Our main man… and more

Behind the scenes, squirreled away in a secret corner of fieldbase, our revered leader is hard at work. So far, we’ve introduced all the busy bees who have been working on the nuts and bolts of running the expedition. But before all this can happen, before there is an expedition at all, our Country Director has to work his magic…

Julian, or Walter as he is affectionately known around fieldbase, is a proper Central American guru. He knows the region inside out. He counts Óscar Arias - Nobel Peace Prize winner and President of Costa Rica - as a friend. He can spot a quetzal at 100 meters, and he can probably engage it in polite conversation too. Julian can even salsa. An expert in the field of International Development, our top dawg manages all the Costa Rican and Nicaraguan project partners, overseeing the wonderful work we do in these countries. In his spare time, he loves bird watching and can often be found wandering round fieldbase mumbling the Latin names of winged beasties…

We’ve had some more new arrivals at fieldbase! A big Raleigh welcome to Susan, our advance medic. She’s been busy organising our medical supplies for the expedition, and making sure we all know how to stay healthy in these tropical climes. In fact, she’s a bit of an expert on the tropics as she was born on the balmy isle of Java, Indonesia!

And our expedition photographer Oliver arrived this morning! Armed with his trusty Nikon and all manner of lenses and tripods, he’ll be documenting our adventures here at fieldbase over the next two weeks, then heading out to visit each of the projects in early February. Ollie’s work has been published in a smashing book about Hastings, his home town. You can check it out by clicking here


Next time: Advanced team bonding, Costa Rican style...