INCREDIBLE opportunity to see Mireya Mayor at the Holland!

MIREYA MAYOR TO SHARE TALES OF THE WILD AT HOLLAND CENTER ON APRIL 7

NFL Cheerleader-Turned-Primatologist To Present Pink Boots And A Machete

Omaha Performing Arts presents National Geographic Live’s Pink Boots And A Machete with primatologist Mireya Mayor in the Kiewit Hall at the Holland Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $10, and are available at TicketOmaha.com, 402.345.0606 or at the Ticket Omaha Office inside the Holland Center, 1200 Douglas St. Mayor is part of the 2014/15 National Geographic Live Speaker Series.

This isn’t Dr. Mireya Mayor’s first time in Omaha. She has worked at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium’s conservation genetics lab processing lemur samples from Madagascar. Her zoo connection may have been the inspiration behind the name of one of the three new mouse lemurs her team discovered in Madagascar: Microcebus simmonsi (Simmons' Mouse Lemur), named for Dr. Lee Simmons, who was director of the zoo at the time of the discovery.

When Mayor was young, she couldn’t join the Girl Scouts because her family thought it was too dangerous. She went on to become the first female wildlife correspondent for the Ultimate Explorer series on National Geographic Television, sleeping in remote jungles teeming with poisonous snakes, diving with great white sharks and has been chased by elephants. A scientist, explorer, Emmy Award®-nominated wildlife correspondent, anthropologist, author and inspirational speaker, Mayor has reported on wildlife and habitat issues to worldwide audiences for nearly two decades. In Pink Boots And A Machete, Mayor shares stories, images, and film clips of her adventures, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the hardships and danger of life in the field, along with the moments of discovery that make it all worthwhile.

            Mayor received her first grant to work in the remote jungles of Guyana when she was 22, which meant she had to put off her side jobs as a Miami Dolphins cheerleader and model. The following year she journeyed to the wilds of Madagascar into areas so isolated, that she often found herself surrounded by villagers who had never seen a foreigner before her arrival. She now divides her time between researching in Madagascar, lecturing at schools and universities, and traveling the world as a wildlife correspondent. When not deep in the jungle or on assignment, she lives in Connecticut and is the mother of five children. They share their home with an ever-growing menagerie of creatures.