About us

Hernan Casañas ( 43 ) Started his career as a naturalist and conservationist at the early age of twelve. He has published numerous papers on ornithological topics, and has contributed with information of Argentine endangered species for different publications and projects. Hernan has collaborated and worked for some of the most important environmental organizations in Argentina for more than 20 years. He is a board member of Aves Argentinas (BirdLife International partner) and is their representative in Cordoba province. He has coordinated fieldwork for the Important Bird Areas programme of Aves Argentinas. A special interest in avian vocalizations resulted in a thorough library of natural sounds. For over a decade he has recorded more than 600 species of Argentine birds. This material is being compiled for the production of an audio CD of the birds of Argentina. Since 1993 he lives in Cordoba province. He has conducted numerous birding and natural history trips throughout Argentina, and is especially interested in the endemic and endangered species found in the country. Hernan is an experienced leader who enjoys interacting with people, and has a great sense of humour.

Germán Pugnali ( 42 ) German was born in Buenos Aires, where he entered the world of birding in 1985 thanks to Costanera Sur Nature Reserve and Aves Argentinas / BirdLife International. While completing his studies for an MSc in Biology, he worked as organizer of the association’s field trips. As a biologist, he took part of field studies on penguins, waterfowl, shorebirds and blackbirds, publishing several articles in scientific journals and birding magazines. At the age of 24, he started leading international birding groups professionally, which took him to every corner in the country and most of South America. He is familiar with over 90% of the Argentine birds and a big portion of the southern cone species. In 2009, he moved with his wife to La Paz, Bolivia, where he is working on a photographic guide to the bids of Southern South America. He is also a bird sound recording enthusiast and enjoys sharing his passion for nature with others, organizing courses, lectures and bird forums to encourage people to discover the world of birds.

Juan Mazar Barnett ( 34 ) Juan was born in 1975 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and that's where he lives today. He started birding at the age of nine, after going through a dinosaur phase, an airplane phase, and then a general wildlife phase (in that order). He has since travelled extensively throughout southern South America, visiting every corner of his home country and also conducted fieldwork in Paraguay and parts of Bolivia. He is particularly fond of Brazil and has birded a large number of locations in a variety of habitats there. These travels led to the recent discovery of three species new to science. He constantly carries a recorder and, having collected over 150 hours of bird voices, has acquired an excellent sense of hearing. Juan holds a BSc in Biology from the University of East Anglia, U.K. During the time he spent in England he worked for the Threatened Birds of the World programme of BirdLife International in Cambridge. His ornithological interests are many, with distribution, evolution and conservation as his favourites. He is author of numerous scientific contributions, notably on the rediscovery of Austral Rail and White-winged Nightjar, with several new country records in Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, as well as a recent Argentina checklist published by Lynx Edicions.

Hernán Rodriguez Goñi ( 44 ) Hernán started his career as a naturalist joining the Asociación Ornitológica del Plata (Aves Argentinas / BirdLife International partner) at the age of 13. Since 1986 he worked as a birding guide and tour leader of this field trips, eventualy becaming its organizer for a period that lasted over 14 years. Hernan visited every corner of Argentina, most countries of South America, and a big part of Africa, India, Australia and South-East Asia. He dictates lectures on several courses of eco-tourism for training local guides as naturalists. He is a professional wildlife photographer, and his work has been published in several local and international magazines. His photographic art is now illustrating most of our travel catalogue and this web site. Hernán is always seeking new areas and “hotspots” to visit and show around to those who share his passion.

Santiago Imberti ( 38 ) Santiago was born and raised in southern Patagonia, where the wilderness was only a short step from his front door. A long lasting love for nature was a logical consequence of the years he lived there. He obtained a degree in tourism and ornithology, which allowed him to combine his love for nature and the outdoors with his work as a fly fishing, birdwatching and mountain guide. Avid naturalist, he is keen in spending as much time as possible in nature and is always looking for new places to visit and ways to transmit his love and interest in the small things to others. He has recently published the inventory of the birds of Los Glaciares National Park, and is conducting a continued study of the recently re-discovered Austral Rail. Santiago is a photographer and writes about the many places he visits, and his experiences as a guide. His articles and stories have been published in scientific journals and popular travel magazines.

