Andean & Rainforest Expeditions LLC (ARE) seeks to build bridges between peoples and cultures through customized travel experiences. Our unique travel programs are designed to create a greater understanding of our place in the natural world and the importance of conservation and sustainable approaches to development. Our journeys are designed to bring travelers in close, to interact with nature and cultures rather than being a passive observer, while at the same time fully respecting the natural places and people we encounter. We believe our business is not separate from the communities and places we visit and we feel strongly about supporting the people and organizations making a difference. We design and operate programs for individuals, families and institutional clients.

OUR CLIENTS
Andean & Rainforest Expeditions has a reputation for organizing unique and exciting travel programs distinct from those offered by other operators. Our clients' experiences speak for themselves and their testimonials and references are available upon requests. The following organizations are some of our clients that can attest to the quality of our travel programs: Washington & Lee University, Colorado College, Field Museum of Chicago, Brookfield Zoo, Fellows from the Kellogg Foundation, Raptor Center of Minnesota, Museum of the Americas in Denver, Ronald MacDonald Foundation of Minneapolis, Piedmont Nature Center, Preferred Adventures, Voyagers International, Natural Habitat, Bat Conservation International, Wild Bird Center of North Carolina, Principia College of Illinois, San Diego Zoo, Boyd Norton's Photographic Workshops, and Stanford University.

MARIO CORVETTO
Director
A native of Peru, Mario experienced adventure travel at a very early age with his Italian born father who took him on numerous expeditions into the remote regions of the Amazon rainforest and Andean highlands. For over 22 years Mario has been living his passion for travel and photography by guiding and organizing journeys to Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. Mario has lived in Peru, the U.S., Venezuela, Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina, England and Burkina Faso, West Africa. Mario speaks English, Spanish and Italian fluently and speaks conversational French. As an adviser, Mario has evaluated sustainable ecotourism projects for the World Bank in Bolivia and for the Chilean government in the Araucania region.

He is also an accomplished award-winning photographer where he dedicates his work to building bridges and promoting better understanding between traditional peoples and the Western world. Mario is a founding member of the Evergreen Photo Alliance stock agency. Mario spent a year from 1996 -1997 in Boznia-Herzegovina where he donated his time to non-profit organizations such as the American Refugee Committee, Catholic Relief Services and World Vision International to create image banks to help support and promote the efforts made by these NGO's working with the people traumatized and displaced by the war. Because of his volunteer work, Mario was selected by the Bosnian Catholic Church to be their photographer during the Pope's visit to Sarajevo. As a photographer, Mario has also done assignments for UNICEF in Peru and Venezuela to promote, children's rights, nutrition and health care.

JEANINE CORVETTO
Director of Marketing
Jeanine is co-founder of ARE and is responsible for marketing and the design of specialized products for institutional clients. She has considerable international experience consulting and working with the private companies, governments and non-profits in the areas of finance and ecotourism. She recently co-authored a study for the IFC titled “A Review of International Markets, Finance and Technical Assistance Models for Ecolodges in Developing Countries” http://ifcln1.ifc.org/ifcext/enviro.nsf/Content/EBFP_Ecolodge.

Some of her professional work includes acting as a resident debt advisor in West Africa and in Bosnia-Herzegovina for the U.S. Treasury Department, a senior finance specialist with RTI International, a Vice President in Public Finance with Smith Barney, and a Manager at Citibank Venezuela's international corporate finance department. Jeanine was also a National Leadership Fellow (XV) with the Kellogg Foundation where she received a three-year fellowship to study women in leadership in countries such as Thailand, Peru, Tanzania and India. She has a bachelor's degree in international finance from the University of Colorado and a master's degree in international affairs and economics from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. In addition to English she speaks Spanish, French and Italian.

BOYD NORTON
Director of Business Development and Tour Leader
Boyd has traveled extensively documenting the world's wild places and environmental issues, a specialty he has pursued as a photographer and writer for more than thirty years. For over 25 years Boyd has used his photography skills and environmental understanding to lead photographic eco-tours to destinations such as Tanzania, Peru, Borneo, Galapagos, Siberia and Antarctica.

His articles and photos have appeared in most major magazines, including Time, National Geographic, Smithsonian, Audubon, Conde Nast's Traveler, Stern, Vogue, Money, Outdoor Photographer, Popular Photography, Travel-Holiday, Travel & Leisure, Outside, Reader's Digest, The New York Times, Sierra Club, Playboy, Time-Life Books, and numerous others in this country and abroad.

He is the author/photographer of thirteen critically acclaimed books:
The Art of Outdoor Photography
Baikal: Sacred Sea of Siberia (with Peter Matthiessen)
SafariJournal
The African Elephant: Last Days of Eden (Foreword by Richard Leakey)
The Mountain Gorilla
Boyd Norton's PhotoJournal
Divided Twins: Alaska and Siberia (with Yevgeny Yevtushenko)
Backroads of Colorado
Alaska: Wilderness Frontier
Wilderness Photography
Rivers of the Rockies
The Grand Tetons
Snake Wilderness

Norton has served on the Board of Trustees for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, devoted to saving the last mountain gorillas, and is currently on the Board of Directors of Baikal Watch, a part of David Brower's Earth Island Institute, dedicated to preserving Lake Baikal and other wilderness areas of Siberia.

In 1980 Norton received a special award from the Environmental Protection Agency, presented by Robert Redford, for his "important, exciting environmental photography and writing." For the past two decades his environmental activism has become global in scope, including projects for eco-tourism development at Siberia's Lake Baikal, nature reserves in the Russian Far East, in Tanzania, and in Peru.

Barbara Norton
Operations Manager
For the past two decades Barabara has designed and co-led photographic ecotours in Alaska, Colorado, Kenya, Tanzania, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Belize, Malaysia, Indonesia, Italy, and Siberia. Barbara is also a videographer and video producer, working on marketing projects for ecotours companies in Peru, Tanzania, and Siberia.

She is the co-author of Backroads of Colorado, first published by Rand McNally and one of the most popular tour guide books on the state. Barbara Norton has extensive private sector experience serving as manager of technical information services for a Fortune 500 company.

STEVE MORELLO
Tour Leader/Director Green Planet Expeditions
Steve has been guiding wildlife adventures for more than twenty years. His career in wildlife started doing research on whales in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He soon found that guiding on local whale watching boats brought him to his passion for bringing people to see wildlife and teaching them about the wonders of nature. For the next fifteen years he lead whale watching tours, became an instructor at the National Audubon's Society Audubon Camps in Maine, and was the Director of Education at West Quoddy Marine Biological Research Station in Maine. In 1989 he became the Field Director for Natural Habitat Adventures where he guided wildlife tours around the world until 2004 when he founded Green Planet Expeditions, his own wildlife adventure company. Steve has guided for such prestigious organizations as American Museum of Natural History, National Wildlife federation, World Wildlife Fund, and the Smithsonian Museum. Steve met Mario Corvetto of Andean Rainforest Expeditions when they both were teaching photography at Washington and Lee University. Since then Steve and Mario have worked together on many projects including teaching at Rainforest Expeditions annual guide training. Green Planet Expeditions and Andean & Rainforest Expeditions have created an alliance for responsible tour operators.

Well known as a professional wildlife photographer, Steve's work has appeared in National Geographic, International Wildlife, The New York Times and Outdoor Photographer as well as numerous other magazines, books and calendars. Steve is a major contributer to the photo collection of the World Wildlife Fund and frequently works with scientists around the world documenting their research and gaining first-hand knowledge of the animals and ecosystems he photographs. He is enthusiastic and fun loving, making every day spent with him on a wildlife adventure an experience to remember.