THE NATURE OF THINGS
Where: CBC TV
When: Thursday, Jan. 11, 9 p.m. (episodes are also available on gem.cbc.ca)
Victoria marine biologist Sarika Cullis-Suzuki didn’t expect to follow in her father’s footsteps as the host of The Nature of Things, despite being raised in and around the longest-running science series on television.
“My dad has been the host since before I was born,” the Vancouver-born Cullis-Suzuki said of her father, David Suzuki. “Watching him through the years has been incredible. But it wasn’t something I spent my whole life [thinking about]. I was really interested in marine biology, and that was my focus.”
The Nature of Things launched its 63rd season last week with an episode hosted by Toronto’s Anthony Morgan, who will share co-hosting duties with Cullis-Suzuki for the current season — the program’s first since 1979 without David Suzuki, who retired last year after 44 years. Cullis-Suzuki officially debuts as co-host tonight, with the episode, The Mystery of the Walking Whale.
She remains an honorary board member of the David Suzuki Foundation, and has been named to several ocean advisory committees. Prior to accepting the job with CBC, she worked for Ocean Networks Canada, an ocean research facility based at the University of Victoria and managed by the not-for profit ONC Society. But after realizing the ecological crisis getting worse by the year, she decided on pursuing a career in media, where she could relay her concerns in real time.
“Science is absolutely integral to a lot of our processes, and how we determine information and get data, but it takes a long time. I needed to do something more immediate.”
The new position marries her passions — science, nature and media. She has plenty of experience in the latter, having hosted several documentaries for CBC, The Knowledge Network, and PBS, among others. Despite hosting a half-dozen episodes of the series in years prior, Cullis-Suzuki was not bequeathed the job by her father. She had to fight like anyone else to be hired for The Nature of Things, which has aired in more than 80 countries since its debut in 1960.
“Of course, I had an upper hand, in that I had seen my dad go through this and knew the type of work that would be involved,” she said. “But the process of determining who the next hosts would be was actually quite interesting.”
Executive producers at CBC shortlisted 10 candidates who they felt would best suit the position. A two-minute video of each host was sent to a focus group of 1,500 people, who ranked the results. Cullis-Suzuki said when she didn’t hear back from the network, she assumed another host had been hired. She had “mentally moved on” from the idea when she was told the co-hosting gig was hers, one year after she applied. But she gladly accepted.
“There is something magical about The Nature of Things,” she said. “There’s a reason why it has been on air for over 60 years. There’s a trust, and a history that has been built up.”
With hosts stationed on opposite sides of the country, Cullis-Suzuki likes what she and Morgan have to offer. They are aiming for a slightly more laidback approach, she said, while keeping the focus on science.
“I just really hope the viewers will trust Anthony and myself with continuing on the show, because I think it’s so important. What it means to be a human being in a changing world, and what are our responsibilities as people to the earth and to each other, these principles are what make up the core of The Nature of Things.”
