Expedition Team
A world-class team of experts will accompany each expedition to share their knowledge and insights with you and bring each destination to life. Listed below are some of the experts and the departure date(s) they will be joining.
Jack Daulton
Jack Daulton is an acclaimed lecturer on the art history of non-Western civilizations and has been a study leader on many trips to more than 50 countries throughout the world. His academic work has included extensive study of the art and architecture of Asia and Africa, as well as the study of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. Jack is also a practicing attorney with a particular interest in international law relating to the preservation and conservation of the world’s cultural heritage. In a widely reported 1995 federal case, he recovered a 1,000 year-old sculpture that had been stolen from a temple in Myanmar.
John Francis
As Vice President for Research, Conservation, and Exploration at National Geographic, John Francis directs the Society's grant-making programs around the world as well as its sustainable tourism efforts. A marine biologist and National Geographic grantee, John began his career studying seals and sea lions on remote islands in North and South America. A film on his work led to his role as a producer of wildlife films, covering everything from chimps and tigers to whales and sharks. He continues to travel worldwide furthering National Geographic's global research and conservation efforts.
David Lamb
David Lamb’s travels as a foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times have taken him to 140 countries and all seven continents. He is the author of three articles for National Geographic magazine, as well as the author of highly acclaimed books on the Middle East, sub-Sahara Africa and Vietnam. He has been nominated eight times for the Pulitzer Prize and been a Nieman Fellow at Harvard. “What I’ve tried to do in my writing and my travels,” he says, ”is to capture a sense of place—to go beyond the politics and economics and convey why a region becomes what it is and how ordinary people are impacted by the shifting currents of history.”
Annie Griffiths Belt
One of the first women photographers to work for National Geographic, Annie Griffiths Belt has taken photographs in more than 100 countries during her illustrious career. She has worked on dozens of magazine and book projects for the Society, including stories on Lawrence of Arabia, Baja California, Galilee, Petra, Sydney, New Zealand, and Jerusalem. She lectures and teaches photography workshops regularly and was a visiting professor of photography at Ohio University. Annie’s work has also appeared in LIFE, Geo, Smithsonian, Fortune, Merian, Stern, and many other publications. Annie has received awards from the National Press Photographers Association, the Associated Press, the National Organization of Women, the University of Minnesota, and the White House News Photographers Association.
David Silverberg
Geographer David Scott Silverberg was the founding field director of Boston University’s Center for Coastal Studies. A National Geographic grantee and a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, David specializes in natural and biocultural history and has led community-based conservation projects on six continents. He has published papers on the geographic development of the Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau, conducted extensive field work in India, and established a Maasai women’s scholarship program in Tanzania.
Michael Melford
National Geographic photographer Michael Melford has produced 12 feature stories for National Geographic magazine and more than 30 for National Geographic Traveler magazine, including eight covers. Some of Michael’s recent assignments have focused on Russia, Israel, and North America’s national parks. He has produced photography for eight books for National Geographic, including three on Alaska, his favorite being Treasures of Alaska, for which he spent four months traveling to every corner of the state. When not shooting for National Geographic, Michael enjoys giving seminars and workshops on photography and sharing both his love of nature and his extensive knowledge.
