12/22/2021
Performances and Artists
Acclaimed Explorer and Primatologist Mireya Mayor Shares Her Adventures on March 2
Respected primatologist and explorer Dr. Mireya Mayor acknowledges that her childhood did not set her on a path for adventure.
The child of Cuban immigrants, she recalls how her family had little means for travel, and she didn’t even own a passport. Her mother also proved extremely overprotective.
“She wouldn’t let me join the Girl Scouts. I had never even been camping,” Mayor says with a laugh.
Today as an Emmy-nominated wildlife correspondent for the National Geographic Channel, her life looks a little different.
Often armed with little more than a backpack and hiking boots, Mayor has ventured into the world’s most remote and dangerous areas for decades.
Facing daunting challenges such as charging gorillas and stampeding elephants, she endures it all for the thrill of adventure and the promise of knowledge.
But most importantly, she strives to find and protect rare and endangered species.
“I personally believe the best type of conservation is done in the field,” she explains. “I call it muddy boots conservation. You have to get your boots dirty and be out there and be present.”
Inspired to Change the World
Initially a pre-law student at the University of Miami, Mayor found her calling after becoming obsessed with primates in an anthropology class and then watching “Gorillas in the Mist.”
“I knew right then and there, that’s what I wanted to do with the rest of my life,” she says.
Her field work as a primatologist and conservationist now often involves stunning interactions with wild animals, such as diving underwater with a 6-foot Humboldt squid, tracking gorillas in central Africa and worked with leopards in southern Africa.
But exploring in search of rare species isn’t always glamorous, Mayor warns.
“The truth is that you could spend weeks wading in waist-deep swamp and not see anything. I’ve had all sorts of tropical diseases, not excluding cholera,” she says. “I’ve been on numerous expeditions where previous explorers quit because the terrain is so difficult and the climate is against you and the wildlife is going to do what it’s going to do, and not show itself.”
It all becomes worthwhile, she adds, when she finds something astounding.
She co-discovered a new species of mouse lemur in Madagascar, for instance, and has also found primates never before studied or photographed.
“The new discoveries, those are the moments that make everything else really worthwhile,” she says. “It’s why I love what I do, despite all the hardships.”
Protecting Rare Species
A former NFL cheerleader, Mayor now advocates for those who have no voice.
On top of locating and studying inspiring creatures, she also embeds herself in surrounding villages and collaborates with locals on protecting the animals and their habitats.
“You have to interact with the locals who are there day in and day out,” she says. “(They) are really ultimately responsible for whether these animals survive or not.”
She convinced the nation’s leaders in Madagascar to declare the mouse lemur’s habitat a national park, for instance.
She also helped establish a program to protect lowland gorillas in the Congo.
“Without nature, people can’t thrive and can’t survive. We see this now with the pandemic. This is something that brought the world down to its knees,” she says. “That was a really important reminder that we need nature on our side, and we depend on it for everyday life.”