Phil Torres

Celebrity scientist Phil Torres once spent four years living remotely in the Amazon Rainforest. Today he has connected with a large audience thanks to his regular appearances on Expedition X, a Discovery Channel show in which he and paranormal researcher Jessica Chobot are sent to investigate “supernatural encounters”. Before that, he hosted Ready, Steady, Pet on Animal Planet, Big Metal Bird for United Airlines, and TechKnow for Al Jazeera America. He is also the man behind the popular Jungle Diaries YouTube channel, which currently has over 52,000 subscribers. His personal Instagram account has over 88,000 followers. He also has 33,000 Twitter followers.

The term “celebrity scientist” is a simplification. Torres is a field biologist, tropical entomologist, conservationist, science reporter and advocate, TV host, photographer, and “jungle guy”. He graduted from the prestigious Ivy League Cornell University with degrees in biology and entomology. He launched his Jungle Diaries channel in February 2016, and its content has since been viewed over 6 million times, with its most popular videos including the first-ever footage of a Silkhenge spider birth, which has been watched over 1.7 million times. Torres also spent time as a regular contributor the hugely influential Smarter Every Day science channel on YouTube.

Expedition X began in 2020, with Torres and Chobot being dispatched on their missions by Josh Gates. The show has now run for over 30 episodes and is still going strong, with Torres’ natural passion for science and adventure as strong as ever.