Stella Australis Expedition Director — Mauricio was born in Punta Arenas, Chile in 1968. He completed his high school studies and learned English in Washington DC and became familiar with North American culture while traveling through ten U.S. states. He later studied Engineering and Cinematography at university in Santiago de Chile. His relationship with traveling, mountaineering, and photography began at an early age in the Torres del Paine National Park, where he worked as a guide during summer vacations in the 1980s. Continuing with mountaineering and audiovisual production, Mauricio ventured to Europe as part of an alpinist group doing expeditions in the Pyrenees and Alps between 1995 and 2003. His keen interest in the studying and documenting the region's rich in natural history eventually brought him back to Patagonia. In 2005, he joined the Australis expedition team, where he specializes in regional history and the photography of flora. Mauricio is also a talented musician and loves sports. And he's an ACA Level-2 certified kayaker.LANGUAGES : Spanish and English