The Team

CRISTIAN PEREZ-NAVARRO, Architect, Assoc. AIA. 

Explorers Club Member Nat’l’09

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Member of The Explorers Club of New York, Cristián has conducted exploration and led field research towards sustainable development initiatives in remote communities of his native Chile since 1997.  Avid cyclist, in 2008 he covered 1,600Km of bicycle riding between Seattle, WA and San Francisco, CA in 13 days, for a total of more than 5,000 miles over the course of the same year. More recently, he undertook the 30th Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic, to cover 330Km in twelve hours of continuous riding. He is also conversant in the challenges of the mountain and the back-country, as experienced hiker and advanced Snowboard-rider. Cristián is also certified in Wilderness First Aid.

Architect by training, Cristián has developed a roughly 15-year long career within three continents and is currently Senior Designer and Associate Partner at a National architectural firm based in Seattle, WA. Pérez-Navarro also performs pro-bono work as one of three principals and co-founders of The Islands Project Group, a Seattle-based multi-disciplinary group aiming towards raising awareness and supporting the vulnerable and unique ecosystems –natural & human- of the Juan Fernández Archipelago -the temperate version of Galápagos, one of the 12 most endangered National Parks in the Planet- and working towards providing the islands with a Community-based Scientific Station in the nearest possible future.

RODRIGO DIAZ-CORTES, Senior Guide in Southern Patagonia & Tierra del Fuego

Rodrigo has 5 years experience as Senior Guide in Patagonia with Hotel Explora. Trained as Forest Engineer in Santiago and as Wilderness First Responder by NOLS in Southern Patagonia, during his tenure in the region he also co-founded an air-adventure company that offered scenic fly-around trips in Torres del Paine National Park and surrounding areas. All this background has provided him with a genuinely thorough knowledge of the region.

After his tenure in Southern Patagonia, Rodrigo has continued to host adventurers from all over the world, managing boutique hotels in Chile and guiding in some of the most incredible natural and cultural settings in the country, such as UNESCO World Heritage Port of Valparaiso and the touristy village of San Pedro de Atacama, in the midst of the driest desert in the Planet.

Rodrigo is currently based in the Central Valley area, near Santiago in Continental Chile, where he manages a boutique Mountain Lodge and guides hiking and horseback riding treks year round. 

 JEFFREY DUNN, Architect, Musician & Outdoor Enthusiast

  

Jeffrey is an avid outdoor enthusiast, musician, and architect who lives and works in Seattle, Washington. Over the last ten years he has backpacked through remote areas of Wyoming, Colorado, California, and Washington. Having completed training in avalanche awareness and snow stability evaluation, he has explored many of the alpine areas in Washington state as well. 

As an architect, he has become increasingly aware of the effects of Climate Change on the Planet as well as the opportunities for improvement that we have to take advantage of in order to make a difference. 

Having sold his car four years ago, Jeffrey takes the ethic of sustainability personally and has also learned how to live in an urban context with a bicycle as his sole means of transportation.