Ronald Orenstein is a zoologist, lawyer, dedicated wildlife conservationist and the author of thirteen books on science and nature. His book New Animal Discoveries won the 2001 Science in Society Journalism Award for best Canadian children's book. His most recently published books include Hummingbirds and Butterflies. Orangutans: A Natural History will be published in 2023,.

Dr. Orenstein is a consultant for Humane Society International (HSI), a member of the Board of Directors of the Species Survival Network (SSN), and a member of the Asian Songbird Trade, Freshwater Turtle and Tortoise and Hornbill Specialist Groups of the World Conservation Union (IUCN)'s Species Survival Commission. He has been a registered observer at meetings of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) for over thirty years. In 1989 he helped engineer the compromise that led to an international ban on the ivory trade.

Dr. Orenstein has had extensive travel, lecture and stage experience. His play ‘The Learned Judgment’ was premiered at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Harrogate, England, in 2018.

Dr. Orenstein lives in Canada, but spends part of each year in Malaysia, his wife’s home country.

Cruise Lectures – Ronald Orenstein (updated 9 June 2023)

[All lectures include accompanying PowerPoint presentations; lectures in preparation are indicated]

General Subjects [NB: I have prepared (or can easily prepare) separate versions of the following lectures for use on different cruise routes, each featuring the animals most likely to be seen on that route]

1. Coral Kingdom: Life and Death on the Reef
Coral reefs are home to the greatest wealth of life in the seas, but today they are slowly dying. Find out why, and what can be done about it, at this lecture. [Pacific and Caribbean versions available]
2. How to Tell a Seal from a Sea Lion
That’s a sea lion balancing a ball on its nose, not a seal. This lecture explains the difference, and explores the lives of the sea lions and seals we are likely to see on our voyage. [South American, North Atlantic and Eastern Pacific versions available]
3. The Sea Turtle’s Journey: An Ocean Odyssey
Sea turtles are among the greatest long-distance migrants. This lecture follows them as they circle the oceans, before returning at last to the beaches where they hatched. [Atlantic and Pacific versions available]
4. What is a Whale?
Why is a whale a mammal? What is the difference between a whale, a dolphin and a porpoise? Which ones might we see on this cruise? Join Ronald Orenstein to find out. [Atlantic, South American, Southeast Asian, North Atlantic, Pacific and Caribbean/Eaastern Pacific versions available]
5. What to See at Sea: Seabirds and Other Creatures
A guide to seabirds, flying fishes and other animals to watch for on long sea days [Atlantic, North Atlantic, Pacific and Caribbean/Eastern Pacific versions available]

Workshop Presentations [These are shorter presentations for use in discussion groups]

6. Birding Around the World
Learn how to identify birds, share birding stories and discuss the value of international birding.
7. Ivory, Horn and Blood: The Illegal Wildlife Trade
Join an informative discussion focusing on this unlawful practice and the best ways of dealing with it.
 
Regional Itineraries

Antarctica

9. Antarctic Jungles: The fossil History of Antarctica
Fossils, collected the few ice-free areas of Antarctica, reveal that the continent was once a heavily-forested land, home to dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. This lecture takes you back in time to Antarctica’s distant – and far warmer – past.
10. Crossing the Drake: An Introduction to Antarctica
As our ship crosses the infamous Drake Passage, we leave South America and enter the realm of the Antarctic. This lecture introduces you to this unique continent, and to the birds and other animals that we hope to see there.
11. World Beneath the Ice: Life in Antarctic Seas
Though few animals live on the Antarctic continent, the seas around it teem with life – hordes of krill, giant jellyfish, and ice fishes with antifreeze-laced blood. This lecture takes you to meet them, beneath the surface and below the ice.
12. The Worst Journey in the World: Darkness, Cold and Penguin Eggs
The naturalist on Scott’s last Antarctic expedition wanted Emperor Penguin embryos – but Emperor Penguins nest in the depths of the Antarctic winter. The quest for their eggs, through utter darkness and unimaginable cold, makes for one of the most harrowing tales in the history of Antarctic exploration.

