Auditorium Theatre 2018-19 Issue 2 Hubbard Street Dance

8 | AUDITORIUM THEATRE 2018-19 | January 19 - March 3, 2019 On Her Career Path fromNFL Cheerleader to National Geographic Explorer Mireya Mayor loved animals growing up, but it wasn’t until she was in college at the University of Miami in 1996 that she realized she could turn that passion into a career. In school, in addition to cheering for the NFL team the Miami Dolphins, Mayor was a double major in English and philosophy, with plans to become a lawyer. She signed up for an anthropology course and fell in love with the subject area, and immediately volunteered for a research trip in Guyana. “I cheered at my last football game and then a week later, I was on a plane,” Mayor told NPR. “I had to give up the pom-poms and trade them for field boots.” Mayor’s fellow cheerleaders thought she was out of her mind, she noted, asking how she planned on blow-drying her hair in the jungle. Her first research trip was quickly followed by her second — the next year, Mayor went to Madagascar for the first time, and she has returned many times since to study primates in the African country's rainforest. In 1999, National Geographic reached out to Mayor, asking her to participate in a story about Madagascar. Soon after, Mayor was offered a job as a staff wildlife correspondent for National Geographic. On Discovering a New Species of Primate “The mouse lemur discovery was like many, if not most, scientific discoveries, an accident,” Mayor told Scientific American. “For years, I had been traveling throughout Madagascar studying the behavior and genetics of the larger lemurs, several of which had never been the focus of any scientific investigation … there were some discrepancies in the lemur books as to which small lemur inhabited [the Madagascar forests], so we set out small mammal traps baited with fruit. The idea is that the little creature is lured in, the door closes behind it, we scientists peek in and then release it at the capture tree. From the moment we looked in the trap, we knew this 2-ounce, big-eyed creature that fit in the palm of our hand was different.” Getting to Know National Geographic’s Mireya Mayor MARTIN HARVEY On January 24, the Auditorium Theatre’s National Geographic Live Series continues with Pink Boots and a Machete , featuring Dr. Mireya Mayor . Read on to learn more about this audacious explorer, mother of six, and Emmy Award-nominated National Geographic correspondent!