Shawn Heflick | |
|---|---|
 Shawn Heflick holding a large Indian cobra | |
| Born | June 17, 1969 |
| Occupation | Adventurer, Biologist and TV Host |
| Years active | 1994-present |
Shawn Heflick (born June 17, 1969) is an explorer, adventurer, biologist and current TV host for Python Hunters on National Geographic Wild and forensics teacher at a highschool.
Heflick was born in Akron, Ohio. He grew up on a farm outside of Marion, Ohio and attended Pleasant High School, after moving into a more residential farming community. He graduated in 1987. Wanting to go to college to earn his biology degree, but not having the money for it, Heflick joined military service and volunteered to go to Central America. He enrolled in Wright State University to gain a degree in biology and met his future wife, Jennifer, the first week he was there. He graduated in 1994 and married Jennifer before moving down to Melbourne, Florida to enter graduate school at the Florida Institute of Technology.
Heflick gained a SCUBA certification when he was 16. Part of the way through graduate school, Shawn and Jennifer had their son Thorne Ginga Heflick. Heflick left graduate school and took a job at Brevard Zoo as curator until 1998. Heflick left the zoo to once again pursue his graduate degree, which he earned in 2001. Since receiving it, he has worked at several nonprofit conservation NGOs.
Heflick is currently the host for National Geographic Wild's Python Hunters and has appeared on or in National Geographic, PBS Nature, Smithsonian Channel, Travel Channel, Time Magazine, Time Magazine for Kids, Dateline, Nightline, BBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, as well as newspapers in the US and abroad. Heflick also runs several small businesses including Wildland Tours, Art By Evolution, White Gator Productions and Shawn Heflick Enterprises. Occasionally Heflick also contributes commentary as an animal expert on various local and national news programs.
Heflick and his family live in Florida and have a home in the Amazon Basin of Peru.
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Wright State University is a public research university in Dayton, Ohio, with an additional Wright State University Lake Campus branch campus on Grand Lake St. Marys. Originally a branch campus of Miami University and Ohio State University, Wright State became an independent institution in 1967 and was named in honor of the aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright, who were residents of nearby Dayton. The university offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
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