Atlantic Islands

13. A Voyage to Macaronesia: Nature in Madeira, the Canaries and Cape Verde
Macaronesia – the Madeiras, the Canaries, the Azores, and Cape Verde – are both geologically fascinating and home to a surprising number of rare plants and animals. Explore their natural history at this lecture.
14. The Botanist’s Galápagos: The Peculiar Flowers of the Canaries
The plants of the Canary Islands, like the Darwin’s finches and giant tortoises of the Galápagos, have evolved from often obscure ancestors into an array of strange and beautiful forms. This lecture introduces you to the islands’ spectacular wildflowers.

Australia

15. In the Dreamtime: Australia’s Vanished Giants
The first humans to arrive in Australia met a wealth of fabulous beasts: rhino-sized wombats, gigantic kangaroos, marsupial ‘lions’, and others. What were Australia’s giant creatures like, and what happened to them?
16. Wildlife in Sydney: Kookaburras, Gum Trees, etc.
If you want to encounter Australia’s wonderful wildlife, Sydney is a good place to start. This lecture shows you where to go, and what you can expect to see when you get there
17. Top End Wildlife: Nature in Tropical Australia
Discover tropical Australia’s special animals, including the ones you we may see when we get there.
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Brazil

18. Beija-Flores: The World of Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds are extraordinary creatures. They can beat their wings over 50 times per second while breathing 500 times per minute and burning energy at 10 times the rate of a top human athlete. This lecture explores the lives of South America’s most remarkable birds.
19. The Bird Continent: South America’s Incredible Avifauna
South America boasts more bird species than any other continent, including some of the most colorful and exotic birds on earth. This lecture introduces you to a gallery of South America’s brilliant bird life, from grotesquely-beaked toucans to dazzling tanagers, dancing manakins and many others.
20. Boundless Butterflies, Myriads of Moths
Butterflies and moths teem in Brazil. This lecture introduces you to some of the most beautiful – and to some of the strangest, including noisemaking butterflies and venomous caterpillars.
21. Mata Atlântica: The Atlantic Forest of Brazil
South America’s most endangered rainforest lies far from the Amazon, on Brazil’s southeastern coast. This lecture takes you on a tour of its unique natural history, from stunning orchids and rare parrots to South America’s largest monkey.
22. The Naturalist on the River Amazons
See the Amazon through the eyes of two great Victorian naturalists – and how it has changed today.
23. Our American Cousins: New World Monkeys and Marmosets
Meet the diverse, colorful and often endangered monkeys of the Americas.
24. Strange Joints: South America’s Weirdest Mammals
Some have fur filled with algae and moths; others replace their fur with armor plate. Some are toothless; others have more teeth than any other mammal. This lecture invites you to meet the anteaters, sloths and armadillos, the most remarkable mammals in South America.

Central America and Caribbean

25. James Bond’s Favourite Birds: The Avifauna of the West Indies
Discover the fascinating birds of the West Indies – the lifelong study of (the real) James Bond.
26. Barro Colorado: Research in Eden
How an island isolated by Panama Canal became one of the world’s most famous centres for the study of life in the rainforest.

Japan and Siberia

27. Beneath Japan’s Seas: Marine Life in Japanese Waters
An introduction to the rich array of life to be found off the coast of Japan, from bizarre sharks to edible jellyfish.
28. Bird of Happiness: The Japanese Crane
Cranes are not only beautiful in themselves, but play a special role in Japan’s culture. This lecture explains why.
29. Eagles to Albatrosses: Seabirds in Japanese Waters
This lecture introduces you to the seabirds around Japan, from the magnificent Steller’s Sea Eagle to the endangered Short-tailed Albatross.
30. Isolated Beauty: The Nature of the Nansei Shoto
An introduction to the unique wildlife of the Nansei Shoto or Ryukyu Islands, including Amami Oshima and Okinawa.
31. Natural Monuments: Wildlife and Wild Places in Japan
In Japan, rare and beloved animals and plants, and the places where they live, can be declared Natural Monuments. This lecture introduces you to a selection of them.
32. Tigers in the Snow: Wildlife in Eastern Russia
An introduction to the wild animals of eastern Siberia and Sakhalin Island, and in particular to the rare Siberian Tiger.
33. Whaling in Japan: A History of Controversy
Japan is one of the last countries on earth still hunting for whales. This lecture explores the history of this controversial hunt, and of efforts to bring it to an end.

