Trevor Frost (United States): At only 22 years of age Trevor Frost has already graduated from college and traveled to over 25 countries on 5 continents. On his travels he has worked as a field biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, hitch hiked for 2 weeks into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and climbed the tallest mountain in the Americas. With a passion for saving wild places and tired of traveling just to see places he has switched his focus to launching expeditions that combine science, adventure, and media to promote conservation. He never leaves his camera equipment behind and his images have received many personal acclaims and should be published within the end of the year. The Caves in the Heart of Darkness Expedition was Trevor's idea and he expects to receive his first grant from the National Geographic Society for the Project! When Trevor is not working as a field biologist or traveling abroad you can find him in Richmond, VA working as an environmental scientist.
Dr. Lee White (United Kingdom): Lee has dedicated the last 30 years of his life to saving wildlife and rain forest in Gabon. His work has taken him to every part of the country, including the caves. Lee is also known for his work with his colleague Mike Fay. Together Lee and Mike convinced President Omar Bongo of Gabon to create 13 National Parks and preserve 10 percent of the country's pristine wilderness in 2001. Lee has worked with the National Geographic Society many times before and brings considerable experience with species collection, rain forest travel, caving in Gabon and utilizing collected data for conservation purposes in the future to the expedition. Lee works for the Wildlife Conservation Society as the Director of Conservation Strategies in the Congo and Ogooue Basins. He lives in Gabon with his wife and three children!
Dr. Richard Oslisly (France): Richard has worked in Gabon since the early 80's. He has pioneered work on archaeology in Central Africa. In addition to studying archaeology his work in Central Africa has included: exploring and mapping caves, studying global climate change, coring tropical lakes, working with the Wildlife Conservation Society on the creation of Loango National Park (elephants, hippos, and gorillas hang out on the beach!), and completing baseline biodiversity surveys of Gabon's tropical forests! His work has been published in many prestigious journals, including Nature. To find the article by Richard in the Journal Nature on Ancient Rituals in Gabon
click here. If you would like to read the article, send me an email for a copy. Email: trevorfrost@comcast.net
Kevin Downey (United States): In the last 25 years, Kevin has been on over 2,000 caving trips, many as the photographer, in over 40 countries which has resulted in the publication of over 300 magazine articles, 12 books, and many specialized publications! His work has been published in Smithsonian Magazine, BBC Planet Earth Series Books, and NSS News among other publications. Other clients include National Geographic, Toyota, US National Park Service, Canada Tourism Board, and Delta. Aside from photography, Kevin brings experience with cave surveying, logistics handling, cave diving, and vertical caving. When he is not far away from home (which is rare) you can find him in Massachusetts working at his photography studio.
Trip Jennings (United States): Trip Jennings is a professional kayaker and a co-owner and founder of the Epicocity Project. He has led whitewater first descents and expeditions in seven countries on three continents. The National Geographic Society recently awarded Trip the Adventure of the Year for his work on the first leg of Rivers in Demand in Papua New Guinea. Trip’s previous films have been selected into the Banff Film Festival’s World Tour, Telluride Film Festival and aired by National Geographic. Trip lives in Eugene, Oregon.
Kyle Dickman (United States): Kyle Dickman is a producer and co-owner of the Epicocity Project and a freelance writer. His work has been published by National Geographic Adventure; he regularly contributes to Canoe and Kayak magazine and frequently covers environmental issues in the American west for Forest magazine. The Sierra Club has endorsed Kyle’s work in documentary film. Kyle has kayaked, climbed and traveled in more than twenty different countries. He lives in Eugene, Oregon.
Matt Oliphant (United States): Matt has been exploring caves for 25 years in over 15 countries. He led multiple trips to the deepest cave system in Mexico, and has extensive rigging expertise, especially in river caves. He made numerous trips to Madagascar to search for lemur bones in caves, and has assisted National Geographic Photographer, Stephen Alvarex on National Geographic expeditions to Oman and Papua New Guinea. Matt spend most of his time outside of the United States but if he happens to be in the US one can find him in California.
Nancy Pistole (United States): Nancy has been exploring caves for 26 years
on six continents. She has surveyed many kilometers of caves passages,
and won awards for cave maps. She has assisted biologists, geologists,
and photographers on different aspects of cave research. She brings considerable
experience with vertical caves, wet caves, and general world travel. Nancy has also
assisted National Geographic photographer, Stephen Alvarez on National Geographic
expeditions to Oman and Papua New Guinea. When Nancy is not traveling she
works as a teacher in California.
Mike and Andrea Futrell (United States): Mike and Andrea are veteran cave explorers and surveyors with 26 and 30 years caving experience
respectively. Mike and Andrea were named Fellows of the National Speleological Society in 1993.
