Karyssa is an explorer and naturalist with a passion for marine life. Born and raised in rural Alberta, Canada, she has always felt the call of the ocean and swiftly moved to the beautiful coast of British Columbia in 2013. There she pursued her Bachelor’s degree majoring in Marine Science and Conservation at the University of British Columbia.
Her love for science and education led her to becoming the Executive Director of a non-profit organization dedicated to marine research and monitoring, education, and marine mammal rescue. Through this position she has led a number of marine monitoring projects, traveled around with a killer whale skeleton educating the public about whale conservation, and has even been elbow-deep in a gray whale performing necropsies.
Aside from polar expeditions, Karyssa also works as a marine naturalist guide on the west coast of Vancouver Island, where she calls home. She spends many hours on the water documenting whale encounters, collecting photo-identification data, and reporting and responding to marine mammal entanglements and disturbances. When not out gallivanting on the ocean, you can find her exploring intertidal, rainforest, and mountain ecosystems with her field books and binoculars in hand.
