Quest for the Boiling River

Andrés Ruzo is a geothermal scientist, conservationist, educator, host, author and science communicator best known for his work at the Boiling River of the Amazon. He holds degrees in geology and finance, and will soon finish his Ph.D. in Earth sciences focusing on geothermal studies. Ruzo is a National Geographic Explorer and has been on multiple Society-funded grants. He is the host of an award-winning NatGeo Latin America television show, "Misterios del Inframundo" (Mysteries of the Underworld). His work has been featured on various National Geographic media outlets including the magazine, television channels, website and social media, as well as branded partnerships with BMW, LEGO, and Coors Light. Ruzo grew up between Peru, Nicaragua and the United States, and is currently based between Miami, U.S. and Lima, Peru.
While doing research for a National Geographic Society-funded project, Ruzo investigated a detail in a childhood legend he heard as a boy in Lima about a mysterious "river that boiled" in the heart of the jungle. This legendary river proved to be real and in 2011, Ruzo became the first geoscientist granted the shamanic blessing to study it. Flowing hot for nearly four miles (over six kilometers), nearly 15 feet deep (about 4.5 meters) at its deepest point, and almost 100 feet wide (about 30 meters) at its widest point-- the Boiling River is currently the world's largest documented thermal river, even though it is over 430 miles (over 700 miles) away from the nearest active volcanic center.
Ruzo is the founder and director of the Boiling River Project, a nonprofit aimed at understanding, protecting and bringing value to the Boiling River, the Amazon and unique geothermal systems across the globe. Through the Boiling River Project, he works to turn the Boiling River area into a mecca of scientific investigation and has played active roles in research from various fields of geoscience, botany, biology, microbiology, anthropology, linguistics, ethno-history, shamanism, conservation economics, wildlife trafficking and sustainable tourism. He engages in Indigenous and local empowerment work in the Central Peruvian Amazon through educational and sustainable economic initiatives. Beyond his Amazonian work, Ruzo is also heavily involved in K-12 and university level education.