Alexander (Sasha) Golikov

Sasha was born and grew up in the Russian city of Vladivostok, in close geographic proximity to East Asia. Naturally, as a native of the Russian Far East, he pursued his education at Far Eastern Federal University (conveniently located in his hometown), immersing himself in Sinitic studies. A few years after graduating, he was drafted to military service in the Russian Navy.

Sasha joined Quark Expeditions in 2001 and has continued sailing aboard the Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov each year throughout the Russian Arctic, the Northwest Passage and Greenland.

When not on board, he teaches China-related disciplines at his alma mater, occasionally produces research papers, and works as an English-Russian or Chinese-Russian interpreter/translator.