About Annette Bombosch, Polar Guide

Annette was born in Germany and grew up in beautiful Bavaria. Always drawn to marine animals, she studied Marine Biology and obtained a Masters in Marine Conservation while studying in New Zealand. There, she had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to visit Antarctica as part of a postgraduate certificate offered by the University of Canterbury in Christchurch – an absolutely life-changing experience. By camping at the base of Mount Erebus and spending Christmas on the Ross Ice Shelf, Annette caught the polar bug.

Returning from New Zealand, Annette spent the next few years pursuing a PhD by studying the Antarctic minke and humpback whales of the Southern Ocean, allowing her to visit the Weddell Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula during several multi-week-long research cruises on board the German research icebreaker RV Polarstern.

Since 2014, Annette has swapped a job behind the computer for an office with a view, and has been working on various expedition cruises to the Arctic as well as the Antarctic. Up North, Annette has guided in Svalbard, Greenland and Franz Josef Land, and stood at the North Pole nine times.

Annette is also a co-founder of the Polar Citizen Science Collective, which collects valuable data in areas difficult to research and also enables guests to get hands-on experience of polar science.

Annette has an unstoppable passion for marine mammals, especially humpback whales, but will also point out the tiny Arctic plants and get you excited about birds. She speaks German and English and is looking forward to spending her Arctic summer with you, sharing her passion for the Arctic as long as the sun is up.