Yonni's EDUCATION and ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

Education

1998-2000 Ph.D program in Coastal Geomorphology - University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
1993-1997 M.A. in Physical Geography - University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel Thesis Subject "Geomorphic Processes Along the Coastal Cliffs of the Central Mediterranean Coastline of Israel." Honors: CUM LAUDE.
1990-1993 B.A. in Geography, Minor in Archeology & Marine Science - University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel. Honors: SUMMA CUM LAUDE.

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

2001-2005 California State University Dominguez Hills, Santa Monica College and Antioch University Lectured and taught Geography and Earth Sciences courses
2000-2001 California State University Dominguez Hills and Cal. State University Long Beach Lectured and gave multimedia presentations on world regional geography.
1998-2000 Teaching Assistant at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA. Lectured and taught Environmental Ethics, concepts, policy & theory.
1994-1997 Teaching Assistant at Haifa University, Haifa, Israel. Lectured and organized extensive field studies in coastal geomorphology for undergraduate geography students.
1991-1997 Research Assistant, Haifa University, Haifa, Israel. Geomorphologic mapping, hydrological field measurements, aerial photo analysis, field surveying and sampling, laboratory sediment analysis.
1991-1996 Major research: Extensive study of the geomorphic processes along the cliffs of the Central Mediterranean coastline of Israel. Analysis of rock and soil units, correlation studies of weather patterns to rates of erosion retreat, and field survey and mapping of the coastal morphology.

Lectures on geomorphic processes along Israeli coastal cliffs:

April 2008 Lecture by invitation at the Southern California Coastal Geological Society, Ventura, CA, USA.
December 2007 Panelist at the American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, Fall Meeting, 2007.
March 1999 Panelist at the Association of American Geographers, 95 Annual Meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
November 1998 Panelist at the 29th Annual Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium; The Geomorphology of Coastal Systems, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Mass. USA.
June 1996 Lecturer at the Eighth Annual Symposium on the Mediterranean Continental Margin of Israel, The Israeli National Institute of Oceanography, Haifa, Israel.
May 1996 Guest lecturer for the monthly seminar of the Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel.
March 1996 Lecture by invitation at the Third Israeli Geomorphology Research Group Conference, Eilat, Israel.
December 1995 Lecture by invitation at the Geographical Society of Israel Conference, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
April 1995 Lecture by invitation at the Geographical Society of Israel Conference, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
May 1994 Lecturer at the 1994 Geomorphology and Environment Conference, Haifa, Israel.

Yonni's TRAVEL EXPERIENCE

Over the last 40 years Yonni has traveled extensively throughout Israel, the Middle East and other regions of the world. Some of these regions include: North America, Mexico and Central America, South America, Caribbean islands, Islands of the Pacific Ocean, Central and East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, North and East Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe.

Throughout his travels Yonni has made it a point to learn about the physical and human landscape of the various regions he travels through. As Yonni travels through a region he always tries to learn about the native people, their culture and history. He also learns about the geological and geomorphological history of the region.

Yonni tends to combine in his travels outdoor activities as: mountain climbing, backpacking, hiking, scuba diving, surfing and horse packing.

Yonni's WORK EXPERIENCE

WORK EXPERIENCE

2000 - Present, founder and main guide of PEACEFUL EDGE ADVENTURES
2010 - Present, Minerals & Geology Program Manager of the Los Padres National Forest, USDA
2004 - 2010 Natural Resource Officer on the Angeles National Forest, USDA
2001 - 2005 California State University Dominguez Hills, Cal. State University Long Beach, Santa Monica College and Antioch University Lectured and taught Geography and Earth Sciences courses
2004 - 2005 Science Teacher and developer of the science program and science lab at the Bowerman Elementary School, Santa Monica, California, US.
2000 - 2004 Lifeguard and swimming teacher at the 'Highland Swim School', Los Angeles, California.
1998-2000 Teaching Assistant at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA. Lectured and taught Environmental Ethics, concepts, policy & theory.
1994-1997 Teaching Assistant at Haifa University, Haifa, Israel. Lectured and organized extensive field studies in coastal geomorphology for undergraduate geography students.
1991-1997 Research Assistant, Haifa University, Haifa, Israel. Geomorphologic mapping, hydrological field measurements, aerial photo analysis, field surveying and sampling, laboratory sediment analysis.
1995 -1996 Aerial map and photo analysis, Ofek Aerial Photography, Natanya, Israel.
1991-1992 Security officer: Israeli Electric Corporation, Hadera, Israel.
1986-1987 Under cover security officer: "Costa Line", Italian cruise ships, Mediterranean and world cruises.

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS

1990-Present Multimedia and slide show presentations on international traveling presented in Universities, schools, public libraries and private homes throughout New York state and California.
1990-1997 Multimedia and slide show presentations on international traveling presented in Universities, schools, public libraries, Kibbutzim and private homes throughout Israel.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION About Yonni

MILITARY SERVICE

1986- 1996 Alpine Elite Unit, Reserve Duty.
1994-1996 Lectures on coastal geomorphology to Israeli Navy Seals.
1983-1986 Elite Infantry Reconnaissance Unit: three month medical course, eighteen month navigation course, survival course, parachuting course etc.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Fluent: English, Hebrew, Conversational Spanish.
Interests: certified scuba diver, surfing, backpacking, hiking, mountain climbing, road & mountain biking, swimming, natural sciences, meditation, yoga, tai-chi, photography, certified lifeguard.

About YONNI

Yonni Schwartz Presenting to The Adventure Club of Los Angeles

My full name is Jonathan (Yonni) Schwartz. I was born in South Africa to a South African mother and an American father. When I was one year old, my family moved to Israel.

