Frequent Humboldt County resident John Griffith briefly went viral a few years back after he was filmed showing off his dance moves to some California Conservation Corps members when he was a supervisor at the Fortuna center. 

Let’s relive that glorious moment:

Griffith, who studied Natural Resource Interpretation at Humboldt State University, also authored a children’s book and recently landed a gig hosting Animal Planet’s first digital show “Wild Jobs.” 

KHUM DJ Bayley Brown got Griffith on the phone today and chatted with him about the importance of diversity within conservation, the possibility of a second season and much more. 

Here he explains how his multicultural upbringing and love of dance led to his latest gig:

Growing up in the Bay Area in a very multiracial, multicultural area I got exposed to a lot of stuff that I think that a lot of people don’t that live in a monoculture in the United States. I was identifying with hip hop dance styles growing up, so I knew how to break dance. But when people see me out of the Bay Area, they see this big, hairy white guy out in the mountains that  knows all about plants, animals and building trails and stuff — they would never suspect that I would be able to dance … . That was one of the times that got uploaded to Youtube and went super viral. Got a lot of attention on the CCC, got a lot of attention on me…That helped build a platform that eventually led to Animal Planet.”

Listen to the full interview below:

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