National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions Announces 2025/2026 Southern Ocean Visiting Scientist Program Research Projects
14 Cutting-Edge Research Projects Led by National Geographic Explorers and Other Pioneering Scientists Will Advance Scientific Understanding in the World’s Most Remote Places.
National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions, the pioneer of modern expedition cruising, today announces the selected researchers for the 2025-2026 Southern Ocean season’s Visiting Scientist Program. The initiative empowers respected scientists to explore hard-to-reach locations for scientific data collection, while also connecting them with expedition travelers aboard the National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions fleet.
As part of the program, National Geographic Resolution, National Geographic Endurance, and National Geographic Explorer will serve as the home base for the 14 projects, including 11 led by National Geographic Explorers, on 18 voyages to the Antarctic region.
“Responsible exploration is at the heart of what we do, and part of that means making sure the extraordinary places we visit are cared for and better understood,” said Amy Berquist, Vice President of Conservation, Education and Sustainability at Lindblad Expeditions.
“Research in remote polar regions is both essential and challenging, and it takes resources, expertise and the right platform. Through our Visiting Scientist Program, we’re able to give scientists access to study critical environmental changes, while also giving our guests the chance to connect with that work in a way that makes their travel more meaningful and impactful.”
Researchers participating in the Visiting Scientist Program inspire curious travelers to connect more deeply with the planet. Through this initiative, National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions hosts projects representing esteemed institutions from around the world including Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (United States), Oxford Brookes University (United Kingdom), University of Tasmania (Australia), University of Bologna (Italy) and the Spanish National Research Council (Spain), as they conduct meaningful scientific work in remote polar regions while engaging guests through immersive, shipboard storytelling and real-time research updates.
Since its launch in 2022, the Visiting Scientist Program has hosted 88 projects across more than 100 voyages – over half led by National Geographic Explorers, many of whom return season after season to build vital data sets that help protect the planet’s most remote destinations.
“Supporting meaningful scientific research in the places we explore is a big part of what sets us apart,” said Ashley Knight, Fleet Science Manager at Lindblad Expeditions. “Exploring the world with purpose is about more than travel, it’s about discovery. What inspires me most is seeing our captains, naturalists, shoreside teams and guests all working together to make these Visiting Scientist projects successful.”
A sampling of the projects being hosted this upcoming season includes:
◉ Mapping Microplastics and Microfibers in Water and Air (led by National Geographic Explorer Rachael Miller) – This project aboard the National Geographic Endurance in December 2025 was a continuation of an impressive six-season dataset investigating the movement, impacts and solution development for microplastics and microfibers in seawater and air samples in the polar regions.
◉ Iceberg Form and Drift: AI-Driven 3D Reconstruction in the Antarctic (led by Dr. Cy Keener) – Icebergs shape polar oceans and affect navigation, but their three-dimensional form is difficult to measure and poorly documented. Keener and his crew will continue their high-tech imaging work aboard the National Geographic Endurance in January 2026, both above and below the waterline to further unravel the function and balance of floating icebergs.
◉ Monitoring Whale Health and Population Status to Assess Ecosystem Changes Around the Antarctic Peninsula (led by National Geographic Explorer Dr. Holly Fearnbach) – As changing climates impact marine ecosystems, Fearnbach and her team will resume a decade-long investigation of how local whale health has developed and adapted aboard the National Geographic Explorer in February 2026.
Seabird monitoring in the Southern Ocean with Penguin Watch (led by National Geographic Explorer Dr. Tom Hart) – The Penguin Watch project at Oxford Brookes University uses time-lapse cameras and drones to study Southern Ocean penguins and the threats they face. In November–December 2025, Hart and his team sailed aboard the National Geographic Endurance in Antarctica to collect drone imagery tracking colony size over time and service long-term cameras near landing sites to monitor changes when no one is on site.
(National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions Announces 2025/2026 Southern Ocean Visiting Scientist Program Research Projects)
