Jeff Corwin
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Jeffrey Samuel Corwin (born July 11, 1967 in Norwell, Massachusetts) is best known as the host and executive producer of The Jeff Corwin Experience and Corwin's Quest, two American television shows following his adventures discovering and exploring various kinds of animal life and climates (including locales from all over the world), airing on the Animal Planet cable channel.
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[edit] Early life and career
Jeff Corwin attended Norwell High School. Jeff spent his freshman year of college at Eastern Nazarene College, which is located in Quincy, Massachusetts. Later he attended Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Jeff has bachelor of science degrees in biology and anthropology. He conducted his graduate studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, obtaining a master of science in wildlife and fisheries conservation and doing work on bats and snakes. In 1999, Bridgewater awarded Corwin an honorary doctorate in public education. He lives with his wife, Natasha, and daughter Maya Rose in Marshfield, Massachusetts.
Corwin first experienced the tropical rain forests in 1984 in Belize. As an undergraduate, he became active in conservation of rain forest in Central and South America and helped establish the Emerald Canopy Rainforest Foundation. He also participated in the youth action committee for the United Nations Environmental Program. He lectures on wildlife, ecology and conservation to audiences throughout the United States. In 1993, Jeff addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations regarding the need to conserve neotropical rain forests.
Corwin's big break into television came about thanks to famed oceanographer Bob Ballard, the man who discovered the wreck of the Titanic, in the 1994 documentary Ballard produced for National Geographic called The Jason Project. Then, after several lean years, Corwin migrated over to the Disney Channel with Going Wild with Jeff Corwin. Eventually, he caught the eye of producers at Animal Planet, and since 2000 he's gone on to explore six of the seven continents- all except Antarctica, so far.
Corwin was also certified as an Advanced Field Medical Specialist by the U.S. Army Academy of Health Sciences, Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
In the spring of 2007 Corwin began a new TV show on the Travel Channel titled "Into Alaska with Jeff Corwin." The show highlights wildlife in Alaska while also having a travel perspective. It was originally aired in letterbox format and it would most likely be in high definition when the Travel Channel HD launches in 2008 if it airs again.
Despite the fact that Jeff frequently handles animals that could be considered dangerous, he has admitted on The Jeff Corwin Experience that he has a minor fear of monkeys.
[edit] Early inspiration
Corwin's first encounter with snakes taken from an interview with Heartland Magazine:
"When I was, while exploring my grandparent's backyard in Middleboro, Massachusetts, I turned over a log and had an encounter that forever changed my life. I saw this garter snake, and was immediately transfixed by it. I remember catching it and bringing it into the house with me and seeing the terror it unleashed in people, but not understanding why they were so afraid of it. As I've often said, if I'd rolled back that log and found a golf club, I would have been Tiger Woods. I tracked that snake for two years and would visit it every time I went to my grandparents. One day, the neighbor next door snuck up behind me and cut off its head with a spade, thinking it was attacking me. I was so shocked by that behavior, by that expression of ignorance, it focused me on what I was going to do with my life. The day I found that snake was the day I became a naturalist. The day I saw it get killed out of a misunderstanding was the day I became a conservationist" [1]
[edit] Close Encounters
In filming a segment of CNN's Planet in Peril with Anderson Cooper near Phnom Penh, Cambodia on March 22nd of 2007, Corwin was the victim of a playful elephant. This rough-play consisted of the elephant putting Corwin's elbow in its mouth and wrapping its trunk around his arm, swinging him around. He yelled as the elephant shook its head, releasing and throwing Corwin into the shallow water in which they were standing. Corwin noted that the pain was so overwhelming that he nearly blacked out, and that his arm still does not work correctly. Corwin later posted the following summary of injuries that resulted:
"To this day my arm doesn't work right. We tend to look at elephants as these very kind very gentle giants, like Dumbo and Jumbo from the cartoons. But the truth is, elephants are complex mammals with a huge array of emotions, from happiness to anger to jealousy, and when I turned away, this was his way of telling me he didn't want to be ignored. The trunk of an elephant can lift a 700-pound tree limb. You do not want to be that close to one when he's having a bad moment."
"Truth is that elephant is easily 15,000 times stronger than my meager self, and if she had wanted to, she could have done far worse than crushing a bit of ligament and muscle. Lucky for me, no bone fracture, hopefully no connective tissue torn (we'll have to wait till I get home to find out about that)." [2]
During a segment entitled I Am Brave, which is a behind the scenes look at different outtakes and Jeff's playful personality while filming The Jeff Corwin Experience, he admitted to have handled several snakes while traveling the globe but having only experienced a bite from a single poisonous snake; A Coral Snake. This same creature is found as a tattoo on Jeff's left shoulder and is more specifically what looks to be an Arizona Coral Snake.
[edit] His Life Today
Jeff Corwin now lives in Marshfield, Massachusetts, with his wife Natasha and his daughter, Maya Rose. He still actively works on his show The Jeff Corwin Experience which airs on Animal Planet.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Jeff Corwin Unleashed
Aired on the Discovery Kids channel in 2003, this series was one of Jeff's earliest projects, featuring fun trivia, information and animal discoveries for children. The show earned him high acclaim, including a Daytime Emmy in 2004.
[edit] Giant Monsters
Giant Monsters was a television documentary special on Animal Planet hosted by Corwin. It dealt with the world's largest creatures of all time, including Tyrannosaurus Rex, the saber-toothed cat Smilodon, the gigantic ground sloth Megatherium, the 40-foot crocodile Sarcosuchus, the Komodo dragon-like Megalania, the giant pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus, the huge spider Megarachne, to the giant squid Architeuthis dux.[3]
[edit] Going Wild With Jeff Corwin
A show Corwin formerly hosted a TV series from 1997-1999, Going Wild With Jeff Corwin was an educational program on the Disney Channel.
[edit] CSI: Miami
In 2003, Corwin appeared as himself in the second season episode of CSI: Miami, Death Grip, helping the detectives retrieve a human foot from inside a live crocodile. However, his background was given to be the college roommate of Detective Eric Delko whose CSI: Miami canon places him at the University of Miami.
[edit] King of the Jungle
Airing from 2003-2004, King of the Jungle was a series in which twelve individuals competed in rigorous challenges to win a chance to host a television program for Animal Planet. Corwin served as their guide throughout the tasks. [4]
[edit] Corwin's Quest
Corwin's Quest was a series hosted and produced by Jeff Corwin, that premiered on Animal Planet in 2005. The show's premise was based on giving Jeff a special mission to accomplish per episode, which often resulted in exploring challenging environments and seeking out rare creatures.
[edit] Planet in Peril
In 2007, he was sponsored by CNN to be an environment correspondent for an Anderson Cooper 360 special called "Planet in Peril," along with co-host Sanjay Gupta.
[edit] The Jeff Corwin Experience
The Jeff Corwin Experience is Corwin's longest-running show, currently airing on Animal Planet since 2001. In typical Corwin fashion, the show features an array of animals, educational information and tours through locales, villages, and events across the world.
[edit] Into America's West
In April of 2008, Jeff Corwin debuted a documentary series for the Travel Channel, Into America's West. In the program, Jeff journeys across the landscape of Western America, searching for and discovering many forms of unique desert wildlife. [5]
[edit] Into Alaska
Also created for the Travel Channel, this is a documentary series exploring the vast landscapes and array of wildlife in Alaska. [6]
[edit] Awards
- In 2002, Corwin was named one of People Magazine´s 50 Most Beautiful People. [7]
- In 2004, Corwin won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series for Jeff Corwin Unleashed. In 2005, he was nominated for the same award.