Diego Monteleone ( 30 ) Diego joined one of our first field trips with Aves Argentinas/BirdLife, when he was only twelve years old. He has since joined us in many trips throughout Argentina and the southern cone of South America. Eventualy he became a great assistant, and some time later he was one of our best birding guides. Diego has developed an amazing perception in identifying bird songs and his bird list for Argentina has over 780 species. He is currently studying biology in Buenos Aires, and spends much of his spare time leading birding trips and travelling to make field recordings of bird voices. He has a friendly and outgoing personality, characteristics which match his great experience in the field.

Ignacio Roesler ( 28 ) Ignacio is a biologist specialized in Zoology from Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina. He was born and raised in General Villegas, a little town in the middle of Argentina's Pampas . This meant that he always had a direct contact with the wilderness. By the early age of 11, a strong interest in birds took him to join us in many of our tours for local birders at Aves Argentinas (BirdLife). Since then he has travelled to every corner of the country and adjacent countries like Uruguay, Chile, Brazil and Paraguay. He is particularly fond of northern Argentina and Brazil, especially the Yungas forests, the Chaco area and the Atlantic Forest. To date he has published some papers and articles, of note being that about the Chaco Pipit, a species formerly considered Near-threatened, but still one of the least known pipits. At the age of 17 he started a collection of bird sound recordings, holding vocalizations of several rare species.

Marcelo de Cruz ( 45 ) Marcelo started his career as a naturalist and birdwatcher at the age of 22. After completing his studies of tourism in Buenos Aires, he moved to Tierra del Fuego in 1991. Since then he has explored every corner of this island in search of its unique wildlife, and has developed a special ability to find all bird, including the least common species. He is also familiar with virtually all the flora and fauna of the Magellanic forests, steppes, high mountains and seashores in Tierra del Fuego, and cooperates with the National Parks Administration in developing tourism as a sustainable option for conservation. He lives in Ushuaia with his wife, Paula, and his daughter, María Catalina.

Ezequiel Núñez Bustos ( 36 ) Ezequiel is a field naturalist and entomology is his main interest. For over 15 years he has conducted research on Argentine butterflies, gathering an amazing mass of information. Besides having examined many reference collections of specimens, his sharp eye is capable of identifying many of the 1300 diurnal species that inhabit in Argentina. He is also fond of moths and other insects as well as their food plants. He has conducted many surveys, working for the National Park Administration, Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina (WWF partner), and the Administration of Natural Reserves of Buenos Aires province . He serves as a scientific advisor for the Natureviewing Foundation and is currently working on a field guide to the butterflies of Iguazú, with the cooperation of Neotropical Butterflies. Since 1996 he dictates courses and talks about butterflies for general public, which added to his formation as a technician in tourism and environmental interpreter guide, has him as one of the best guides in the country.

Luciano Bernacchi ( 39 ) Luciano travelled and lived in different places as a boy and teenager, including four years in London. His interest in nature and birds started at the early age of 13, when he joined the Asociación Ornitológica del Plata, (Aves Argentina/Birdlife).
Birding took him and fellow birder friends to many corners of Argentina, neighboring countries and other continents. He later developed a strong interest in mountaineering and became a certified mountain guide, climbing instructor and ski patroller, as well as an expert on glaciers. For the past 20 years he has been leading expeditions, groups of birders, trekkers, mountaineers, and nature lovers to many destinations, in particular throughout the steppes, glaciers, forests, coasts and peaks of Patagonia. He is now based in the town of El Calafate (Argentine Patagonia) near Los Glaciares National Park, and he can usually found around Patagonia or Antarctica.

