Greentours Leaders

We are delighted that Anna Ivaschenko will once again be joining our guiding staff for our Tien Shan holiday. Anna is Kazakhstan’s foremost botanist, and the authority on the fabulous flowers of these mountains. Anna spent 22 years working in the Aksu-Dzhabagly Nature Reserve and for the past 15 years she has been based in Almaty at the Institute of Botany. Her knowledge is truly encyclopaedic - she knows all the birds and mammals too - and her husband is one of the country’s top entomologists! Anna’s enthusiasm for plants is infectious and there’s nothing she enjoys more than showing others ‘her flowers’! Everyone who has been on her tours will remember her amazing ability to shower them with new finds on every day of each tour.

Kate Clow has lived in Antalya in Turkey for many years and her work has featured in several guidebooks to Turkey. Most recently she has written guidebooks to Turkey’s first long distance footpaths, the Lycian Way and the St Paul Trail, both of which she has helped to design and waymark. Kate is of course fluent in Turkish and offers a wide-ranging historical and cultural knowledge to complement the main fauna and flora component.

Tony Beck resides in Ottawa, Canada. His work as a professional photographer and tour leader has taken him all over North America and the Neotropics. Tony’s photos regularly appear in books and journals throughout the continent and his birdwatching and nature photography courses are always very popular. Tony’s relaxed approach and flexible style is sure to be appreciated by those joining him on this year’s holidays.

Adrian Binns grew up in Morocco and was educated in England, the cultural differences and the birds of the Western Palearctic formed the backbone of his formative years. Along with his wife and two sons, he has resided in Southeastern Pennsylvania since 1977. Adrian has led trips for a variety of organisations and tour companies, in the United States, and elsewhere - Mexico, England and Morocco. He is also an accomplished avian illustrator and photographer.

Basak Güner is currently studying for an MA in botanical systematics under Professor Tuna Ekim in Istanbul though it is surely her botanist father Adil Güner who has cultivated her love of Turkey’s wild places. Basak is a lively and instinctive tour leader whose enthusiasm for the fabulous flowers of her native land will become obvious to all. Like her father she speaks near perfect English, and they will form a father-daughter team on the Hatay & Maras¸ and on the Gembos Yayla tours. Basak is a talented botanical artist and along with her sister, Isik, she’ll be joining Ian Loe on a ‘Art in the Field’ tour to the Pontic Alps, an area that she has known since a child.

Six years ago Ian Bennallick was on the Crete tour as a customer and during it he impressed us so much with his enthusiasm and knowledge that it wasn’t long before we asked him to lead a tour for us. He grew up on a farm in deepest wettest Cornwall where an early interest in wildflowers and ferns has blossomed (!) into a wide-ranging enthusiasm for the natural world. Now Recorder Support Officer for the Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, based at the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Ian is also the BSBI joint recorder for Cornwall and co-ordinator for the Botanical Cornwall Group, whom he enjoys leading walks for, and encouraging Cornwall’s enjoyment of its fine flora.

Martin Catt has over 30 years experience of leading successful wildlife holidays and courses both in UK and abroad, as well as conducting many illustrated talks and guided walks covering numerous wildlife subjects. His varied knowledge and experience includes all major groups of flora and fauna, and also geology and archaeology, with particular interests in butterfly ecology and behaviour, terrestrial orchids, reptiles and amphibians, fungi, and prehistoric archaeology. A former rocket scientist, over the last twenty years Martin has successfully turned his interest in natural history into a full-time profession.

Gabriele Corti has spent plenty of time in the UK as well as in his native Italy. Gabriele has a great enthusiasm for wildlife and is a very able communicator, confident in both his teaching abilities and in fluent English, Italian and Spanish.

Another Green. Though he has a twin brother Ian, Paul isn’t related to the Ian Green who founded Greentours. Paul co-wrote the recent Flora of Somerset with his twin brother (the other Ian Green!) and is currently working on the Flora of County Wexford, where he now lives. This should be published in 2007 and will, we hope, encourage us to get Paul to guide a tour to that lovely part of the world. Prior to his move across the Irish Sea Paul was a long-time resident of Somerset and of Cornwall and has done much recording work in both areas for the Botanical Society of the British Isles. Paul is rapidly expanding his tour repertoire with Greentours, a consequence of his fine botanical knowledge and his pleasantly relaxed style with our groups.

Happily Ian Loe has managed to combine two of his greatest pleasures in life in a way that few of us can ever hope to. A wonderfully talented artist his output for almost fifty years has been phenomenal. He still paints for six hours a day! A dedicated field naturalist he has worked in many parts of the Globe. His entomological work in Congolese border regions saw him elected a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, and he has illustrated and helped to produce several books on the region including ‘Butterflies of Central and Southern Africa’. His depictions of fauna and flora are featured on stamps from a tremendous number of countries, and it is safe to say that if you see a butterfly, insect, or flower on a stamp, there’s a good chance it will have been Ian’s work. Ian’s lively style and tremendous depth of knowledge will be a boon to many of our tropical tours and we are particularly looking forward to Ian’s ‘Art in the Field’ trip in Turkey this coming September.

Jason Smyth has worked for a number of conservation organisations in various parts of the UK and indeed, has been helping out with
our tours for a number of years too. Jason’s friendly, relaxed and efficient style has been much appreciated during the tours as has his
enthusiasm for the natural world.

John Riddell’s parents farmed the flower and bird-rich prairie of southern Alberta so an interest in the natural world started early. After training as a wildlife biologist he worked for Parks Canada before going freelance. John has always lived within sight of the Canadian Rockies and knows the best places for fauna and flora in these stunning mountains. John’s knowledge of Western America’s birdlife is first class and he has been on the Alberta Bird Record Committee for the past five years. A tremendous all-round naturalist, John knows the Alberta flora well, and of course he knows the likeliest spots for encountering those large mammals. An accommodating and friendly character, John is ideal tour leader material, and he will be a tremendous asset to our Canadian and Western US tours in 2007.

An engineer by profession, Neil Thompson has had a life-long interest in the natural world. He has travelled to many parts of the world, visiting cultural as well as natural attractions. He is a keen photographer, specialising in landscapes and macro photography of butterflies. In the last ten years he has been an active member of Butterfly Conservation doing committee, conservation management and recording work. He has visited many European butterfly hotspots, but can still be amazed at the beauty, colour or form of even the commonest species, or at the magnificent countryside in which they’re found.

Other Leaders
There are a number of tour leaders you’ll find on the website that are not mentioned above, space precludes more than a brief summary for some! Eric Miranda is joining Ian to co-lead the Monarch Butterflies tour in February. From Morelia, Eric will be able to provide insights into the cultural sites and life of the region and is a first rate gastronome so expect to eat well on this tour! Patrice Christy co-leads the Gabon tour and is widely regarded as the most knowledgeable naturalist in the country. Mike Taylor resides on the Greek Island of Chios where his knowledge of the many local orchids has resulted in a book on the subject! Fabiana Barbalucca is a wildlife biologist who like her co-leader Paul Cardy, lives in Piemonte and knows the Cottian Alps well. Anders Magnusson has quite possibly the sharpest pair of eyes we’ve ever encountered. He spotted all eleven Polar Bears first on our trip to Spitsbergen with him, so we’ve invited him back for that tour! Last but not least we should mention Glenn Crawford, a resident of Crooked Tree, Belize, and one of Central America’s most accomplished tour leaders.