997), National Geographic Society's First Explorer-In-Residence (1996) and National Geographic Society's John Oliver La Gorce Medal for "accomplishments in geographic exploration, in the sciences, and for public service to advance international understanding" (1995).
He joins Amelia Earhart, Robert Peary, Roald Amundsen and Jacques Cousteau in receiving this prestigious award. Steger has been invited twice to testify before Congress on polar and environmental issues. He founded the Global Center of Environmental Education at Hamline University in 1991 and the World School for Adventure Learning at the University of St. Thomas in 1993. Steger is the author of four books: Over the Top of the World, Crossing Antarctica, North to the Pole and Saving the Earth.
Will lives in Ely, Minnesota.
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PAUL ANDREW MAYEWSKI Science Advisor
Explorer and Scientist, director of the Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, and leader of more than 45 expeditions to Antarctica, the Arctic, Himalayas, Tibet and Tierra del Fuego, Paul has devoted his scientific career to documenting changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere produced both naturally and by humans. Along the way he has pioneered the use of calibrated climate records going back thousands of years and demonstrated the link between changes in climate and civilizations. His climate change book Ð
"The Ice Chronicles" Ð is one of the best on the subject. Awarded the first international Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research Medal for Excellence in Antarctic Research, Mayewski Peak on the Antarctic Peninsula is named for him. He will be guiding the scientific efforts of our expedition.
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Tim Trompeter Webmaster
Photos, videos and dispatches from the field will come to artist Tim Trompeter in New York City, who will compile and present them. Tim has been designing and building websites since the invention of the web browser in the mid 90's. His design awards include Communication Arts web site of the week, Lycos Top 5% and USA Today HotSite. His graphic design is featured in Rockport Press's Navigation and Typography volumes of their series Web Site Graphics, The Best Work from the Web. Tim's digital imaging has been seen as giant projected images in diverse venues, including the Broadway shows Tommy and Having Our Say, the player introduction graphics for the New York Knicks, and dream images for Haydn's opera Orpheus produced by the Vienna Festival.
A graduate of the University of Colorado in Boulder, Tim has long been a passionate believer in the benefits of a good long walk. Following his muse, he was among the first Westerners to trek in Ladakh in 1978, with neither map nor quide. He maintains workplaces in New York City, and in a small village in the French Pyrenees. Currently devoting his time to art and family, you'll find a sampling of his current work at timtrompeter.net
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SKIP NOVAK Captain, "Pelagic Australis"
Born in 1952, Skip Novak is an American based in Europe. He is best known for his participation in four Whitbread Round the World Yacht Races since 1977. In that year at the age of 25 he navigated the British Cutter KINGS LEGEND to 2nd place.
Skippering the INDEPENDENT ENDEAVOUR in 1979, he won the Parmelia Race from Plymouth to Freemantle Australia.
He skippered Simon Le Bon's DRUM in the 1985/86 Whitbread Race coming 3rd. He wrote a book entitled "One Watch at a Time" about this experience and it was published both in England (David & Charles) and in America (W.W. Norton).
In 1989 he was project manager and skipper of the FAZISI, the first Soviet entry in the Whitbread Race, and he chronicled this watershed event in his book "Fazisi - The Joint Venture" which was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award in Britain.
Wishing to combine his mountaineering skills (New Zealand and the Alps, expeditions to East Africa, Sikkim, Nepal, Patagonia, South Georgia and Antarctica) with sailing he built the expedition yacht PELAGIC in Southampton in 1987 and has since spent fifteen seasons in Antarctic waters, twelve of which were leading combined climbing and filming projects based from the vessel.
In 1993 and again in 1996 he and Pelagic were featured in one hour programs for ESPN which were aired worldwide. He is frequently asked to comment on high latitude adventuring and ocean sailing by radio, TV and print media and is a regular contributor to many sailing magazines worldwide and also for the Daily Telegraph in London.
During the last six years he occasionally has returned to top level ocean racing on large multihulls. In 1997 he navigated the French catamaran EXPLORER to a sailing record in the Transpac Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu (5 days 9 hours). In 1998 he co-skippered EXPLORER with Bruno Peyron breaking the sailing record from Yokohama to San Francisco (14 days 17 hours). In January to March 2001 he co-skippered the 33 meter French catamaran Innovation Explorer to a second place in the millennium non-stop, no limits circumnavigation The Race. See www.therace.org
In 2002/2003 Skip project managed the construction of his new Pelagic Australis, a 23 meter purpose built expedition vessel for high latitude sailing in order to augment the charter operations of the original Pelagic. Launched in September of 2003 she is the flag ship for Pelagic Expeditions.
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