Seabourn’s Antarctic Faculty
Seabourn has named the scientists and leaders for 19 Antarctic departures from November. On landing-limited voyages, the team is a real part of what clients are buying.
Seabourn has published the names of the people who will run its 2026–27 Antarctica season, and for advisors the team is part of what they are selling. Between November 2026 and March 2027, Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Pursuit will run 19 round trips from Ushuaia, Argentina. Each voyage carries a 21-member expedition team covering marine biology, wildlife, conservation, geology, environmental science and polar history. As we reported in Antarctica’s crowded horizon, time ashore is the scarce part of an Antarctic trip, and it is shared out under strict limits. Much of the time between landings is spent with the expedition team in Zodiacs, on deck and in lectures. A named, credentialed team helps clients judge what they are paying for.
The season
Most voyages run 10 to 12 days. A few 20-day departures also visit South Georgia and the Falkland Islands. Every Antarctica voyage includes a pre-cruise hotel night in Buenos Aires and return charter flights to Ushuaia, where the ships sail from. On board, the team runs shore landings, Zodiac cruises, daily briefings, lectures, fireside chats and optional kayaking, and speaks in Seabourn Conversations, the line’s lecture and talk program.
Seabourn Venture, the first of the pair, entered service in 2022 and carries 264 guests. Under the industry limit of 100 people ashore at a time from any one ship, guests take turns going ashore. The expedition team decides that rotation.
Who is on the roster
Expedition leaders are Luciano Bernacchi, Ignacio Rojas, Juan Restrepo, Dom del Rosario and Fridrik Fridriksson, with assistant expedition leaders Joe Cockram and Sean Bercaw. Seabourn says that between them they have more than 20 consecutive Antarctic seasons.
Named lecturers and field staff include:
- Dr. Sean Todd, marine mammal scientist
- Brent Houston, wildlife expert and conservationist
- JJ Apestegui, ornithologist and naturalist
- Dr. Elizabeth Pierce, archaeologist and Viking scholar
- Molly Gaughan, marine biologist and whale researcher
- Dr. Lori Snyder, geologist
- Vishwa Rana, astronomer and Indigenous cultures specialist
- Kim Stevens, seabird researcher
Emily Fosbery, Will Wagstaff, Demetri Capetanopoulos, Rorie Duncan and Dr. Jarrod McKenna will join “throughout the season”. Seabourn calls the list “just a selection” of the team.
Read next · Trend AnalysisThe Rise of the Gen-XYZ-pedition4 min →“Time and again, guests tell us that the knowledge, enthusiasm, and personal insights shared by our team members transformed the way they experienced a destination,” Robin West, Seabourn’s vice-president of expeditions, said in a statement.
If you’re travelling: On an Antarctic voyage, the expedition team decides much of your day: when you land, what you see from the Zodiac and what it means. When you compare lines, ask who is on the team and how many guests share each landing, not only what the suite looks like.
For advisors
- Don’t promise a named expert on a specific sailing. Seabourn hasn’t published which experts sail on which departures, and several join only for part of the season. Ask the line before you build a pitch around one person.
- Match the specialist to the client. Whale and seabird researchers suit wildlife photographers. The archaeologist and polar-history staff suit clients who come for the story of exploration.
- Point out the included Buenos Aires stay and charter flights. They take away the riskiest part of the trip, getting to Ushuaia, and make Seabourn easier to compare with lines that leave the flights to the client.
- Offer the 20-day departures first to clients who want the most. Only a few voyages in the season add South Georgia and the Falklands, and with the first departures about six weeks away, check availability before you quote.
Sources
- Seabourn, ‘The minds behind the expedition: meet the experts leading Seabourn’s 2026-2027 Antarctica season’ (Hawkins International PR / FINN Partners), 30 Sept 2026
- https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-minds-behind-the-expedition-meet-the-experts-leading-seabourns-2026-2027-antarctica-season-302894581.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabourn_Venture
- https://notanatlas.com/antarcticas-crowded-horizon/