I dedicated my life to biology until I went on 'Naked and Afraid' and realized I could make a bigger difference doing TV instead

• Forrest Galante was a biologist and worked in field research before he went on "Naked and Afraid."
• Galante saw that 4 million people watched him on reality TV compared to 400 who'd read his papers.
• The experience made him realize he could reach more people in media so he pivoted his career.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Forrest Galante, a biologist by training, who pivoted his career from science research to media after being on the series "Naked and Afraid." It's been edited for length and clarity.

After I graduated with a degree in biology from UC Santa Barbara, I began my career as a biologist by doing habitat restoration and fieldwork. I'd go on assignments all around Southern California, tagging rattlesnakes and other wildlife.

I thought I'd make this big impact on the world as a scientist. Even though I liked the work I was doing, I didn't really feel like I was accomplishing much.

After a stint at a research station on the Channel Islands in California, I saw the callout from "Naked and Afraid", asking for participants. To me, it frankly seemed a lot easier than my work, and like a great chance to go on a vacation to Panama. 

Being on "Naked and Afraid" is the least interesting thing I've ever done

A few weeks later I was on a plane. The show was very real and raw, the cameramen and sound guys weren't allowed to talk to you. The only people allowed to talk to you were producers. 

Even though the actual living was raw, at the same time, a big part of the show is the social experiment, which is putting two naked strangers together with absolutely nothing in the bush to see how they do. Ultimately for the sake of ratings, I think the producers want to capture bickering, complaining, and whining. 

So they kept sort of baiting me to give them that. I didn't, because that's just not how I was raised. I'm not the kind of person who's just gonna complain about another person and call them useless. 

I didn't say much and instead, every time they asked me negative questions, I would just redirect to something I was enjoying, like how I found 30 pounds of yuca, which is essentially potatoes. I had a lot of fun, but I think that frustrated the producers.

To me, "Naked and Afraid" is the least interesting thing I've ever done. It was a great stepping stone to get to where I'm at, but it's just a garbage reality show. It's not an important piece of media, it doesn't have a conservation impact. 

A pivot into media

The show came out months after I filmed my episode, and I had returned to my field work. When I looked at the ratings, I saw something like 4 million people had watched my episode.

The papers that I had co-authored as a scientist, that took me years to do, barely had 400 reads, and those were by like minded scientists. But rouhgly 4 million normal people had tuned in to me jumping around the jungle, jiggling my junk naked. 

A lightbulb went off, and I thought, "well, I know which one of these two things is gonna have more impact." It was right then and there that I called my boss and told her I was going to pivot to pursuing conservation media. 

Basically I pivoted the public interest I was getting from "Naked and Afraid" into what I'm doing now. 

Dreams coming to fruition

My job now is difficult to define, but I'm really sort of a wildlife communicator. I try to bring love and adoration for wild animals, wild places, preservation, conservation and habitat into the hearts and homes of people. 

Early on, I found a business partner in Eric Evangelista, and we pitched a TV show called "Extinct or Alive" to Animal Planet. It went on to run for two seasons, and it was a lot of fun.

It kicked off many other opportunities for me, like working on Discovery's "Shark Week" and starting my own production company. 

Since then, I've been able to do things like help relocate herds of rogue elephants, and find and hold the nearly extinct Fernandina Giant tortoise.

Most excitingly, a few months ago, I decided to launch a YouTube channel. It's kind of hilarious, because I've always said that every single YouTube star wants to be a TV star. 

And now here I am, kind of going in the opposite direction. I sort of accomplished TV and now I'm branching into YouTube. I'm moving into it to try and reach the younger generations and spread the love of conservation.

Because, outside my family, there's nothing to me but conservation. And through that passion, I've gotten to see and do amazing things with and for animals. 

That's for the little boy in me, dreams coming to fruition.