Mark O'Shea (herpetologist)

Mark O'Shea
Mark O'Shea at West Midland Safari Park 3 April 2005
Born	May 1956 (age 61) Wolverhampton, England
Occupation	Herpetologist, photographer, author, lecturer and television personality
Website	O'Shea's website

Mark O'Shea (born 9 May 1956) is an English herpetologist, photographer, author, lecturer, and television personality. He is known internationally as the presenter of the Animal Planet/Discovery Channel series O'Shea's Big Adventure.

Originally from Wolverhampton, Mark O'Shea moved to Shropshire in 2001. Since 1980, O'Shea has conducted herpetological fieldwork in over 30 countries on six continents but he has special interest in the Australo-Papuan region. He has worked in Papua New Guinea since 1986 when he first visited the country as a member of the scientific directing staff of Operation Raleigh. He continued fieldwork in the country as a member of the Oxford University Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine snakebite research team throughout the 1990s, and now researches there under the auspices of a fellowship from the Australian Venom Research Unit (AVRU), based in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Melbourne. In 2006 O'Shea designed a set of six postage stamps called "The Dangerous Snakes of Papua New Guinea", for Post PNG. The launch of these stamps coincided with the snakebite workshops and fieldwork O'Shea and his colleagues from AVRU were conducting in that country.

O'Shea is also involved in the Tropical Research Initiative at Victor Valley College, initiated and led by Hinrich Kaiser. The primary aim of the project was to conduct the first herpetological survey of Timor-Leste and to provide education and research opportunities for local researchers and students in their native environment. An additional goal was to assist government policy-makers and to educate the citizens of Asia's newest country as they tackle issues related to conservation and sustainability. The research has identified significantly greater amphibian and reptile diversity than previously known.