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Our Team
The Geotravel Colombia team consists of three academics: Markus Lindewald, Steven Mons and Juan Esteban Quintero Marín. We have many years of experience in journalism, the tourism sector and scientific research in the fields of geography and geology. Together we have more than 15 years of academic experience, which equals more than 250 University courses in the fields of geology, geography, humanities, biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics. We are fluent in six languages (Spanish, English, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish and Danish) and advanced in two (German and French). We are passionate about what we do!
Steven Mons
Steven is a 27 year old Dutch citizen who was born and raised in Ter Aar, The Netherlands. Steven holds a Master´s degree in Latin American Studies, obtained at the Centro de Estudios y Documentación de Latinoamericano (CEDLA, an Amsterdam based interuniversity program on Latin American Studies). He also holds a Master´s degree in Environmental and Political Geography from the Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA), in Amsterdam. As a journalist, he worked for several Dutch monthly magazines where he wrote about geographical, environmental and political issues in Latin America. He has published multiple scientific articles in both The Netherlands and Latin America. Steven took courses in Spanish in Medellín, Colombia and in Quito, Ecuador in 2014 and has travelled through Latin America for many years. He is currently studying a PhD-position in Geography at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL) in Bogotá.
Markus Lindewald
Markus Lindewald is a 42 year old Finnish citizen who grew up in Finland and Denmark. Markus worked as an entrepreneur for 7 years. He graduated as a wilderness guide in 2000 and holds a bachelor’s degree in geology and mineralogy from the Abo Akademi University in Turku, Finland. He also studied biology and geology at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL) in Medellín in 2014 as part of his master´s studies. Markus studied Spanish at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB) and has lived in Colombia since May 2014. As a geologist he has done research about acid sulfate soils on peatlands in northern Finland. Markus is interested in popularizing geology and is currently writing a concise textbook of geology for high school students.
Juan Esteban Quintero Marín
Juan Esteban Quintero is an outstanding 19 year old Colombian geology student from Medellín. Juan Esteban is currently in the sixth semester of his studies in geological engineering at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Medellín. This multidisciplinary boy is an exceptional student who obtained several honors and merits in chemistry and languages at his hometown.