Mediterranean

34. The Wine-Dark Sea: The Nature of the Mediterranean
An overview of the natural history of this unique sea and the dolphins, sea turtles, fishes and other creatures that live in it, including some we may see on our voyage.
35. Cloud-Cuckoo-Land: Birds in the Eastern Mediterranean
An introduction to the rich bird life of the Mediterranean, including the millions of migrating birds that pass through the region every year.
36. Classical Zoology: How the Ancients Viewed the Animal World
See the animal world through the eyes of Ancient Egypt, Israel, Greece and Rome
37. Flora's Realm: Flowers and Plants of the Mediterranean
Plants have been central to Mediterranean cultures for millenia, and the region is home to a host of familiar and unfamiliar wildflowers.
38. When the Sea Ran Dry: The Paleohistory of the Mediterranean
An exploration of the Mediterranean in deep time, including the pygmy elephants and other strange creatures that once lived on its islands.
39. Invasion, Pollution and change: The future of the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean is one of the most threatened bodies of water in the world. This lecture explains why, and what is being done about it.

North Atlantic

40. Tropical Greenland
Journey back 360 million years to a time when Greenland was covered in tropical swamps and the first four-legged animals crawled onto the land.
41. Life in Frigid Seas (in preparation)
Explore the surprisingly rich world of fishes and other marine life that thrives beneath the surface of the North Atlantic
42. Animals in Iceland
Learn about the animal life you might see in Iceland, from wild birds to the reindeer and horses brought there by human settlers.
43. The Lore of the Sea Serpent
Listen to the tales that North Atlantic sailors told of monsters in the sea. Could sea serpents have been real?
44. The Natural History of Fjords
This lecture is a celebration of fjords: what they are, how they form, what lives in their waters, and what may threaten their pristine beauty [North Atlantic version].
45. Kingdom of the Ice Bear
Explore the natural history of Svalbard: one of the most forbidding landscapes on earth, but one that teems with wildlife including walruses, reindeer, millions of seabirds and the iconic polar bear.
46. Flowers above the Treeline (in preparation)
Discover one of the most surprising aspects of the tundra: its wealth of wildflowers. How do plants survive in this often brutal environment?
47. The Melting Arctic (in preparation)
Every year, more of the ice that once covered the Arctic melts into the sea. Why is this critical, not only for the wildlife of the far north but for the fate of the world?

Pacific Islands (including Hawaii)

48. Dancers and Artisans: Birds of Paradise and Bowerbirds
None of New Guinea’s creatures have excited the imagination more than the brilliant birds of paradise, with their spectacular courtship dances, and the bowerbirds, whose display structures can rival human art installations. This lecture explores these almost unbelievable birds.
49. Glimpses of Paradise: Early Naturalists in the Pacific (in preparation)
Travel back in time to the days of Captain Cook, and see the South Pacific through the eyes of the first European naturalists to visit this fabled realm.
50. The Islands Darwin Missed: Nature and Evolution in Hawaii
Discover the remarkable and endangered native wildlife and plants of Hawaii – the results of island evolution far outstripping the more famous Galápagos.
51. Lost Continent: The Nature of New Caledonia
New Caledonia is the northern tip of a great sunken continent, with forests so ancient that they were used as background for the BBC series Walking with Dinosaurs. This lecture introduces the plants and animals of this unique and little-known land.
52. Paradise Island: The Nature of New Guinea
New Guinea is one of the richest wildlife paradises on the planet. This lecture introduces you to some of the remarkable animals that call it home.
53. Ring of Fire: Islands of the Western Pacific
The Marianas Islands (including Saipan and Guam) sit on the Ring of Fire, home to more active volcanoes and earthquakes than anywhere on earth. This lecture explores how the islands came to be, and the special animals that live on and around them.
54. The Smartest Bird in the World: The New Caledonian Crow
The New Caledonian Crow not only uses tools; it designs and makes them. Its problem-solving abilities are extraordinary. This lecture, by the person who first reported its tool-using skills, is an introduction to this remarkable bird.
55. The Snake That Swallowed Guam: An Ecological Catastrophe
The Brown Tree Snake, an accidental immigrant, ate almost every bird on Guam, plunged towns into darkness, threatened the island’s forests, and led to enormous costs in an effort to check its spread. This lecture tells its story.

