Like many who come to work at HX Hurtigruten Expeditions, Dr. Emily Baxter has had a passion for wildlife and the outdoors from an early age. Despite growing up miles from the nearest beach, Emily has a real fascination for marine life, that developed from a childhood interest into a professional career. This passion and wanderlust for our blue planet were confirmed during her gap year in Australia, where despite a fear of water, she learnt to surf and dive experiencing a world above and below the waves. Upon returning to the UK, Emily knew she wanted to take this passion for marine life and oceans further so studied Marine Biology & Oceanography at the University of Plymouth before completing a Ph.D. on the ecology and socio-economic impacts of jellyfish at University College Cork.

Her academic research and interest in marine ecology and conservation have taken Emily right across the world from the rugged isles of Scotland and Wales to the deep canyons of Monterey Bay, California, and the Porcupine Seabight in the wild Atlantic. Wanting to bring this knowledge and expertise back to the UK, she started working for the North West Wildlife Trusts, building their marine conservation programme covering everything from marine policy to community engagement and Citizen Science to research projects. After 10 years at the Trusts, Emily was looking for a new challenge, and it was an ex-colleague that had travelled with HX Hurtigruten Expeditions as a Guest Scientist who spotted the role and thought it would be a perfect fit for her, combining her expertise in science and education, with her passion for the natural world, exploration, and travel.

Having spent many years, travelling the world conducting scientific research, giving talks, and attending conferences it became clear to Emily that Citizen Science provides a fantastic platform to raise awareness of the places we visit and allow guests the chance to explore and see the world differently. Also, the unique opportunity our Expedition ships can play in helping organisations reach the remote areas we explore. This enables the scientific community to capture data and research to better understand the changes faced by the world around us. For Emily, the diversity of the job is what in her eyes makes this the best job in the world! As the Head of Guest Learning, it falls to Emily to oversee the delivery of our onboard Science & Education program. By supporting our Science & Education Coordinators and Expedition Teams on board our ships, Emily ensures that HX Hurtigruten Expeditions are providing an engaging educational experience for our guests, whilst conducting world-class science for the partners and scientific collaborations we work alongside.

Since joining HX Hurtigruten Expeditions, Emily has been fortunate to continue exploring the world visiting Norway, Svalbard, Alaska, and more recently Antarctica. However, it is her home, the British Isles that is her favourite destination to explore, offering a wealth of wildlife and history, cultural diversity, dramatic landscapes, and interesting geology all of which are often underappreciated. Since working for HX Hurtigruten Expeditions, Emily has been able to experience some truly iconic wildlife encounters, with one of the standout moments being surrounded by a super aggregation of Humpback whales in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. On one occasion there were close to 200 whales feeding in the area around the ship. The ship stayed there for an hour while there were whale blows and tale flukes popping up everywhere. Emily described how the sound and sight of the whales at such close proximity was just amazing, with some whales even fully breaching the surface on the horizon, and all of this whilst surrounded by stunning Alaskan scenery. During this amazing encounter, Emily's inner scientist came out and she encouraged the guests and Expedition Team to capture as many fluke photos as possible to help support the Happywhale photo ID platform with identified individuals having been last spotted in Hawaii, California, Mexico, and Japan.

Over the coming years, Emily wants to continue the legacy set by Verena and Tudor in ensuring we deliver an industry-leading Science & Education program. From developing and expanding the on board research capabilities to new digital platforms, there is a lot to look forward to over the coming years. As we look to extend the reach of our ships into new exciting destinations across the polar and tropical waters - Emily is excited by the possibility of engaging with new collaborators and partners to develop the reach and impact of the Science & Education program.