Patrick Shaw, President

In July 2001, Patrick Shaw became president of Quark Expeditions. An audacious adventurer, Pat revolutionized travel to the polar regions by creating economical and educationally-focused expedition operations. Prior to joining Quark, he led the first Canadian expedition to Antarctica, the first expedition by ship to the geomagnetic North Pole, and he also coordinated the largest single event in the history of Antarctica during the 2000 millennium celebrations.

Inspired by the legacy of John Muir, the father of the US National Parks System, Pat is deeply committed to environmental protection. He believes, as Muir did, that wilderness is a necessity. He believes also that respsonsible tourism has the power to engender advocacy, creating ambassadors for the conservation of environmentally sensitive areas.

Patrick provides the business development skills needed to expand our expedition activities and to ensure that the company continues to meet the demands of a changing business environment. Pat is applying his master's degree from the London School of Economics and an MBA from Richard Ivey School of Business in Canada to that challenge, which includes positioning the expedition travel brand to retain the company's industry leadership into the future.