# Jeff Corwin
**Jeff Corwin** (Jeffrey S. Corwin, born 1967 in Norwell, Massachusetts) is an American wildlife biologist, conservationist, author, and television host whose programs, including *Going Wild with Jeff Corwin*, *The Jeff Corwin Experience*, and *Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin*, have carried wildlife and conservation programming to audiences in more than 130 countries[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff) • [2](https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/resume_corwin.pdf).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1967, Norwell, Massachusetts[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff) |
| Education | B.S. degrees in biology and anthropology, Bridgewater State University; master's degree, University of Massachusetts Amherst[2](https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/resume_corwin.pdf) |
| Breakthrough series | *Going Wild with Jeff Corwin*, Disney Channel, first aired 1997[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff) |
| Signature series | *The Jeff Corwin Experience*, Animal Planet, premiered fall 2000[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff) |
| Emmy Awards | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Host for *Jeff Corwin Unleashed* (2004); three Emmys for *Ocean Mysteries* (series, host, and director categories)[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff) • [2](https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/resume_corwin.pdf) |
| Notable field result | 2015 giant freshwater stingray caught in Thailand's Mae Klong River, over 14 feet long and 8 feet wide, described as the world's largest freshwater fish[2](https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/resume_corwin.pdf) |
| Recent series | *Wildlife Nation* (ABC, 2021); *Jeff Corwin's Southern Wild* (ABC stations, premiering October 3)[3](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/09/23/metro/jeff-corwin-launches-new-wildlife-show-focusing-creatures-closer-home/) • [4](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jeff-corwin-returns-to-national-television-for-new-series-302866328.html) |
## Early life and education
Corwin grew up in the coastal town of Norwell, Massachusetts, and kept a home menagerie of salamanders, frogs, and garter snakes from childhood. At age four he was bitten by a non-venomous garter snake in his backyard, and when his parents asked him to stay away from snakes he refused[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff). At 16 he traveled to Belize with scientists, an experience he later described as the moment he fell in love with the rain forest and turned toward conservation work[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff).
He earned [Bachelor of Science](https://www.edgepedia.org/bachelor-of-science) degrees in biology and anthropology from [Bridgewater State University](https://www.edgepedia.org/bridgewater-state-university) and helped establish the Emerald Canopy Rainforest Foundation, a grassroots organization for rain forest habitat protection and public education. He also served on the United Nations Environment Program's Youth Action Committee[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff). After several years working at a field station in [Central America](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-america), he enrolled at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he completed a master's degree and wrote his thesis on Central American bats[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff). His 2016 biography describes the degree as an M.S. in Conservation Biology, while the Encyclopedia.com profile calls it a master's in natural resources conservation[2](https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/resume_corwin.pdf) • [1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff).
## Television career
**Disney and Animal Planet.** In 1994 Corwin worked as an expedition naturalist for the JASON Project, which televised live broadcasts from the Belize rain forest to classrooms, and he produced the docudrama *Jaguar Trax* in [Costa Rica](https://www.edgepedia.org/costa-rica). A documentary crew's invitation to join their Belize project redirected him from an academic path toward television[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff). The [Disney Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/disney-channel) saw his demo tape and commissioned a show; *Going Wild with Jeff Corwin* first aired in 1997 and ran for three years, becoming one of the first computer-interactive television programs[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff).
He then teamed with [Animal Planet](https://www.edgepedia.org/animal-planet) to create *The Jeff Corwin Experience*, a prime-time series that premiered in the fall of 2000 (Common Sense Media lists a premiere date of May 10, 2001) and became one of the network's most successful offerings[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff) • [5](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-jeff-corwin-experience). The show follows Corwin through jungles, deserts, and rain forests as he handles animals, works with local scientists and rangers, and explains wildlife behavior and conservation directly to the camera[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff) • [5](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-jeff-corwin-experience). A scholarly survey of the genre places the series in the reality-TV lineage of wildlife hunting documentaries, in which the host addresses the audience directly and foregrounds the mechanics of the search, in contrast to older nature films whose hosts remained off-camera observers[6](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236703848_Wildlife_Documentaries_From_Classical_Forms_to_Reality_TV).
**Emmy-winning work and news.** *Jeff Corwin Unleashed*, a Discovery Kids series that premiered September 13, 2003, was nominated for four Emmys, and Corwin won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Host in 2004[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff) • [7](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/jeff-corwin-unleashed). In 2007 he created and co-presented CNN's *Planet in Peril* with [Anderson Cooper](https://www.edgepedia.org/anderson-cooper) and [Sanjay Gupta](https://www.edgepedia.org/sanjay-gupta), and in 2010 he served as Special Correspondent for Science and the Environment for MSNBC and [NBC News](https://www.edgepedia.org/nbc-news), covering the Gulf oil spill[2](https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/resume_corwin.pdf). His other hosting credits include *Corwin's Quest*, *King of the Jungle*, *Spring Watch USA*, *Giant Monsters*, *Realm of the Yeti*, the Travel Channel's *Into Alaska* and *Into the American West*, and the Food Network's *Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin*[2](https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/resume_corwin.pdf) • [8](https://edelweiss-assets.abovethetreeline.com/PP/pdfs/pyrg-fall09.pdf).
