Nicole Yamagiwa

Born and raised in a transverse valley under the California sun, Nicole has long been enamored with the outside world. Her love and dedication to learning about nature was born from geology field studies across California and the Southwestern US. This led to the completion of a degree in environmental geosciences from Smith College. Upon graduation, Nicole moved to the wilds of Alaska to serve as a ranger in Katmai National Park, a position that fostered her twin passions for teaching and the natural world. Here, amid the park’s glacial landscapes, she also developed a love for the rugged Far North, and learning the geologic stories of the grand landscapes of the world. Nicole was selected as a Young Explorer for The Explorers Club, and she sailed on Adventure Canada's inaugural expedition to Greenland and the Canadian Arctic. In 2017, she won an international professional development grant to conduct a personal field study in Svalbard, Norway.

Exploration, science, and education continue to drive Nicole’s life. She has led National Geographic Student Expeditions in Iceland and Hawaii, and created and led field studies in Alaska and the Eastern Sierra. Locally, Nicole stays connected to environmental science and ecological efforts through aiding in several restoration ecology projects and research efforts throughout the Channel Islands. Year-round, Nicole teaches science at the high school level in Santa Barbara, California.

Whether it's in front of a glacier, on a remote island, or in the expansive desert, Nicole believes that the interconnectedness of the world is best learned when lived. As part of the Lindblad Expeditions team, Nicole will leave no rock unturned in discovering the history — be it in billions of years, or more recent — of a landscape.