Carin Bondar (born 20 May 1975) is a Canadian

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

, writer, filmmaker, speaker and television personality. She is a host of ''

Outrageous Acts of Science ''Outrageous Acts of Science'' is a science program shown on Science Channel in the U.S., featuring a fast-paced countdown of the top 20 internet videos in each episode. The series first aired in the UK on Discovery International with the title ' ...

'', ''Stephen Hawking's Brave New World'', and ''Worlds Oddest Animal Couples''.

Personal life

Bondar was born in

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...

and grew up near

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. She comes from a small family of

French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...

, Russian and British ancestry. She met mathematician Ian Affleck in 1995, became engaged in 1999 and married in 2001. The couple separated in 2013 and divorced in 2017; they have four children. After receiving a BSc from

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

in 1999, she completed an MSc in evolution and development at the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

in 2001 and a PhD in freshwater population ecology from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. Bondar was forced to put her PhD studies on hold in 2005 while she took over a family business after the deaths of her father John Paul and her brother William Paul. She re-enrolled after a year's leave and completed her PhD in 2007.

Career

Bondar began a career in science communication while raising her four young children in

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( )( hur, Ts'elxwéyeqw) is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Chilliwack is surrounded by mountains and home to recreational areas such as Cultus Lake and Chilliwack Lake Provincial Parks. There are numerous outdoor ...

, British Columbia. Her first book, ''The Nature of Human Nature'' and her own personal biology blog led her to a blogging position with

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...

in 2011. She was invited to appear in the

Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manu ...

's ''

'' in its first season, and she has maintained a hosting position on this TV show for all of its 6 seasons. Bondar has since written two more books and written/hosted several web and television programs on major networks. She has worked with The

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily dev ...

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

and

National Geographic Wild National Geographic Wild (shortened as Nat Geo Wild and abbreviated NGW) is a global pay television network owned by National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (73%) and the National Geographic Society (27%). T ...

. Her independent web series ''Wild Sex'' (produced by Earth Touch, a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n based natural history film production company), has engaged over 60 million viewers. She presented on this topic at

TED Global TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

in Edinburgh,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in 2013 – "The Birds and the Bees are just the Beginning". Bondar is currently a writer and host of ''Wild Sex'', an animated series based on her book of the same title. She also wrote a book called ''Wild Moms'', published in 2018. Bondar holds an adjunct professorship in the department of biology at the

University of the Fraser Valley The University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), formerly known as University College of the Fraser Valley and Fraser Valley College, is a Canadian public university with campuses in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission and Hope, British Columbia. Founded ...

, and works with Taxon Expeditions, a

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

-based company that engages citizen scientists on scientific expeditions to discover new species. The group mainly works in the Sabah region of Borneo and has discovered seven new species. Bondar is known for her bold approach to science storytelling. She has received accolades and global media-coverage for her music video parodies including a play on

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

' "

Wrecking Ball A wrecking ball is a heavy steel ball, usually hung from a crane, that is used for demolishing large buildings. It was most commonly in use during the 1950s and 1960s. Several wrecking companies claim to have invented the wrecking ball. An e ...

." She has appeared in several live events including I F*#cking Love Science Live, the Australian

National Science Week Science Week (sometimes National Science Week) refers to series of science-related events for the general public which are held in a specific countries during a designated week of the year. The aim of such science weeks is to engage and inspire pe ...

, and the

Bay Area Science Festival The Bay Area Science Festival (BASF) is an annual science festival started in 2011 that takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area counties every year at the end of October/beginning of November. The BASF program features over 50 events each year. ...

. Bondar was elected to the Board of Education for the

School District A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...

in 2021.

Books

* ''The Nature of Human Nature'' :

Lulu Press Lulu Press, Inc., doing business under trade name Lulu, is an online print-on-demand, self-publishing, and distribution platform. By 2014, it had issued approximately two million titles. The company's founder is Red Hat co-founder Bob Young. ...

* ''The Nature of Sex: The Ins and Outs of Mating in the Animal Kingdom'' ( Orion, UK) * ''Wild Sex'' (

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

, United States) * ''Wild Moms'' (

, United States)

Television series

Web series

Awards and recognition

References

External links

Official website

Carin Bondar
on ''

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bondar, Carin 1975 births Living people Canadian biologists Simon Fraser University alumni University of Victoria alumni University of British Columbia alumni Writers from British Columbia Canadian science writers Canadian television hosts Canadian women non-fiction writers People from Chilliwack People from New Westminster Canadian women television hosts Academic staff of the University of the Fraser Valley British Columbia school board members