Jeff White grew up in Memphis, Tennessee (an area severely lacking in penguins) and spent much of his time in the woods searching for wildlife. On a trip to work with Hooded Grebes in Argentina, he encountered his fist wild penguins and has been determined to learn more about penguin biology ever since. He completed his PhD – on tawaki, of course – at the University of Miami, USA and is now a post-doctoral researcher at Cornell University in upstate New York. Although there was a bit of a steep learning curve for him to start with, he now navigates the NZ bush like a pro.