My great interest in nature and biology began while pursing BS in science and marine biology at James Cook University, in the tropical regions of Australia. I participated in many voluntary projects ranging from studying gliders in eucalyptus forests to starfish on the tropical coral reefs.

In 1999, I started working as a marine biologist guide on the reefs off Airlie Beach on Australia's east coast. The following year I continued working as a combined marine biologist and Dive master, organizing and supervising dive and adventure tours on the Great Barrier Reef. After returning to Sweden, I started working as a guide at Sweden’s National Science Center, teaching visitors about science topics such as the oceans and rainforests. I also began working on an ecotoxicological project through Gothenburg University, investigating the toxic effects of a group of polycyclic-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to natural assemblies of marine micro algal communities. My study was a part of a larger international project (called BEAM) funded by the European Union set out to study the toxic effects of a large number of chemical pollutants on the marine environment. The health of our oceans are unfortunately jeopardized by human impacts such as oil spills, use of toxic boat paints and pollution runoff from land. Since chemicals generally often occur in complex mixtures, it was important to investigate possible mixture effects and if such effects can in anyway be predicted in environmental risk assessments. 

My passion for the outdoors and adventure drives me to accept new challenges. Teaching science to both school kids as well as adults is one of my greatest joys in life. I currently teach evening classes in marine science to adults as well as general biology in middle school. Teaching scuba diving and taking people on ocean tours also takes up a lot of my time.

Through these videos, I hope that we can show people how much there is to see, explore and experience in our natural world. Everyone can go and Explore Biodiversity themselves and at the same time care for the environment.

Sincerely,
Jonas Stenstrom

JONAS ON MYSPACE

Videos with Jonas

	Biodiversity Ecogeeks Episode 5: Rob, Jonas and Suz explore the meanings and importance of biodiversity.			Rainforests Ecogeeks Episode 6: Suz, Hazen and Rob are in Panama and they're getting dirty with this biome.
	Coastal Oceans Ecogeeks Episode 7: We're off exploring the temperate waters of Sweden. There's lobsters, sea pens and jellyfish!			Barro Colorado Island For 5 months the ecogeeks were hosted by the Smithsonian in Panama. Here is where we stayed.
	Hawaiian Biodiversity Find out how all the plants and animals got to the relatively young Hawaiian islands.			Biodiversity of Mexico This film serves as Rob's first full-length feature. It was the vector that brought the current "Wild Classroom" crew together.
	Alligator Snapping Turtle Hazen Audel finds a snapping turtle in Mississippi and describes its unique behaviors.

Jonas on Swedish Television

Jonas, who is a biologist and guide at the National Science Center in Gothenburg, was interviewed by the press regarding their new butterfly exibit. Jonas visited and filmed the location in Costa Rica where the butterflies were imported from.

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