Damon Ramsey

Note - this is written by me, but in the third person for websites, articles, etc. 
(Hey, I gotta make myself sound good!)

Damon Ramsey is a "species-ophile". His personal obsession in life is to see as many types of plants, animals and ecosystems as he can. His professional aim is to interpret all this nature and wildlife through his books, articles, videos, lectures, guiding and website.

He completed his Biology degree very slowly at Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, and James Cook University at Townsville and Cairns, north Queensland. However, he was disappointed not to see either Mr. Darwin or Mr. Cook on the campus. Previous to this, he gained his qualifications in Outdoor, Adventure and Interpretative Guiding in the Blue Mountains, south-eastern Australia. These courses led to a range of research assistant experiences, including bandicoots, bats, butterflies, birds and blossoms.

The shekels he earns go back into various educational projects run through “Ecosystem Guides”. This included publishing a series of ecosystem-based guide books. He was the author and photographer of titles on Rainforest, Oceans, and Tropical Seashore. He thought being an author would impress the girls, but they just thought he was even more of a nerd. The rest of the series will be available as ebooks, and titles published recently include "Tropical Open Ocean" (2023), "Antarctic sea & shore" (2023) and "Subantarctic ocean and islands" (2024). He also produced a series of videos exploring and bumbling his way through the Tropical Rainforest. And he runs a large free access website showing where to best explore the great ecosystems of the world.

For a living, Damon has worked as a guide, since 1998 (before the turn of the century!), including overnight jungle hikes, rock art tours, documentary film shoots, 4WD safaris, coral reef cruises, cycle tours, wildlife & bird-watching tours, and biology, ecotourism & other study programs. He was also one of the directors for ETA, an educational company in Australia.

For the last two decades most of his work has been as a guide and lecturer on a dozen different cruise and expedition ships around the world. He has written over 160 different lectures, illustrated with his own photographs, and jokes he has stolen from other people. The subjects include astronomy, geography, geology, botany, insects, reptiles, fish, birds, mammals, and even one on a James Bond movie.

His work and travel has taken him to over 50 countries across all 7 continents, from the Arctic to Antarctica, and the tropics of Africa, South America, Asia, and Australia in between. Until recently he was based mainly in Thailand as he couldn't afford to live in Australia. However, due to the coronavirus, he can't afford to live overseas, so now he is based back in Cairns, North Queensland, Australia - a beautiful place to hide!

(click here for a shorter edited version of the biography for limited space)

additions for Bio for specific areas

(Arctic). For these upcoming expeditions, Damon’s expertise is the result of two seasons in the northern polar regions. He is interested in, and lectures on, all aspects of natural history in the region, including oceanography, flowers, birds and mammals.

(Antarctica). For these upcoming expeditions, Damon’s expertise is the result of six seasons exploring the Southern Ocean on various ships. He started in the New Zealand and Australian subantarctic in 2011, and of course later worked on the South American side, along the Antarctic Peninsula and the subantarctic South Georgia and Falklands/Malvinas. In 2023 he finished producing the book “Ecosystem Guides: Antarctic sea and shore”, and in 2024 published another book called ’Subantarctic ocean and islands’.

(Kimberley). For these upcoming expeditions, Damon’s expertise is the result of over 20 seasons in the Kimberley. He started in the region with wildlife surveys looking for the rare Gouldian Finch, and has worked along the coast as a guide, guest lecturer and expedition leader. His book “Tropical Seashores of Australia” was largely written along this remote coast. One of the few years he didn’t make it to the Kimberley was 2020: he can not remember why.

Damon's current location...

You can always check where I am and what I am doing on this page: future schedule of Damon Ramsey.

Contact

For contact, given I often out of range on ships or in remote areas, it is always best to email me:

damon@ecosystem-guides.com

Links to other pages about Damon Ramsey

Click on the following links for more information...

Qualifications of Damon Ramsey

Work History

Travel experience

Publications

e-books

Lectures

Contact details