Tracking Narwhals in Greenland: Explorers

Dr. Kristin Laidre
Dr. Kristin Laidre is the principal investigator and chief scientist on the 2006 narwhal tracking expedition. She is employed by the Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland. While working on the Ocean Exploration project in 2005 and 2006, she was funded by a NSF International Research Fellowship for work on spatial modeling of movement and spatially-explicit foraging ecology of top marine predators in Greenland.

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Dr. Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen
Dr. Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen is the co-principal investigator on the 2006 narwhal tracking expedition. He has been working as a senior scientist at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources since 1988. His expertise is in the ecology of cetaceans in Greenland and his work has produced over 100 peer-reviewed publications and books on Arctic top predator biology.

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Kristian Eipe
Kristian Eipe is an Inuit hunter from Qaanaaq, in northwest Greenland, one of the most northern settlements in the world. Kristian’s home is the high Arctic, and his experience with boats, nets, and spotting whales was unrivaled.

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Wendy Ermold
Wendy Ermold is a scientific programmer and oceanographic field technician for the Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington. She primarily works on studies of Arctic Circulation and the mechanisms controlling it.

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Per Hennings
Per Hennings was the chief helicopter pilot on the narwhal pack ice project. His expertise in flying in Arctic conditions and landing on ice flows was critical to the success of the field season.

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Skipper Jens Kjeldsen
Jens Kjeldsen is Danish but has lived in Greenland for over 30 years and speaks fluent Greenlandic. He is an experienced captain and participated in narwhal tagging operations in Melville Bay in the 90s. Jens was the captain of Sila, the ship used for the expedition to Melville Bay in August 2006 and an excellent cook.

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Gedion Kristiansen
Gedion Kristiansen is an Inuit hunter from Qaanaaq, in northwest Greenland, one of the most northern settlements in the world. Gedion worked on net operations and his skill with removing icebergs from nets was critical to the success of the project.

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Martin Nørregaard
Martin Nørregaard was the co-pilot on the narwhal pack ice project.

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Adam Ravetch
Adam Ravetch is an independent film maker working for Arctic Bear Productions in Canada. He has made four natural history films for National Geographic. Adam worked on the pack ice portion of the Ocean Exploration project filming narwhals in their winter habitat for the first time.

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Hans Christian Schmidt
Hans Christian Schmidt is a biological assistant from Denmark with over 20 years of experience working on ships and remote field camps in the Arctic. He has participated in whale tagging research in Greenland since 1992 and is a skilled biologist, electrician, and policeman. Hans Christian was primarily responsible for net and logistical operations with respect to narwhal capture in Melville Bay.

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