Wildlife expert Jeff Corwin to speak here Friday
Wildlife expert Jeff Corwin, known widely for his television programs “The Jeff Corwin Experience” and “Corwin’s Quest,” will speak at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7, in the O’Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium at the University of St. Thomas.
His talk, titled “Behind the Scenes of the Jeff Corwin Experience,” is free and open to the public. The talk, which will include some short video clips from his television programs, is part of Family Weekend activities at St. Thomas. The talk is co-sponsored by the University Lectures Committee.
Following the lecture, Corwin will sign copies of his book, Living on the Edge: Amazing Relationships in the Natural World, at a reception in the first-floor atrium of O’Shaughnessy Educational Center. Fresh fruits and desserts will be served.
Several St. Thomas students, and their parents, will be invited to attend a dinner with Corwin that evening prior to his talk. Students who are interested in attending the dinner should send their name and contact information to Jenny Perusek, chair of the University Lectures Committee, at jmperusek@stthomas.edu. A drawing will be held to select the winners. The deadline to contact Perusek is noon Thursday, Oct. 6.
Corwin has been working for the conservation of endangered species and ecosystems since he was a teenager. His cable television program, “The Jeff Corwin Experience,” reaches more than 13 million viewers in the United States and is carried in more than 70 other countries. His most recent program, “Corwin’s Quest,” was launched in June. Filmed over many months on five continents, the series explores several themes or sensory qualities of animal behavior, including sound, smell, diet, defense, attack and survival.
When not in the field, Corwin lectures on wildlife, ecology and conservation to audiences across the United States. He also established an interactive museum and environmental education center, the EcoZone, in Norwell , Mass., the town where he spent his childhood.
Now an expert in rainforest animals, he was first introduced to the tropical rainforests during a 1984 expedition to Belize. In 1993 he addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations on the need to conserve neotropical rainforests. The next year he served as expedition naturalist for The Jason Project, a documentary series produced by National Geographic.
Corwin holds undergraduate degrees in biology and anthropology from Bridgewater State College and a master’s in wildlife and fisheries from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Corwin, who won a 2004 Emmy for best performer in a children’s series, has appeared on “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America ,” “CBS Morning Show,” “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” and “Oprah.” He was named one of People Magazine’s “50 most beautiful people” and made a guest appearance of himself on “CSI: Miami.”
For more information about Corwin’s talk, call Perusek at jmperusek@stthomas.edu or (651) 962-6136.
