Jeff Phillippe

Jeff was raised in upstate New York and completed his B.A. in geography at Middlebury College in Vermont. He attained his master’s degree in water resource science at Oregon State University where his research focused on glacier hydrology in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. He spent most of his 20's teaching Earth sciences and geography at the secondary and university level, while taking his summers off to lead wilderness and climbing expeditions throughout the continental U.S., Alaska, and Canada.

As Jeff entered his 30's the travel bug won him over, and he spent the next ten years on the road, traveling and guiding around the world. As a fluent Spanish speaker, he led more than 100 expeditions in Latin America, including water resource development projects in Guatemala and Bolivia, six seasons of mountain guiding in Peru and Patagonia, and most recently cultural tours around Cuba. Now older and wiser, Jeff is enjoying life as a full-time Expedition Leader on Lindblad vessels. Jeff is passionate about the ecosystems and geopolitics of watersheds; he especially enjoys leading groups on the Amazon, Columbia and Mekong Rivers. And given his background in glacier research, he revels in taking groups up to Alaska and Antarctica to explore glaciers and fjords.

His outdoor endeavors include first ascents in Canada, South America, and the Middle East, a canoe-descent of the Grand Canyon, a one-day climb of the face of El Capitan and guiding multiple parties to 6,000+ meter peaks in the Andes. In his free time, Jeff enjoys photography, marathon running, creating maps, and planning off-the-beaten path journeys through Africa and Asia.