South Africa

56. The Fairest Cape: Nature in Cape Town (in preparation)
Explore the magnificent scenery and fascinating wildlife that you can find in and around this beautiful city.
57. Old Fourlegs: The History of the Coelacanth (in preparation)
Relive one of the greatest zoological discoveries of the Twentieth Century: the capture, off South Africa, of a fish thought extinct since the days of the dinosaurs, and the years-long search for its real home.
58. Fabulous Fynbos: South Africa’s Floral Kingdom (in preparation)
Discover one of the natural marvels of South Africa: the richest wildflower flora in the world, and the original home of many of our most beloved flowers, including the magnificent proteas.
59. Big Five and Little Five: South Africa’s Charismatic Wildlife (in preparation)
Meet South Africa's famous - and not so famous - animals, from mighty elephants to tiny elephant shrews. There is more to South Africa's wildlife than the big five!

Southeast Asia

60. The Great Divide: Alfred Russel Wallace and his line
Meet the great Victorian naturalist and the divide between Australasia and Asia that bears his name.
61. Birdwings and Roses: Asia’s Most Beautiful Butterflies
Southeast Asia is home to some of the largest, most glamorous and most fascinating butterflies on earth. This lecture introduces you to these beautiful and spectacular insects.
62. Chang Thai: Elephants and Ivory in Thailand
Elephants have been at the centre of Thai culture for centuries. In recent years, though, its value as an object of devotion has been overshadowed by Thailand’s involvement in the international ivory trade.
63. Dragonflies in Asia: A New Way to Look at Nature
Asia is rich in dragonflies (and their cousins the damselflies), and nature-lovers are starting to pay attention to these often beautiful insects. This lecture tells you why.
64. Eye of the Tiger: Southeast Asia’s Wild Cats
Demand for tiger bone, valued in traditional medicine, has almost eliminated Asia’s largest cat from its former haunts. This lecture introduces you to the tiger’s plight, and to the other little-known wild cats that share its range.
65. Full Cages, Empty Forests: The Songbird Trade in Asia
A songbird in a cage is a prized possession in much of eastern Asia. In recent years trappers catering to bird-loving customers have swept many Asian forests almost clean of songbirds, leaving them to languish in city markets like the famous bird market in Kowloon.
66. Garden City: Nature in Singapore
Singapore is surprisingly rich in wildlife. This lecture introduces you to the city’s wildlife riches, and to the parks and reserves where you may find them.
67. Great Grandfather Turtle: Rescuing Vietnam’s Turtle God
Hanoi’s central lake is home to a monster – but, unlike the creatures of Loch Ness, this one is perfectly real. This lecture introduces you to one of the largest and rarest turtles in the world, and to its special place in Vietnamese culture.
68. King of Fruits: The Natural History of Durian
Love it or hate it, there is nothing like a durian. Besides being the subject of almost obsessive devotion in Southeast Asia, durian is the heart of an ecological web drawing in everything from bats to elephants.
69. Pink Dolphins and Other Things: Wildlife in Hong Kong
The increasingly polluted seas around Hong Kong are one of the last refuges of a rare and beautiful dolphin. It is but one of many animals, common and rare, that make Hong Kong a special – if threatened – place for naturalists.
70. Where the Saola Roams: Vietnam’s Lost World
In 1992, explorers in Vietnam made an astounding discovery: a large and beautiful animal totally unknown to western science. Known to the locals as saola, it was the first sign that Vietnam contained a lost world of undiscovered animals. This lecture introduces you to the saola, and to the other unique and threatened species that share its home.