**Ocean Mysteries and later ABC work.** As executive producer and host of ABC's *Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin*, Corwin filmed at the [Georgia Aquarium](https://www.edgepedia.org/georgia-aquarium) and other marine settings; the series won three [Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/emmy-awards) in the outstanding travel series, host, and director categories, along with Telly, Cynopsis Social Good, Cine Special Jury, and Parents' Choice awards[2](https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/resume_corwin.pdf). In March 2015 the series drew wide attention when a research team working with Corwin caught a giant freshwater stingray in Thailand's Mae Klong River measuring over 14 feet long and 8 feet wide, described as the world's largest freshwater fish[2](https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/resume_corwin.pdf).
In 2021 he launched *Wildlife Nation*, a weekly ABC Saturday-morning series focused on efforts to save endangered species across North America; the Boston Globe reported that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the show's creation and that Corwin had by then hosted wildlife television for nearly three decades[3](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/09/23/metro/jeff-corwin-launches-new-wildlife-show-focusing-creatures-closer-home/). A new series, *Jeff Corwin's Southern Wild*, produced by Hearst Media Production Group in partnership with Lees-McRae College and filmed across North Carolina, premieres October 3 on ABC stations as part of the Weekend Adventure educational programming block[4](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jeff-corwin-returns-to-national-television-for-new-series-302866328.html).
## Conservation work and advocacy
Corwin's documentaries have addressed extinction directly. In 2008 Animal Planet premiered *The Vanishing Frog*, a documentary following his year-long global examination of the mass extinction threatening amphibian species. In 2009 he executive produced and presented *100 Heartbeats* for MSNBC, investigating the planet's most endangered species, and wrote a companion book of the same title[2](https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/resume_corwin.pdf).
He has also testified before Congress. In 2017 he submitted a written statement to the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee as a wildlife biologist, author, and television host on endangered species legislation, identifying himself as host of the ABC series *Ocean Treks with Jeff Corwin*[9](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-115hhrg26389/pdf/CHRG-115hhrg26389.pdf). In a 2009 oral testimony on global warming, he described his field experience as an Animal Planet host in support of climate-related conservation arguments[10](https://defenders.org/sites/default/files/publications/global_warming_testimony_by_jeff_corwin.pdf).
## Books
Corwin's first book, *Living on the Edge, Amazing Relationships in the Natural World*, was published in 2004 and ran for six editions. Through [Penguin Books](https://www.edgepedia.org/penguin-books) he published *The Jeff Corwin Jr. Explorer Series*, ten books for younger readers intended to promote environmental stewardship, with titles including *Your Backyard is Wild*, *The Great Alaska Adventure*, and *The Great Everglades Adventure*[2](https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/resume_corwin.pdf).
## Style and reception
Commentary on wildlife television distinguishes Corwin's presenter-led format from the older "Voice of God" narration style. A TV encyclopedia entry groups him with hosts of the more physically daring shows, who capture animals in the wild and hold them up to the camera, a practice critics have contrasted with the hands-off approach of classic documentary hosts such as [David Attenborough](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-attenborough)[11](https://www.tvencyclopedia.org/tv-encyclopedia-18/wildlife-and-nature-programs). Common Sense Media's review of *The Jeff Corwin Experience* calls it educational wildlife television suited to family viewing, noting his good-natured humor and the conservation messages central to each episode[5](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-jeff-corwin-experience).
## References
1. [Corwin, Jeff, Newsmakers 2005 Cumulation, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/corwin-jeff)
2. [Jeff Corwin, Biography (2016), U.S. House Natural Resources Committee](https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/resume_corwin.pdf)
3. [Jeff Corwin launches new wildlife show focusing on creatures closer to home, The Boston Globe (September 23, 2021)](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/09/23/metro/jeff-corwin-launches-new-wildlife-show-focusing-creatures-closer-home/)
4. [Jeff Corwin Returns to National Television for New Series, PR Newswire / Hearst Media Production Group (September 1, 2026)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jeff-corwin-returns-to-national-television-for-new-series-302866328.html)
5. [The Jeff Corwin Experience, Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-jeff-corwin-experience)
6. [Wildlife Documentaries: From Classical Forms to Reality TV](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236703848_Wildlife_Documentaries_From_Classical_Forms_to_Reality_TV)
7. [Jeff Corwin Unleashed, Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/jeff-corwin-unleashed)
8. [Jeff Corwin author bio, Edelweiss publisher catalog (2009)](https://edelweiss-assets.abovethetreeline.com/PP/pdfs/pyrg-fall09.pdf)
9. [Prepared Statement of Jeff Corwin, Wildlife Biologist, Author, and Television Host, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee (2017), govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-115hhrg26389/pdf/CHRG-115hhrg26389.pdf)
10. [Jeff Corwin oral testimony, April 23, 2009, Defenders of Wildlife](https://defenders.org/sites/default/files/publications/global_warming_testimony_by_jeff_corwin.pdf)
11. [Wildlife and Nature Programs, Encyclopedia of TV & Radio](https://www.tvencyclopedia.org/tv-encyclopedia-18/wildlife-and-nature-programs)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Television presenters and hosts › Science and nature presenters*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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