Speakers

Sarah Merusi

Executive Director, PTGA

Sarah is a PTGA Senior Polar Guide and Senior Assessor with over one hundred polar expeditions. She previously managed global leadership expedition programs for Wharton Leadership Ventures and worked as an international consultant for UN Women. Today she leads PTGA’s strategic vision and global partnerships, drawing on more than fifteen years of experience in leadership development.

Mariano Curiel

Expedition Leader & Head of Operations, Secret Atlas

Mariano is an experienced expedition professional with a strong background in polar operations. He has led and supported logistics, field operations, and team development, ensuring complex expeditions run safely and efficiently. His expertise combines hands‑on field experience with solid planning and risk‑management skills.

Allison Kean

Projects and Policy Senior Manager, IAATO

Allison is part of the operations team, supporting field staff education, resource development, the Observation Program, and the work for the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. Previously, she served as Head of Tourism for the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, overseeing visitor management and policy compliance, and earlier worked with an IAATO operator on logistics and permitting.

Niels Sanimuinaq Rasmussen

Cultural Ambassador

Niels grew up in Ittoqqortoormiit, Kalaallit Nunaat. Working and learning from the tourism industry since his youth, he came into the expedition cruise world as a cultural ambassador in the Arctic. Inspired by his love for his culture and Inuit mythology, being part of healthy and sustainable tourism has been his goal since he stepped into the expedition world. Using his expertise and culturally informed adaptability, he aspires to reach his goal of becoming an expedition leader.

Anders La Cour Vahl

Deputy Director, AECO

Anders la Cour Vahl is involved in AECO’s strategic planning, overall portfolio, and specific thematic areas. Previously, Anders worked as Chief Analyst for Air Greenland and Deputy Director at Visit Greenland, where he managed cruise development initiatives, including collaborations with AECO. Anders is based in Nuuk, Greenland.

Hayley Collings

Director of Communications, IAATO

Hayley leads IAATO’s communications and Antarctic Ambassador Program development. A former journalist and communications leader in UK policing, she has managed crisis response across major national issues. Since joining IAATO in 2017, she has strengthened strategic communications and established the Polar Communicators Forum—a platform for IAATO member sales, marketing, and comms professionals to advance best practices across the industry.

Bill Davis

Polar Expedition Expert & Safety Specialist, Facilitatior

Bill has worked in the industry for over thirty years, as an expedition leader, guide, and later in shoreside management. He has served on many committees within IAATO and AECO, and now serves on the PTGA Advisory Board. Recently, he and his partners started a training company (ERSA) teaching polar bear safety.

Aaron Lawton

Head of Expedition Operations, Viking & Chair, IAATO Field Operations Committee

Aaron is a PTGA Senior Polar Guide with twenty‑eight years in the industry, working as a kayak guide, expedition leader, and in shoreside operations management. He has served on vessels ranging from fifty‑two to nearly four hundred guests. Since the late 1990s, he has drawn on his background to integrate established wilderness‑guiding practices into everyday expedition operations.

Troels Jacobsen

Field Operations Manager, AECO

Troels developes and maintaines AECO’s field operations tools, measures and procedures, amongs them the Cruise Database and Live Scheduler. He has more than 15 years’ of experience from the expedition cruise industry, both as a guide and as expedition leader in the Arctic and Antarctic.

Alex Cowan

Secretary, PTGA

Alex has worked as a guide and expedition leader in both the Arctic and Antarctic since 2011. He has co‑created a sea‑ice observation project on icebreaking voyages to the North Pole, which led to the co‑founding of the Polar Citizen Science Collective. He has helped develop several IAATO site guidelines, contributed to the extended hike guidelines for the Government of South Georgia, and is a director of the Polar Tourism Guides Association.

Daven Hafey

Director of Operations, IAATO

Daven joined the IAATO Secretariat in September 2025, bringing nearly a decade of experience aboard expedition vessels in Antarctica and the Arctic. He has served as a guide, staff trainer, and EL, supporting both onboard and shoreside operations. Earlier, he worked as a field biologist in Alaska where he developed his maritime expertise, logging more than 2,000 days as captain on vessels operating from Washington State to the Bering Sea.