By CHRIS HARRIS, Staff Writer
Somerset — The television news program “Nightline” is known for hard-hitting exposé pieces and tough-minded coverage of world events. So Pulaski Countians can be thankful that when producers rolled into town Thursday, it was to spotlight a positive aspect of this community — an extraordinary educator.
Dr. Jesus Rivas is an assistant professor at Somerset Community College, where he teaches biology classes. But this friendly instructor by day — as a “Nightline” camera crew filmed Rivas’ class Thursday, he could be seen walking around the room and communicating with students in a lighthearted, easygoing manner — leads a double life: He’s also a snake wrangler.
Rivas and his wife, Dr. Sara J. Corey, Corey is an anatomy and biology professor for Eastern Kentucky University, shot a documentary this summer that’s scheduled to run on the National Geographic Channel this Saturday, Feb. 6. The look at their efforts to examine the life of one of the world’s most feared an fascinating snakes, titled “Anaconda: Queen of the Serpents,” is the result of a long-standing partnership with National Geographic, the popular periodical and cable channel dedicated to providing a broader look at the world, its science and its many cultures.
Tonight, “Nightline” will provide a sneak peek at the inspiration for the documentary, and the two scientists themselves. But why “Nightline?”
“ABC and ‘Nightline’ have a partnership with National Geographic,” said Elizabeth Stuart, the “Nightline” producer who was on campus Friday to speak with Rivas and Corey.
“Sometimes, when (National Geographic has) certain documentaries, we do a story to promote them,” she continued. “This one caught our interest, so we decided to come here and talk to Jesus and his wife.”
It’s not hard to understand why Rivas’ story caught their interest — giant snakes and exotic locales make for great television. Before coming to Kentucky, Rivas practiced field research in places like Ecuador and Venezuela, conducting a unique study of the Green Anaconda — the first of its kind. Rivas’ mission was to shed light on an animal that most in the scientific community simply didn’t know much about.
The Green Anaconda is non-venomous but intimidating in its size — it’s one of the longest snakes out there, known to reach up to two dozen feet (or more, depending on the accounts one takes seriously) in length. It tends to live in and around water, and suffocates its prey with a powerful coiled body before devouring.
Rivas earlier discussed the anaconda with National Geographic in the 1998 documentary “Land of the Anaconda,” which sparked a number of other similar pieces on different types of reptiles.
“Working in the field on these documentaries helps me in my classroom teaching by exposing SCC students to science and real-life biology,” Rivas said in an earlier interview. “I incorporate these real-life experiences into my classes.”
Stuart called the footage of Rivas and Corey hunting for snakes in Venezuela “amazing.”
“They’re grabbing them from underneath the swamps; they walk through the swamps barefoot because that’s the way to find where the anacondas are; they have to wrestle them in order to take a blood sample,” she said. “They’re doing something that’s never been done before.”
“Anaconda: Queen of the Serpents” airs at 8 p.m. Saturday on the National Geographic Channel, while the “Nightline” segment on Rivas airs tonight on ABC at 11:35 p.m.
Local viewers can tune in to see an SCC professor, maybe even their own teacher, in action — both in the classroom and in the swamps of Venezuela — or just for an adventurous look at one of the world’s leading experts on the anaconda.
“(Rivas and Corey) are sort of these snake wranglers, going into relatively dangerous areas, walking around barefoot and touching anacondas, and doing the research on them,” said Stuart. “They keep track of the anaconda, see how well they’re reproducing, see how they’re able to feed. ... That’s what caught our interest.”
