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Josh Bernstein

Explorer I Educator I Environmental Advocate

Who am I

International explorer, educator, photographer, author, diver, and television host Josh Bernstein has travelled more than 1,000,000 miles by train, plane, bus, bike and camel to over 75 countries, exploring the biggest mysteries of our planet in pursuit of knowledge and discovery.
Born and raised in New York City, Josh studied at Cornell University (BA, Anthropology & Psychology). After graduating from Cornell, he spent a year in a post-graduate program in Jerusalem studying, among other things, mysticism and ancient texts.
Josh has traced the Ark of the Covenant from the caverns of Jerusalem to the mountains of Ethiopia, searched for the Holy Grail in the bowels of Nazi Germany, and communed with tribal chiefs in the darkest jungles of the Amazon rainforest. He has ventured deep underground with NASA scientists to explore the origins of life on Earth and has hunted with alleged cannibals by moonlight in the forests of Papua New Guinea—all in a quest to uncover some of the most fascinating mysteries of our planet.

Josh’s television career began in 2005 when he debuted as the host of a new adventure-archaeology series called Digging for the Truth on The History Channel. The series quickly became the highest-rated original series in the network’s history, and Josh continued to host “Digging” for two more record-breaking seasons. In 2007, Josh moved from The History Channel to Discovery Channel, where he served as host and executive producer of Into The Unknown with Josh Bernstein for two years. The two series have been enjoyed by fans in over 220 countries and territories around the world and are still broadcast today.

In addition to his work on television, Josh has had a long career as a wilderness guide with BOSS, the Boulder Outdoor Survival School. Based in the small town of Boulder, Utah, BOSS is the oldest and largest wilderness survival school in the world. Josh first attended BOSS as a student in 1988 and, over the next 25 years, he advanced through the ranks from apprentice to the instructor to marketing director to president & CEO of the company. At BOSS, participants challenge themselves on survival courses up to one month in length, learning primitive skills like how to make fire without matches, build a shelter from local materials, and turn river rocks into cutting edges. Under Josh’s direction, BOSS course offerings expanded and diversified and staff development programs were put in place to facilitate growth. As a result of consulting work for many television and Hollywood productions – including a number of reality shows, celebrity trips, and all of the island survival scenes for Cast Away starring Tom Hanks – BOSS achieved record growth and visibility under Josh’s tenure. In December 2013, Josh sold the school to begin development on Explorer At Large, a Washington, DC-based initiative to reach, engage, and educate millions of students with freely-distributed, curriculum-driven videos, study guides, and educational products that inspire curiosity and wonder for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM).
Josh is a fellow of The Explorers Club and the Royal Geographical Society. His hobbies and interests include technical SCUBA diving (cave, wreck, re-breather), photography, and restoring classic Land Rovers and Land Cruisers.

Who am I

International explorer, educator, photographer, author, diver, and television host Josh Bernstein has travelled more than 1,000,000 miles by train, plane, bus, bike and camel to over 75 countries, exploring the biggest mysteries of our planet in pursuit of knowledge and discovery.
Born and raised in New York City, Josh studied at Cornell University (BA, Anthropology & Psychology). After graduating from Cornell, he spent a year in a post-graduate program in Jerusalem studying, among other things, mysticism and ancient texts.
Josh has traced the Ark of the Covenant from the caverns of Jerusalem to the mountains of Ethiopia, searched for the Holy Grail in the bowels of Nazi Germany, and communed with tribal chiefs in the darkest jungles of the Amazon rainforest. He has ventured deep underground with NASA scientists to explore the origins of life on Earth and has hunted with alleged cannibals by moonlight in the forests of Papua New Guinea—all in a quest to uncover some of the most fascinating mysteries of our planet.

Josh’s television career began in 2005 when he debuted as the host of a new adventure-archaeology series called Digging for the Truth on The History Channel. The series quickly became the highest-rated original series in the network’s history, and Josh continued to host “Digging” for two more record-breaking seasons. In 2007, Josh moved from The History Channel to Discovery Channel, where he served as host and executive producer of Into The Unknown with Josh Bernstein for two years. The two series have been enjoyed by fans in over 220 countries and territories around the world and are still broadcast today.

In addition to his work on television, Josh has had a long career as a wilderness guide with BOSS, the Boulder Outdoor Survival School. Based in the small town of Boulder, Utah, BOSS is the oldest and largest wilderness survival school in the world. Josh first attended BOSS as a student in 1988 and, over the next 25 years, he advanced through the ranks from apprentice to the instructor to marketing director to president & CEO of the company. At BOSS, participants challenge themselves on survival courses up to one month in length, learning primitive skills like how to make fire without matches, build a shelter from local materials, and turn river rocks into cutting edges. Under Josh’s direction, BOSS course offerings expanded and diversified and staff development programs were put in place to facilitate growth. As a result of consulting work for many television and Hollywood productions – including a number of reality shows, celebrity trips, and all of the island survival scenes for Cast Away starring Tom Hanks – BOSS achieved record growth and visibility under Josh’s tenure. In December 2013, Josh sold the school to begin development on Explorer At Large, a Washington, DC-based initiative to reach, engage, and educate millions of students with freely-distributed, curriculum-driven videos, study guides, and educational products that inspire curiosity and wonder for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM).
Josh is a fellow of The Explorers Club and the Royal Geographical Society. His hobbies and interests include technical SCUBA diving (cave, wreck, re-breather), photography, and restoring classic Land Rovers and Land Cruisers.

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