Articles by Mireya Mayor
Dr. Mireya Mayor, a primatologist, explorer, author, Fulbright Scholar and NSF Fellow, has for more than a decade been a wildlife correspondent, reporting on wildlife and habitat loss while advocating for solutions to the alarming trends. Mayor has been hailed as a “female Indiana Jones,” in the media and is an inspiration to young women interested in science and exploration. Currently, Mayor has joined Florida International University as Director of Exploration and Science Communications Initiative. A two-time Emmy Award-nominated field correspondent for the National Geographic Channel, Mayor has reported to audiences worldwide on pertinent wildlife and habitat issues. Closest to her heart is her study of a newfound species of Microcebus, or mouse lemur, which she discovered on a 2000 National Geographic funded field expedition in Madagascar. Her work with this rare primate inspired the prime minister of Madagascar to establish a national park to help protect the new species, conserving the 10 percent that remains of the African island nation’s once vast forest. When not deep in the jungle or on assignment, Mayor, a National Geographic Explorer, speaks to audiences across the country and internationally about the importance of conservation for a vigorous and healthy planet. Her lectures are informative, educational and inspirational highlighting the merge of her scientific and journalism career, which spans more than 15 years with some of the most critically endangered animals on the planet, in places often virtually unexplored. Mayor was featured on Explorer, Ultimate Explorer and starred in Mystery Gorilla and Wild Nights on the Nat GeoWILD network. In addition, she also starred in the eight-part series Expedition Africa: Stanley & Livingstone (History Channel) and most recently, Expedition Bigfoot on Travel Channel.
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Bolivia’s El Curichi Las Garzas protected area taken over by land-grabbers
- Authorities struggle to protect Bolivian national park from drug-fueled deforestation
- Poverty and plantations: Nigerian reserve struggles against the odds
- Logging, road construction continue to fuel forest loss in Papua New Guinea
Oceans
- Caribbean startups are turning excess seaweed into an agroecology solution
- Global coral beaching now underway looks set to be largest on record
- In Java Sea, vigilantism and poverty rise as purse seine fishing continues
- As a megaport rises in Cameroon, a delicate coastal ecosystem ebbs
Amazon Conservation
- Brazil boosts protection of Amazon mangroves with new reserves in Pará state
- Cross-border Indigenous efforts in Peru & Brazil aim to protect isolated groups
- A short walk through Amazon time: Interview with archaeologist Anna Roosevelt
- Alis Ramírez: A defender of the Colombian Amazon now living as a refugee in New Zealand
Land rights and extractives
- Hyundai ends aluminum deal with Adaro Minerals following K-pop protest
- Brazil’s illegal gold trade takes a hammering, but persists underground
- Maluku bone collector unearths troubling consequence of coastal abrasion
- New FPIC guide designed to help protect Indigenous rights as mineral mining booms
Endangered Environmentalists
- Indonesian activists face jail over FB posts flagging damage to marine park
- Vietnamese environmentalist sentenced to 3 years in prison for tax evasion
- Son of slain Quilombola leader will still strive for community’s rights
- Video: Five Tembé Indigenous activists shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
- After 20 years and thousands of trees planted, Kalimantan’s veteran forester persists
Conservation Effectiveness
- The conservation sector must communicate better (commentary)
- Thailand tries nature-based water management to adapt to climate change
- Forest restoration to boost biomass doesn’t have to sacrifice tree diversity
- How scientists and a community are bringing a Bornean river corridor back to life
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
- To build its ‘green’ capital city, Indonesia runs a road through a biodiverse forest