Southern South America

71. Chile in Bloom: Chile’s Wealth of Wildflowers
From the deserts of the north to the cold forests of the far south, Chile is filled with beautiful and unusual wildflowers. Come to this lecture for a tour of one of the world’s great wildflower spectacles, and the fascinating science that lies behind it.
72. Darwin in Patagonia: Adventures in the Far South
In the early 1830s, HMS Beagle sailed the waters of Patagonia on a world-changing voyage of discovery. On board was soon-to-be-famous naturalist Charles Darwin. This lecture invites you to experience Darwin’s adventures in his own words.
73. The Guano Business
In the 19th century, demand for Peruvian bird droppings led to a gold rush, ghastly human rights abuses, the deaths of thousands of workers, and at least one war. This lecture tells the amazing - and largely forgotten - story of the guano trade.
74. Life in a Penguin Colony: Penguins and Their World
A penguin colony is a hive of activity, from the nesting birds themselves to the predators and scavengers that live among them. This lecture explores the lives of penguins and their dependents, both on and away from the colony.
75. The Natural History of Fjords
This lecture introduces you to the nature of Chile’s magnificent fjords: what they are, how they form, what lives in their waters, and what may threaten their pristine beauty.
76. Remnants of Gondwanaland: The Ancient Forests of Chile
Chile’s southern forests hold the world’s smallest deer, a frog whose tadpoles live in their father’s mouths, and a tiny marsupial whose nearest relatives live in Australia. This lecture introduces you to Chile’s ancient forests and their wildlife.
77. Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties: Seabirds of the South
The windswept waters of southern South America are home to a great variety of albatrosses and other storm-hardened seabirds. This lecture introduces you to the birds you may see from our ship, and to their remarkable and perilous lives.
78. Splendid Isolation: Prehistoric South America
South America was once an island, home to killer birds, hippo-sized rodents, seagoing sloths and other unique and remarkable animals. Come to this lecture for a journey to the continent’s distant past, and the strange (and often gigantic) creatures that once lived there.

I have acted as an Enrichment Lecturer on the following cruises (2018-2022; see also Recent Cruises below):

1. Azamara Pursuit - Lima To Buenos Aires (1 - 22 December 2018)
2. Azamara Pursuit - Buenos Aires To Rio De Janeiro (22 December 2018 - 6 January 2019)
3. MS Maasdam (Holland America) - Singapore to Hong Kong and Return (15 February - 7 March 2019)
4. MS Maasdam (Holland America) - Pacific Islands Collector (Japan and Russia) (14 - 28 August 2019)
5. Ms Maasdam (Holland America) - Pacific Islands Collector (Yokohama To Sydney) (28 August - 26 September 2019)
6. Azamara Pursuit - Lisbon To Rio De Janeiro (13 - 30 November 2019)
7. Azamara Pursuit – Antarctica (5 - 20 January 2020)
8. Azamara Pursuit - Buenos Aires To Santiago (20 January - 4 February 2020)
9. Viking Sea OSE200220 - From the Caribbean to the Amazon (20 February - 12 March 2020)
10. Azamara Onward (16SEP-01OCT2022 / Rome to Athens)
11. Viking Orion OR221013 Pacific Crossing Cruise (October 2022)

I am currently booked as a lecturer on cruises for Azamara (Antarctic) and Viking (Panama Canal, Norway and Iceland, World Cruise) in 2023 and 2024.

I currently have a portfolio of 78 lectures on all aspects of natural history, many geared to specific areas of the world.

No additional information provided.

The following recent Cruise History has been recorded for this candidate.