From 1965 to 1997 I lived in the small town of Michmoret, Israel, which is located half way between Tel Aviv and Haifa on the Mediterranean coast. As a youngster I spent much of my time at the sea swimming, sailing, surfing, and diving. In school I was a member of several sports teams, swimming competitively for 7 years and playing basketball, tennis, track and field. As an adult I have spent much of my free time traveling all over Israel, through the mountains of Galilee, the Golan Heights, the Negev, and the Sinai Desert. Through all these experiences I gained a strong knowledge and great love for the outdoors.

At the age of 18, like all other young Israelis, I joined the army where I served in an elite infantry reconnaissance unit. During my service I went through a three-month medical course, an eighteen-month navigation course, a survival course, and a parachuting course etc. Between 1986 and 1996, I performed reserve duty as a Staff Sergeant in the Alpine Elite Unit of the Israeli army. In addition, between 1994 and 1996 I gave lectures about coastal processes along the Mediterranean shores to the Israeli Navy Seal Unit. In 1986, after completing my three-year army service, I spent considerable time traveling the world. I worked for nearly a year on an Italian cruise ship as an undercover security officer. During that time I traveled all over the world, stopping in North and West Africa, South America, the South Pacific islands, the Far East, and Europe. After that experience I traveled for a year in the United States, spending most of my time at the different National Parks. This was followed by a 2-year trip throughout South America, where I spent extended periods of time along both coasts of the continent, and in the Amazon rainforests of Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. I crisscrossed the Andes Mountains from Colombia in the north down to the southern tip of the continent, Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. Most of my time was spent backpacking, hiking, mountain climbing, traveling on boats, horseback or foot. During the 1990's I spent extended time periods backpacking, hiking and climbing in the Adirondack Mountains of up-state NY. In the summer and fall of 1996 I spent 4 months trekking through the Himalayas, spending extended time in both Nepal and Tibet. During the summer of 1997 I went on a cross-country trip from upstate NY to California, hiking through many of the National Parks I visited. During the winter of 1998 I spent a month backpacking, hiking and skiing in the Sierra Nevada, California. In 1999 and 2000 I traveled five months throughout Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. During this trip I backpacked, hiked, mountain climbed, scuba-dived and traveled through the jungles of Guatemala and Mexico by a canoe.

A Peaceful Edge Group holding up a
Peaceful Edge flag

In the year 2000 after returning from my Mexico and Central America trip I developed 'Peaceful Edge Adventures' a custom design adventure travel company.

Over the years traveling has allowed me to indulge in a few of my passions; my aspiration to learn foreign cultures and native people, my desire to better understand earth sciences and the physical landscape we live in, my love to the outdoors and what they have to offer and my joy of natural and cultural photography.

Through my world travels experiences, and by growing up in a multicultural family in Israel, I have been exposed to many different cultures. Some of these cultures include; the Bedouin of the Middle Eastern deserts, the native people of the Amazon basin in South America, the Indians of the Andes Mountains (ancestors of the Inca culture), the Hindus of India and Nepal, the Buddhists of Tibet and Nepal, the Indians of Mexico, Guatemala and central America, (ancestors of the Maya culture) and the native tribes of East Africa. My exposure to these cultures has had a tremendous effect on me. I have learned to appreciate their way of life and their respect for the natural environment around them. I have learned to appreciate their self-obedience and practice it myself through daily Tai Chi, Yoga and meditation. In many respects I feel attached to each of these cultures in some small way, adopting parts of their philosophies and ways of life into my own.

Over the last 40 years of traveling I have also developed a love of photography. I have documented my trips with tens of thousands of slides, and make it a part of my livelihood. I have published some of my photography in outdoor magazines in Israel, and have exhibited my slides and photography throughout Israel and the United States in many different occasions.

Scuba Diving the Red Sea

My travels have been influenced strongly by my academic background and my love of the outdoors. Working as a Natural Resource Officer on the Angeles National Forest, as a Minerals and Geology Program Manager on the Los Padres National Forest, in addition to working as an assistant to Professor Sherman at the University of Southern California, assistant to Professor Inbar at the Haifa University in Israel, being advised by Dr. Golik at the Geology Department of the Oceanographic and Limnological Institute of Israel, and by conducting my own research along the coast of Israel, I have gained a strong understanding and great appreciation of geomorphological and geological processes. I have learned to love this academic area, especially the fieldwork and the teaching of others, and I have learned to combine my scientific knowledge with my life and travel experience to enjoy, appreciate and understand better the outdoors.

About Jose C. Borrero

Dr. Jose Borrero

Jose Borrero was born in California in 1971 and spent the first half of his life in Florida before returning to the West Coast in 1994. He completed a Ph.D. in Coastal Engineering at the University of Southern California, writing a thesis on tsunami hazards for California. During his PhD studies Jose surveyed the effects of tsunamis in, Nicaragua (1995, 2003), Mexico (1995), Indonesia (1996),Papua New Guinea (1998, 2002), Turkey (1999), Marquesas Islands (1999) and Peru (2000). He also led numerous field investigations in to the aftermath of the December 26, 2004 and March 28, 2005 Sumatran earthquakes and tsunamis, conducting field work throughout Western Sumatra, Aceh and the Mentawai Islands as well as the only field survey to the coast of Somalia in Africa. Jose is an avid surfer and adventurer and now lives in Raglan, New Zealand where he works for ASR Limited, a coastal science and consulting firm that specializes in designing and building artificial surfing reefs as well as more traditional forms of coastal science, research and education.

Want to learn more about Jose Borrero? Check out his personal website, a website dedicated to his tsunami research, and his blog archive.