Roy Bridges, Emeritus Professor of History in the University of Aberdeen and President of the Hakluyt Society, began university teaching at Makerere in Uganda.  Other experience includes Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Algeria.   Teaching embraced European and African history.  Principal interests in explorers, missionaries, cultural encounters and imperialism have led to recent works such as Imperialism, Decolonization and Africa (2000), an article in Terrae Incognitae for 2006 on an explorer’s art work, major contributions to OUP New York’s Companion to World Exploration (2007) and an edition for the Hakluyt Society of the remarkable journal of the freed slave, Jacob Wainwright, who brought Livingstone’s body back from the centre of Africa.  Roy Bridges lives in the Northeast of Scotland at Newmachar of which he has written a history (2001).

Dr. Deboarah L. Mack holds a Ph.D. and an M.A., both in anthropology from Northwestern University, and a bachelor's degree in geography from the University of Chicago and currently works as an independent museum for organizations such as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York, The National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution in Washington and the Chicago Historical Society. At Northwestern University, she acted as Research Associate and Curator at the Program of African Studies focusing mainly on civil and human rights issues, international freedom struggles and the historic Underground Railroad.  She is currently serving the first of a three-year term on the advisory Smithsonian Council.

Don Wilson is curator of mammals at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and was named senior scientist in January 2000.  From 1990- 2000, he was director of the Smithsonian’s Biodiversity Programs.  A distinguished mammalogist and internationally recognized authority on bats, he earned his PhD in Biology from the University of New Mexico in 1970.  He is the author of over 180 scientific publications and 13 books, including the highly acclaimed  Mammal Species of the World.  For the last 30 years, his work has taken him around the world conducting field work and research.  He has led tours for Smithsonian Journeys to most of the world’s greatest natural history destinations from Antarctica to Africa.  Don loves to share his passion for the natural world, and his easy going nature, sense of humor, and excellent  presentations have earned him much praise and a loyal following from Smithsonian travelers.