The WINGS Voice of Discovery Award recognizes an outstanding science communicator, explorer, artist, creator, journalist or storyteller whose work inspires curiosity and helps connect audiences with scientific and exploratory research. By partnering with influential storytellers, WINGS aims to amplify its mission to champion women making pioneering discoveries in science, exploration and conservation across the world. This year, Mireya Mayor will receive the first Voice of Discovery Award, alongside the induction of four new WINGS Fellows.
Dr. Mireya Mayor is a primatologist, explorer, award-winning television host and science communicator whose work has taken her from the world’s most remote landscapes to millions of homes around the globe. As National Geographic’s first female wildlife correspondent, she has explored some of the planet’s most extraordinary and inaccessible places, bringing audiences stories that illuminate the connections between science, discovery and conservation. Hailed as the “female Indiana Jones,” she has hosted numerous television series, including Wild Nights with Mireya Mayor, Expedition Africa and Discovery’s Expedition Bigfoot.
Mireya’s fieldwork has contributed to several scientific discoveries, including the co-discovery in Madagascar of Mittermeier’s mouse lemur, one of the world’s smallest primates and a species previously unknown to science. But her impact did not end with discovery. Recognizing the urgent need to protect the species’ habitat, Mireya advocated for its conservation and successfully persuaded Madagascar’s prime minister to establish the area as a national park. Her work exemplifies the power of exploration to do more than reveal the unknown: to inspire action and create lasting change for the natural world.
Throughout her career, Mireya has used storytelling to make science accessible, spark curiosity and deepen public understanding of the world around us. She currently serves as Executive Director of Strategic Projects at Florida International University and frequently lectures nationwide through the National Geographic Speakers Bureau. Through her expeditions, scientific contributions and work in television, she has brought audiences into places few people will ever see and introduced them to the remarkable people, animals and discoveries found there.
For her extraordinary ability to turn exploration into connection – and to inspire audiences to care about the world they encounter – we proudly honor Dr. Mireya Mayor with the first Voice of Discovery Award.