Corwin first experienced the tropical rain forests in 1984 in Belize. As an undergraduate, he became active in the conservation of rain forests in Central and South America. He also participated in the youth action committee for the United Nations Environmental Program.
In 1993, Corwin addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations regarding the need to conserve neotropical rain forests. Corwin lectures on wildlife, gold mining, ecology, and conservation to audiences throughout the United States.
In 2003, Corwin appeared in an episode of the crime drama CSI: Miami.[1] In the episode, he played himself, portrayed as a former classmate of Eric Delko, played by Adam Rodriguez. Titled "Death Grip", Corwin helped detectives retrieve a human foot from inside a live crocodile. In 2003 Corwin hosted a television documentary for Animal Planet titled Giant Monsters.[3]
In the spring of 2007, Corwin began a new TV show on the Travel Channel titled Into Alaska with Jeff Corwin. Also, in 2007, Corwin 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.
In 2009, Corwin partnered with Defenders of Wildlife to host the documentary series Feeling the Heat. In 2009 Corwin also hosted a television special for MSNBC with the same title of his book Future Earth: 100 Heartbeats.[4] Corwin has been on expeditions to six of the seven continents—all except Antarctica.[5]
In 2011, during the tsunami in Japan, Corwin was used as a geologist on MSNBC to help explain the tsunami. The same year, he voiced an alligator expert in an episode of The Hub'sPound Puppies.[6]
In 2012, Corwin starred in a Claritin commercial as himself.[citation needed]
In October 2016, ABC began showing the global cruising series, Ocean Treks with Jeff Corwin, which involves ecology. Five years later, he launched his current series Wildlife Nation with Jeff Corwin. It is presented by Defenders of Wildlife.[8]
Close encounter with elephant
In filming a segment of CNN's Planet in Peril with Anderson Cooper at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center near Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on March 22, 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, and 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 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 900-pound tree limb. You do not want to be that close to one when he's having a bad moment.
Truth is that elephants are 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).[9]
Personal life
Corwin lives in Marshfield, Massachusetts, with his wife Natasha and their two daughters: Maya Rose (b. July 6, 2003) and Marina (b. September 11, 2008).[1]
He is of Hungarian and Romanian ancestry on his father's side.[10]
