Author Description

Mireya Mayor is a world-renowned primatologist, anthropologist, explorer, award winning TV host and a recognized science communicator. As National Geographic’s first female wildlife correspondent, Mireya has hosted dozens of documentaries, including her own Nat Geo Wild! series ‘Wild Nights with Mireya Mayor ‘and Mark Burnett’s ‘Expedition Africa’ for the History Channel. Mireya currently stars in Travel Channel’s hit series, ‘Expedition Bigfoot’ and has been referred to as the "female Indiana Jones" by the New York Times. Mireya Mayor grew up in Miami, Florida and was raised by her mother, grandmother, and aunt, who had emigrated to the U.S. from Cuba in 1965. Her mother, a nurse, would not allow her to join the Girl Scouts, saying it was ‘just too dangerous’. She studied at the University of Miami where she obtained her bachelor's degree in anthropology and philosophy, and for four years was a cheerleader for the NFL Miami Dolphins. Mayor is a Fulbright Scholar and a National Science Foundation fellow, and earned her PhD in anthropology from Stony Brook University in New York in 2008. But the former NFL cheerleader, daughter of Cuban immigrants, and mother of six, is NOT your typical scientist. Mireya is known for exploring the most remote regions of the earth in search of elusive, rare, and little known animals. Her explorations have led to several scientific discoveries, most notably her co-discovery in Madagascar of the world’s smallest primate, a brand-new species to science.