Laura Zerra (Naked and Afraid)

Laura Zerra was born in Western Massachusetts, and spent her childhood exploring abandoned coyote dens, stalking deer, and crawling through swamps in whatever ”wild” lands she could find in her suburban hometown. Her love of animals and close encounters with them as a child led her to become a self-righteous vegan in high school. Laura studied Ethnobiology at Connecticut College and began to seek a more hands-on approach to what she was reading about in her anthropology classes. In her spare time, she began studying bow building, ethnobotanical plant uses and tracking. This eventually led to her scouring the local highways for roadkill to sustainably obtain skins for hiding tanning.

After delving into her morals she decided it fit in with her beliefs to began processing the meat for consumption. Eating meat again was a huge turning point for her, and she decided she was going to learn to hunt. The very real connection this allowed her to form with the land led her to seek out more experiential learning than college could offer.

Laura began spending summers working at Great Hollow Wilderness School in Connecticut teaching primitive survival, and in 2004 obtained an internship with the Buffalo Field Campaign in West Yellowstone, Montana. Here she documented the slaughter of the last wild herd of bison and continued to expand her knowledge in primitive survival in the harsh West Yellowstone winter. In 2007, she moved to Vermont to teach at Roots School, focusing on brain tanning and meat processing. During the winter of 2008, Laura bought a one-way ticket to Mexico. She hitchhiked and hopped freight trains south to Oaxaca, then up the west coast of the country, studying jungle survival. When not teaching survival, she worked seasonally at various jobs including mushroom hunting in Oregon, tree planting for the Forest Service in Idaho, and leading horse treks at the Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm. In 2010, Laura spent a year apprenticing as a farrier with Sharp Shoeing in Belmont, New Hampshire. She worked nights processing the wild game at the Baker River Deer Farm and had a brief stint on an offshore crab boat out of New Bedford, MA. In 2011, Laura moved to Colorado to further her knowledge of animal preservation at A Lasting Memory Taxidermy.

In 2013, Laura was able to put her skills to the test, spending 21 days in full survival in Bocas del Toro, Panama, as a cast member of the Discovery show “Naked and Afraid”. As an all-star cast member, she was asked to return to complete another 21-day challenge in the Peruvian Amazon, and again to complete 40 days in the Colombian savanna in Season 1 of “Naked and Afraid XL”.

Teaming up with YouTube sensation Andrew Ucles, Laura showed him the wildlife in her native North America before embarking on a journey to Australia to learn about Australian wildlife and live-catching animals. Here she became fascinated with learning the lost art of persistence hunting, a skill she still believes is the ultimate form of fair-chase hunting. Her adventures with Andrew have showcased in the documentary “North America: The Wild Meets the Weird”.

Laura is a true nomad who loves to challenge herself and is always looking for the next great adventure. By pushing her limits, she is constantly furthering her knowledge and loves to learn new skills. Her passions include primitive hunting and bow building, shed antler hunting, exploring wild places, processing her own meat, wild foraging, free diving and spearfishing, functional fitness, and teaching what she loves.

/

Current residence: Groton, New Hampshire

Occupation: Backcountry guide, Survival instructor, Writer, Public speaker

Relationship status: Single

Skills: Building shelter, primitive technology, primitive fire, hide tanning, hunting, trapping, plant identification

Laura became interested in survival as a way to connect to land in a visceral way, and gain freedom and independence in the wild. Though open to learning new skills and techniques from anyone she encountered, Laura is largely self-taught and believes that being humble enough to learn from failure is an important part of everyone's learning process. She spent a number of years traveling around North America, and putting herself into situations that would push her comfort zone and therefore her to adapt and learn new skills. Laura believes that survival isn't necessarily about memorizing every technique in the book, but rather about learning what your needs are, and then using whatever is around you to meet them in any environment. She believes flexibility and the ability to improvise are some of the most important traits for any survivalist.

Laura is an adventurer in every sense of the word, and uses her survival skills to push the boundaries of these experiences. By knowing that she can survive almost anywhere, she has the confidence to push past limitations that other people might let hold them back. Laura's knowledge of survival is important because of the freedom it allows her. With this freedom, she can let go of fear and experience her life and world to the fullest.

While not surviving in the wild, Laura enjoys shed antler hunting, horse packing and horseback riding, fitness training, travel, rock climbing, scuba diving, free diving, whitewater kayaking, and anything that pushes her comfort zone. Laura's previous jobs have included mushroom hunter, taxidermist, farrier, butcher, and survival instructor. She loves learning and new experiences, and is a true nomad at heart.

Laura has already been featured on the Discovery Channel’s hit show Naked and Afraid multiple time in various settings.

But what if we only know half the story?

What if something happens during one of her stints on the Discovery Channel’s hit show Naked and Afraid that causes Laura to have to stay naked long term?

How would Laura adjust to her new life without clothes?