Exploring Alaska's Coastal WildernessAboard the National Geographic Sea Bird

Study Leaders

Lee Fleisher
Expedition Leader/Naturalist

Lee grew up in a boating family in New England, and after embarking on a decades-long career in business, he worked his way back to his true love – the sea. He has sailed from the Pacific to the Inside Passage, and now calls the Santa Barbara Channel area home. As a Founding Member of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, a member of the volunteer Naturalist Corps of the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary and National Park, and a certified Alaska naturalist, Lee has shared his passion for the natural world and marine mammals. When not working as a naturalist, he captains a high-speed catamaran transporting visitors to and fro the Channel Islands and conducting whale and bird-watching excursions. Reflecting on cruising on the Inside Passage and Glacier Bay, Lee admits that he never ceases to be amazed by the expansive natural beauty of Southeast Alaska and believes that it should be on everyone’s ‘must-experience’ list.

Sue Perin
Expedition Leader

Sue started her naturalist career working as a wildlife biologist in the forests of Maine, Newfoundland and the Washington Cascades. Sue has been teaching children and adults in outdoor settings since 1986. She has been an instructor at Yosemite Institute, and worked with field programs in Maine, Yellowstone, Costa Rica, Belize, and most recently Grand Teton National Park. From 1999 through 2004, Sue was a faculty member at Teton Science School in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In this role she trained graduate students how to teach hands-on science to children in the outdoors. Another one of her passions is educating people about the importance of protecting water quality. She was the Wyoming coordinator for Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), and continues to train teachers how to use the water education curriculum.