Wild Stories: Science & Science Communication in a Changing World with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant

Most people are probably familiar with Hollywood’s biggest awards like the Oscars, the Emmys, and the Grammys. An award people may not be so familiar with are the Gracies, which are sponsored by the Alliance for Women in Media and “recognize exemplary programming created by women, for women and about women in all facets of media and entertainment.”

Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, last week’s featured guest on Big Biology, is the recipient of this year’s Gracie Award for Best Television Host for her work as co-host of Mutual of Omaha’s reboot of Wild Kingdom: Protecting The Wild. The show, which airs Saturday mornings on NBC and is available for streaming on Peacock, highlights successful conservation projects across the world that are aiding the recovery of endangered species.

Co-hosting the show has been a dream-come-true for Wynn-Grant, who recognized from an early age that she wanted to be the host of a nature show. “I grew up in inner city areas and had a wonderful upbringing…but my family didn’t do hiking and camping or skiing or hunting,” she explains. “It was great…I had this amazing childhood, but my exposure to nature and the outdoors was on TV. And so I would watch nature shows, and I didn’t just enjoy them…I very much was like, ‘When I’m a grown-up, I want to do this job. I want to spend 100% of my professional time doing what I’m seeing these guys [nature show hosts] do.’”

A long, winding road

The path to her role as a TV host was anything but straight, especially as an Black kid growing up in the city. “It was complicated, mostly because there’s a lack of representation. You know, I was a seven year old Black girl from an inner city upbringing and watching British and Australian middle-aged white men who just seemed to inherently know everything about nature, right?”

But she never let this lack of representation crush her dream. Upon arriving at college, Wynn-Grant asked her advisor what she should study to become a nature show host. The first recommendation was theater. When it quickly became clear that theater wasn’t the route for her, the next recommendation was journalism. When journalism didn’t feel like the right fit, either, a chance encounter with someone from the environmental science department changed everything. “They said, ‘Oh, wild animals and their conservation. Girl, did you