Expedition Team in Norway

Ralf gained a PhD in outdoor education at Edinburgh University and has since worked in a range of diverse roles such as ranger, Outward Bound instructor, lecturer as well as trekking and sea kayak guide in national parks in Svalbard and North-East Greenland.

Raised in Germany, Judith completed her Master´s degree in Tourism Business Administration in the UK, which led her to working in a hotel on Mauritius and in Scandinavia as a tour guide.

Next, she moved on to Costa Rica, followed by time in Pucón, Chile. Returning to Germany, she worked as a Product Manager planning polar expedition cruises.

Her role at Hurtigruten gives her the chance to share her extensive travel experience and expertise with guests from around the world.

Bjørn was born and raised in Svolvær on the Lofoten islands in northern Norway. In 2016, he finished a five-year integrated master’s degree, comprising teaching studies and a research-based master’s thesis at the University of Oslo.

From 2012-2017, he worked as a lecturer and event host at the Fram Museum in Oslo.

Olav has led numerous scientific expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctica. He was managing director of the Norwegian Polar Institute from 1993 to 2005 and administrated polar research at the Research Council of Norway from 2005 to 2012.

Olav acquired his PhD in Glaciology at Ohio State University, studying the glacier history in Antarctica.

Dom is a first-generation Aussie of English heritage. Dom gained his master’s in exploration geology in London.

His true passion is for photography and exploration, both from above and underwater (Dom is an avid scuba diver and instructor). His images have been published and highly commended in several magazines.

Charlotte discovered her love for the ocean during her early childhood and proceeded making it a career. At age fourteen she started scuba diving, later followed by a Master’s degree in Marine Environmental Sciences of the University of Oldenburg. After a research semester in Portugal, she quit academia and started volunteering at sea for the British whale and dolphin conservation charity ORCA.

Charlotte first joined Hurtigruten Expeditions as a marine scientist at the same timse as MS Fridtjof Nansen, in early 2020. After being MS Otto Sverdrup’s ORCA Ocean Conservationist for half a year, she is now coordinating the onboard science program as a Science Coordinator. 

Having been an enthusiastic sailor since boyhood, Henryk Wolski from Poland worked after his university studies as a sailing instructor and skipper and organized concept sailing trips under historical mottos. Another facet of Henryk’s life is the love to adventurous expeditions.

He was a member of ICESAIL Expedition that sailed around the North Pole and an expedition that retraced Sir Ernest Shackleton’s famous voyage. Henryk organized different expeditions like following the tracks of the Vikings across the European continent, or Expedition “Darwin & Tierra del Fuego” s with a replica of a whale boat. Since 2000, Henryk has been working regularly as expedition leader and lecturer on cruise ships, especially in the Antarctic, the Arctic and the Amazon.

Juliane has always had a curiosity for the polar regions. Thus, she moved to Svalbard in 2015 to study Arctic Geology. Four years later, she was still on the island and finished her master’s degree specializing in glaciology, sea ice and permafrost.

While studying, she started to work as a guide on MS Nordstjernen and discovered her passion to share her knowledge and excitement. After one year in the Education office at the European Space Agency she is happy to leave her desk in Space behind and return to planet Earth to explore all the exciting geology it has to offer.

Kay Fochtmann is a visual connoisseur and photographer. He was born in East Germany (former GDR). Spending his childhood in a country with closed borders and many limitations might have fuelled his desire to explore the world. Initially this happened by bringing the world to his home. His childhood room was soon filled with tarantulas, snakes, geckos and chameleons.

Later, extended trips abroad followed and photography has provided him with the perfect tool to express his fascination for exploring nature and its richness of diverse creatures and landscapes. Kay turned his passion for photography into a profession and his job brought him to live in Brazil and visit many countries such as Mexico, Cuba, the USA and many European countries. His pictures can be found in international travel magazines and books. Kay is always open for discussions about photography and eager to share his knowledge with everyone who is interested in taking better photographs. In the rare moments that he doesn’t have a camera in his hands, chances are high he is playing the guitar.

Raissa was born in Brazil, but she is a Viking through and through! (According to her DNA test, she is 4.2 per cent Scandinavian, maybe that's why?). She not only speaks fluent German and English (and Portuguese as her mother tongue), but also a little Norwegian.

She fell in love with Northern Europe on previous tours as a tour expert on large ships, and she is passionate about bringing the nature, culture and people there closer to you. She knows the coasts, harbours and cities very well. Nordic mythology is her special hobby - and as an experienced hiker she will gladly give you tracking tips!