April Speaker - Jim Codington

About Dr. Jim

Born in Fort Collins, Colorado, one of five kids with four brothers, I came into this world on 4/20/1953. My journey has been one of remarkable experiences.

I started as a whitewater guide for canyon lands and went on to lead Grand Canyon expeditions. I also worked as an instructor for the Colorado Outward Bound school. At the age of twenty, I ventured into the Amazon, where I led expeditions and conducted research on monkeys for a year.

Afterward, I pursued my education at UC Davis, where I worked at the Primate Center on a cancer research project. My thirst for knowledge led me to study large animal medicine at UC Davis Veterinary School, where I honed my skills as a veterinarian. In fact, I practiced veterinary medicine for a remarkable forty years.

My adventurous spirit often led me into near-death experiences. At nineteen, I attempted the first descent of a river in Utah during peak flood stage, only to go over a waterfall and survive a drowning, my first near-death experience. Later, at the age of twenty-one, I shattered my leg playing baseball, leading to a second near-death experience as I grappled with fat emboli in my lungs.

In the pursuit of conservation, I worked on a cheetah conservation project in Botswana with the Wildlife Conservation Network and as a veterinarian on the Man-Lion Project, trapping and collaring lions.

But my adventures didn't stop there. At the age of 43, I successfully competed in the world's most difficult endurance race, the Eco Challenge, covering 300 miles in eastern Utah. Organized by Mark Burnett, I placed 22 out of fifty teams, even outpacing some Navy SEAL teams. Prior to this race, I fell forty feet onto rocks during a climbing course near Moab, escaping with only a small crack in my ankle and a bruised ego.

Throughout my life, I've sustained nineteen fractured bones, suffered 11 concussions, and experienced two near-death encounters, all while accumulating hundreds of stitches.

Late in life, I discovered my passion for photography, with a focus on wildlife, indigenous cultures, and the wilderness. I once found myself in the Arctic Circle, photographing polar bears from a sixteen-foot boat, only to have an 800-pound juvenile polar bear attempt to climb on board. Thanks to a timely outboard motor start, we narrowly escaped that encounter.

In the Amazon, I lived with indigenous tribes, even creating a written form of their language. For three months, I resided on an island in the heart of the Amazon, which served as a captive breeding colony for monkeys. There, I hand-raised an ocelot from a kitten to adulthood, and it roamed the jungle with me like a loyal dog. My companions on the island included monkeys, toucans, macaws, tapirs, and coatis.

One of my most harrowing experiences involved a near-fatal encounter with a sixteen-foot-long anaconda. I've also climbed in the Himalayas and had to be rescued by helicopter from a mountain peak due to high altitude sickness, cerebral edema, and pulmonary over bleeding. I spent sixteen hours in a decompression bag at high altitude, waiting for the whiteout to clear before being rescued.

My photographic talents have earned me recognition as a semifinalist in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, and my work has been exhibited at the De Young museum.

In my pursuit of holistic knowledge, I've engaged in advanced training in Chinese medicine for animals and completed a three-year advanced training program in shamanism with the world-famous Harvard professor, Michael Harner.

As the years pass, I often say, "The older I get, the better I was."

I am truly grateful to be able to do this work...

Namaste

Dr. Jim Codington