National Geographic Star Speaks to Hartnell College Students
Mireya Mayor went deep into Madagascar rainforest
By Tia Ghose
The Californian
Just four days ago, National Geographic explorer Mireya Mayor was deep in the forests of Congo, studying gorillas. Then she flew across the globe to describe the surprising path she took from NFL Cheerleader to jungle explorer in a Friday speech at Hartnell College.
Mayor always loved animals but said teachers discouraged her from studying science because she struggled in math and chemistry. Instead, she studied English and philosophy, and was even a Miami Dolphins Cheerleader.
In her junior year, she took an anthropology course that changed her path. She resolved to travel to Madagascar and South America to study lemurs, small nocturnal primates that live deep in the rainforest. Once she was there, a National Geographic documentary team looking for a lemur researcher asked her if she’d like to join its project.
She agreed, then translated that first experience into to regular gigs leading expeditions for both the History Channel and the National Geographic Channel.
On her adventures she swam with man-eating sharks, nursed leopards back to health and went days without food to find an elusive endangered species. She’s also raised awareness of logging and poaching in Madagascar.
The leopards suffered from hydrocephalus, or fluid on the brain. She had found them unable to walk properly. In a hospital, a treatment with vitamin B-12 proved helpful, and could turn out to have human applications, Mayor said.
She was the second of four speakers this season for the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Colloquium sponsored by Women in Science and Engineering. About 50 students, professors, and community members attended.
Silvia Cooke, a biology and neuroscience teacher at Salinas High School, had never seen Mayor’s show, but was drawn in by the flier.
“I saw her picture with the tiger and thought, ‘I have to see this,’ ” Cooke said.
Hannelore Rose, a first-year science student at Hartnell, said she had seen Mayor before on the National Geographic Channel. “It’s one of the few shows that capture my undivided attention.”
National Geographic correspondent Mireya Mayor speaks to a crowd of students and faculty from Hartnell College during a talk called “My Wild Life” Friday at the college’s Performing Arts Facility. Mayor recalled her life as the daughter of Cuban immigrants who blossomed from NFL Cheerleader to Fulbright Scholar. Now a primatologist and conservationist, she has explored some of the most remote places on Earth and has been nominated for two Emmy Awards for her work on the National Geographic Channel.