Juan Klavins ( 32 ) Juan lives with an intense passion for birds that has stayed with him since his childhood in the city of Buenos Aires. At the age of 15, he moved to La Cumbre (Cordoba) where that devotion for nature turned into a professional career. Initially he participated in a biodiversity survey in the Argentinean western Chaco conducted by the National Park Service, followed by successive avian investigation campaigns with Aves Argentinas/BirdLife International and other non-profit institutions. In 2001 he moved to Paraguay where he worked three years for Guyra Paraguay/BirdLife as a consulting biologist with both migratory and resident species. He is currently working part time for the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (Vermont, USA) as a field biologist and data manager. His knowledge of nature extends beyond birds: he worked on botanical investigations in some South American countries as well as butterfly research in North America. Traveling and working form Argentina to Ecuador, the Caribbean island Hispaniola and from east to west of the USA has given him very extensive experience with the New World avifauna.

Hector Slongo ( 29 ) Héctor was born in northern Italy and early on moved to Córdoba province, Argentina, where he currently lives. He was raised in the countryside, directly in contact with the natural world and from an early age developed a great passion for nature. His specific interest in birds started when he was eight. Nowadays he is a keen birder and an avid sound recordist. He has a vast experience throughout most of Argentina, and has been also birding in Brazil, Britain and of course, Italy. Héctor is fluent in Spanish, English and Italian. He is currently studying medicine at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. His birding skills and friendly personality make of him a great guide and a perfect travel companion.

Diego Punta Fernandez ( 38 ) Diego is an active birder and professional photographer. After traveling during most of his life through Latin America and Europe, getting to know each diverse culture and landscape, he finally chose Patagonia as the place where to develop his interests in constant touch with nature.
Diego grew up in Buenos Aires, where he got a degree in professional photography. As an enthusiastic member of Aves Argentinas (BirdLife in Argentina), he spends many days in assorted trips in search of birds, all over Argentina and other destinations.
The daily practice of mountaineering and photography, frame this concern about conservation with a very deep knowledge of the area, publishing several guides to flora and fauna of Patagonia.
Licensed Trekking Guide and certified First Responder, he also worked for more than four years as a resident staff of Los Glaciares National Park. He has developed many conservation projects in the local school and community.
Since 1998, Diego lives in El Chaltén, at the foot of Mt. Fitz Roy, leading trekking, birding, and photographic trips all through Patagonia.

Lorenzo Sympson ( 56 ) Lorenzo Sympson is a specialist on birds of Patagonia and a noted Andean Condor expert. He is a founding member and head of the ornithological committee of SNAP (Sociedad Naturalista Andino Patagonica), a regional NGO dedicated to the conservation of Patagonia’s unique ecosystems. He participated in the re-introduction of captive bred condors in Patagonia and is the coordinator of a program designed for researching their biology and behavior. From a British family, Lorenzo spent most of his childhood living on a farm and has chosen Bariloche (Patagonia) as his home many years ago. His interest and expertise in ornithology led him become the ideal guide in southern Argentina and Chile.

Martina Mc Namara ( 32 ) Martina Mc Namara lived all her life in Patagonia. Her passion for nature and adventure has taken her to pursue several outdoor activities since she was a child. Camping, flyfishing, climbing and trekking were the way to be in contact with the wildlife and to begin to understand its magic. She has a degree as an Engineer in Natural Resources and continued to focus on conservation projects. Nowadays, she is part of a research project on the Rio Gallegos Estuary in which she is developing an education program for the local people. Recently, she completed a volunteer season at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, USA. As a highly motivated person with knowledge on wildlife, specially on birds, and her strong interest on environmental and sustainable education, she brings to the company her field experience gained from working in collaboration with environmental and government institutions. She lectures on nature in schools and public institutions, and makes field surveys on environmental impact studies.

Patsy Wharton ( 54 ) Patsy is our anglo Argentine office assistant, helping out with correspondence, handling sales and marketing, particularly with our foreign clients. She has lived abroad many years and travelled most of her life, having worked as a flight attendant, translator and also spent 15 years working as a French and English speaking guide in the Glaciers National Park in Southern Patagonia.