In 2006 Mike and Andrea become the 40th and 41st people to receive the prestigious Lew Bicking
(explorer/surveyor of the year) award from the National Speleological Society. This recognition of outstanding
achievement has been given to an individual, or occasionally a couple, each year since 1969. Mike and Andrea
are currently Directors of the Virginia Speleological Survey. Mike has coordinated the data management and mapping efforts for numerous projects. He routinely compiles
results in geographic information systems and creates 2D and 3D computer visualizations. Mike and Andrea
are active in dye tracing and hydrological investigations. They also have experience assisting in biological collections and archaeological and
paleontological research. Mike and Andrea have participated in numerous expeditions stretching from Mexico,
Central America, and the Caribbean, across South East Asia and more recently to China. Closer to home they have long been regulars at some of the long hard and
deep caves of the eastern US. Mike is a geographic information systems specialist. Andrea took a reprieve from 20 years as an environmental scientist
to teach elementary school.
Trevor Frost (United States): At only 22 years of age Trevor Frost has already graduated from college and traveled to over 25 countries on 5 continents. On his travels he has worked as a field biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, hitch hiked for 2 weeks into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and climbed the tallest mountain in the Americas. With a passion for saving wild places and tired of traveling just to see places he has switched his focus to launching expeditions that combine science, adventure, and media to promote conservation. He never leaves his camera equipment behind and his images have received many personal acclaims and should be published within the end of the year. The Caves in the Heart of Darkness Expedition was Trevor's idea and he expects to receive his first grant from the National Geographic Society for the Project! When Trevor is not working as a field biologist or traveling abroad you can find him in Richmond, VA working as an environmental scientist.
Dr. Lee White (United Kingdom): Lee has dedicated the last 30 years of his life to saving wildlife and rain forest in Gabon. His work has taken him to every part of the country, including the caves. Lee is also known for his work with his colleague Mike Fay. Together Lee and Mike convinced President Omar Bongo of Gabon to create 13 National Parks and preserve 10 percent of the country's pristine wilderness in 2001. Lee has worked with the National Geographic Society many times before and brings considerable experience with species collection, rain forest travel, caving in Gabon and utilizing collected data for conservation purposes in the future to the expedition. Lee works for the Wildlife Conservation Society as the Director of Conservation Strategies in the Congo and Ogooue Basins. He lives in Gabon with his wife and three children!
Dr. Richard Oslisly (France): Richard has worked in Gabon since the early 80's. He has pioneered work on archaeology in Central Africa. In addition to studying archaeology his work in Central Africa has included: exploring and mapping caves, studying global climate change, coring tropical lakes, working with the Wildlife Conservation Society on the creation of Loango National Park (elephants, hippos, and gorillas hang out on the beach!), and completing baseline biodiversity surveys of Gabon's tropical forests! His work has been published in many prestigious journals, including Nature. To find the article by Richard in the Journal Nature on Ancient Rituals in Gabon click here. If you would like to read the article, send me an email for a copy. Email: trevorfrost@comcast.net
Kevin Downey (United States): In the last 25 years, Kevin has been on over 2,000 caving trips, many as the photographer, in over 40 countries which has resulted in the publication of over 300 magazine articles, 12 books, and many specialized publications! His work has been published in Smithsonian Magazine, BBC Planet Earth Series Books, and NSS News among other publications. Other clients include National Geographic, Toyota, US National Park Service, Canada Tourism Board, and Delta. Aside from photography, Kevin brings experience with cave surveying, logistics handling, cave diving, and vertical caving. When he is not far away from home (which is rare) you can find him in Massachusetts working at his photography studio.
Trip Jennings (United States): Trip Jennings is a professional kayaker and a co-owner and founder of the Epicocity Project. He has led whitewater first descents and expeditions in seven countries on three continents. The National Geographic Society recently awarded Trip the Adventure of the Year for his work on the first leg of Rivers in Demand in Papua New Guinea. Trip’s previous films have been selected into the Banff Film Festival’s World Tour, Telluride Film Festival and aired by National Geographic. Trip lives in Eugene, Oregon.
Kyle Dickman (United States): Kyle Dickman is a producer and co-owner of the Epicocity Project and a freelance writer. His work has been published by National Geographic Adventure; he regularly contributes to Canoe and Kayak magazine and frequently covers environmental issues in the American west for Forest magazine. The Sierra Club has endorsed Kyle’s work in documentary film. Kyle has kayaked, climbed and traveled in more than twenty different countries. He lives in Eugene, Oregon.
Matt Oliphant (United States): Matt has been exploring caves for 25 years in over 15 countries. He led multiple trips to the deepest cave system in Mexico, and has extensive rigging expertise, especially in river caves. He made numerous trips to Madagascar to search for lemur bones in caves, and has assisted National Geographic Photographer, Stephen Alvarex on National Geographic expeditions to Oman and Papua New Guinea. Matt spend most of his time outside of the United States but if he happens to be in the US one can find him in California.
