{"id":1985,"date":"2012-04-06T18:45:07","date_gmt":"2012-04-06T23:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=1985"},"modified":"2015-11-12T08:02:12","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T14:02:12","slug":"from-biologist-to-tv-host","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/from-biologist-to-tv-host\/","title":{"rendered":"From biologist to TV host"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
\u201cWild Scene Investigation\u201d co-hosts are (from left) Lorne Kramer 51ÁÔÆæ alum Suzanne Rutishauser Yorke, and Daniel Huertas. The show airs on Saturday at 9 p.m. on the Nat Geo WILD channel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Advice to undergrads: Doing is just as important as studying when you\u2019re trying to prepare for a career.<\/p>\n

That credo helped 51ÁÔÆæ alum Suzanne Rutishauser Yorke (\u201911 MS Biological Sciences) turn an enthusiasm for ecology and academic travel into a job with a nature TV series.<\/p>\n

Rutishauser Yorke is a co-host of \u201cWild Scene Investigation,\u201d which airs on Saturdays this month on the Nat Geo WILD channel. The show follows three hosts as they track \u201cwildlife mysteries,\u201d from haunted forests in Wales to missing jewelry in California and disappearing house cats in Vermont backyards. (You may even get to see what a coyote killed on the highway had for his last dinner.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Suzanne Rutishauser Yorke measures lianas at La Selva Biological Station, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute\u2019s outpost in Costa Rica. She also worked at the field station in Panama.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen I was little, I never thought, \u2018I want to be on television,\u2019\u201d says Rutishauser Yorke, although she admits being passionate about communicating science. \u201cBut when you\u2019re in grad school and you\u2019re teaching anyway, you focus on ways to get students\u2019 attention and understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stimulating the curiosity of the general public is just as important, she believes. And the bridge to understanding for this audience has to come wrapped in entertainment. \u201cIt has to be fun,\u201d she says of the series. \u201cOnce you do that, then you can work in some of the science details.\u201d<\/p>\n

Impactful travel<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rutishauser Yorke came to 51ÁÔÆæ in 2006 to pursue a master\u2019s degree with Associate Professor Stefan Schnitzer.<\/p>\n

She had met Schnitzer several years before, after completing her bachelor\u2019s degree in biology at the University of Dayton. He told her about his research on the ecology of woody vines called lianas, which he was conducting at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama. He suggested she apply for a semester there working as a field technician.<\/p>\n

The trip to Panama was Rutishauser Yorke\u2019s first time traveling outside the U.S., and the trip transformed her. Immediately after her assignment at STRI, she signed up for the Peace Corps and worked in Malawi for a year.<\/p>\n

Upon returning she took a job in Minneapolis working for a biotech company. By 2006, she was also involved with a group of young scientists who were making videos for K-12 students for science textbook publisher Pearson Education.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we started out, we would go on nature hikes and make short videos to put up on YouTube,\u201d she says. \u201cBy the time I was in graduate school, we had made about 200 videos for Pearson.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The same year, Rutishauser Yorke was ready to go back to Panama, where she worked for Schnitzer again, and decided to enroll at 51ÁÔÆæ. During this time and throughout her graduate program, she also continued her video work.<\/p>\n

She traveled between the U.S. and Panama several times while doing her graduate research and teaching a unique \u201chybrid\u201d course of Schnitzer\u2019s that included part of the semester at STRI.<\/p>\n

Out of the blue<\/strong><\/p>\n

Soon after graduation, Rutishauser Yorke received a surprise phone call from Icon Films, a production company in Bristol, England. Producers had seen her in some of the Pearson videos and invited her to audition for a nature series they were creating.<\/p>\n

Her hunger for new experiences had paid off. She joined Brits Lorne Kramer and Daniel Huertas, filming in both the U.S. and Great Britain, but the show\u2019s target audience is American, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s perfect for what she\u2019s doing,\u201d says Schnitzer. \u201cWhen you meet her you just know that she\u2019s got it together. She\u2019s a natural teacher and that\u2019s why she\u2019s so good on the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things I like about the show is we\u2019re not telling the audience what to think,\u201d says Rutishauser Yorke. \u201cWe\u2019re showing them images and laying out the facts and letting them judge for themselves. Then they may realize that not all situations in nature are cut and dried.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the show is popular, she says, they may make another season. Newly married and now living in California, she has been doing some consulting work. This summer she will again return to Panama, and she continues to work for Schnitzer as a research associate.<\/p>\n

For the budding biologists at 51ÁÔÆæ, she says, \u201cMy suggestion for students is to take advantage of the many resources at 51ÁÔÆæ that take you out of the classroom, whether it\u2019s undergraduate research or study abroad. 51ÁÔÆæ has plenty of very cool opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

Although the first two episodes already have aired, six more, two appearing back-to-back, will be broadcast on consecutive Saturdays (April 7, 14 and 21) at 9 p.m. CT on the Nat Geo WILD channel. Follow Rutishauser Yorke\u2019s live twitter feed on Saturday during the show \u2013 @WildScenesuz. Can\u2019t watch? Check out some video clips at http:\/\/video.nationalgeographic.com\/video\/nat-geo-wild\/shows-1\/wild-scene-investigation<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

51ÁÔÆæ alum Suzanne Rutishauser Yorke turned an enthusiasm for ecology and academic travel into a job with a nature TV series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":836,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"section":[125,122],"display_categories":[],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[],"class_list":["post-1985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","section-alumni","section-campus-community"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom biologist to TV host<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"51ÁÔÆæ alum Suzanne Rutishauser Yorke turned an enthusiasm for ecology and academic travel into a job with a nature TV series.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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