Human Footprint

Invasive species are reshaping the world’s ecosystems, but who’s to blame? Shane wrestles a python, hunts Hawaiian pigs, and gets sucker-punched by a carp to answer the question: how does our species decide what belongs? Here’s how it all went down: the dangers of flying fish, the all-nighters in the swamp, and the myriad ways these “invasive” species challenged our ideas about belonging.

"Human Footprint" is unlike any other science, natural history, or travel series out there, because it’s all of those things and then some. It’s a journey guided by biologist Shane Campbell-Staton, scored by hip-hop legend Adrian Younge, and made endlessly entertaining by a dazzling array of characters. At its core, "Human Footprint" asks: what do the things we do tell us about who we are?

"Human Footprint" is unlike any other science series, and it was no small feat to make. Our small crew spent 140 days in over 40 locations, and wrangled nearly 100 characters and experts. We filmed the extravagant and strange, the devastating and dire, the elusive and the abundant. In "The Grind," find out how making "Human Footprint" changed our team's minds and pushed our bodies to their limits.

Host Shane Campbell-Staton and Director Nathan Dappen explore how humans have impacted and changed the planet in this first look from Human Footprint. Shane explains how PBS has shaped his storytelling.

"Human Footprint" was always meant to be a different kind of science show, from the cinematography, to the host, to the style, to the edits. But to have someone like Adrian Younge, multi-instrumentalist and legendary hip-hop producer, lending his talents to the series’ score – well, it seemed like a long shot…until it wasn’t.