When Pat Chouinard was four years old, he had a fascination with paleontology. His dad read him bedtime stories from encyclopedias, not fairytales. Pat Chouinard’s first adventure in paleontology was in Ocala, where he hunted for dinosaur bones but found cow, pig and cat bones instead. He laid the bones out in his house, pretending they were dinosaur bones. Pat remembers digging a big ditch and leaving a hot dog in it, hoping to catch a Diplodocus (a relative of the Apatosaurus).

Decades later, Pat’s interest is in archaeology, “the study of physical human remains of past civilizations or cultures ,” says Chouinard. “I explored 20th century myths and legends and couldn't help but believe in a greater humanity connected to the past. People talk about having Asian roots or Black roots, but they are not as significant as the common heritage for all of human species. In the future, that’s the knowledge we’re going to need if we're going to survive.”  Chouinard talks of Access Pinellas and the ancient Greek civilization of Delias as having a lot in common. “Delias was inhabited by people from all over the Mediterranean. At Delias, they would exchange ideas, customs and knowledge, philosophy. Access Pinellas is a microcosm of Delias because of its diversity. There is so much going on all the time. Diversity is very important because it is necessary if evolution is going to occur.”

Pat’s show, Archaeology TV, comes from his love of ancient history and his desire to help people view the human race in a non-traditional manner. His show aims at bringing a new understanding of how we are as humans, and challenging the status quo. Because of Chouinard’s adventurous approach to presenting scientific theory, Archaeology TV has earned five Suncoast Access Award nominations and two major awards. The success of the show has attracted enough attention that Pat now has a spin-off magazine, The New Archaeology Review. “It’s a point, counter-point publication,” says Chouinard. “We portray the human race from a multi-disciplinary perspective: cultural and physiological archaeology, ancient and recent history. Its main agenda is discovering and discussing the human past and the human race.” After years of studying the human race, Chouinard has cautionary words for civilization as it stands today: “We have to create roots,” he says. “We're entering a dangerous period because people are ready to throw away millions of years of history. They should be fighting for their history.”

Archaeology TV airs Saturdays at 7:00 p.m.,

Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. and Thursdays at 1:00 p.m.