Gualtiero Victor Rudi Spiro Jaeger
Once upon a time, an ocean scientist. These days, strategy consultant, and photographer on the side.
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Some of my favorite tools: A disposable camera as a kid on summer vacation. A self-made pinhole camera once a little older, with pictures developed in my dad's darkroom - the smell of the chemicals brings me right back. A Sony Ericsson T610 phone - good ol' teenage days. A beloved Nikon FM2 since high school, usually with an 85 or 50mm. A treasured Hasselblad 503cw, acquired during a trip to Tokyo's fabled second-hand camera stores. And most recently from eBay, a very affordable Nikon L35 AF point-and-shoot that rarely disappoints with its 35mm plastic lens. I also pick up some woodworking tools once in a blue moon, a kitchen knife quite often, and some bird-watching binoculars more frequently than I would have expected a few years ago...
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Standing on shoulders: I learnt the fundamentals of photography from a set of Ansel Adams books at home and from my art teacher Paul Smith in high school. I had the pleasure to further learn from Marcio Scavone, a renowned photographer in Sao Paulo, while working as his assistant for a season. And I was lucky to learn the basics of shooting below the water's surface from Keith Ellenbogen, an acclaimed underwater photographer. Grateful to all!
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Whether above or below water, I often find myself looking for: Architecture and structures, the environment and the space we live in. From vast landscapes that provide perspective on our endearing human size, to the microcosm of coral reefs that host busy lives of diverse inhabitants. Within these spaces, I am drawn to the workers that create such structures and labour within them, from construction workers on industrial sites, to sailors in gargantuan modern ports, to fish mongers in the belly of busy markets.
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Fun path to becoming (the less useful kind of) doctor: I studied physics at the University of California at Santa Barbara for my undergraduate degree, and physical oceanography at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for my doctorate. My PhD research focused on the interactions between ocean and climate in the Indian Ocean - specifically the Bay of Bengal. Learn more about my days at sea chasing monsoon storms under the research tab.​Along the way I joined the MIT Water Club, directed the 2016 MIT Water Summit “Utilities of the Future”, and lead the club as co-president in 2017-18.
Back on dry land, I spent a year in Washington DC as a Knauss Marine Policy Fellow with NOAA, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. I worked on novel policy approaches to support fishing communities struck by natural and man-made disasters, as well as global public-private cooperation on weather and climate data (the good ol' days indeed).
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Inspirations and recent reads:
