Former NFL Cheerleader Turned PHD & National Geographic Explorer

Not many former NFL cheerleaders have survived a plane crash, slept in jungles teeming with poisonous snakes, swam with hungry great white sharks, rappelled down a 14,000-foot sinkhole in search of frogs, and been charged by an angry silver-backed gorilla. Mireya Mayor is not your typical ex-NFL cheerleader.

Dubbed by the New York Times as the “Female Indiana Jones,” Mayor is a scientist, explorer, wildlife correspondent, anthropologist and inspirational speaker who has reported on wildlife and habitat issues to worldwide audiences for more than a decade. In 2007, Mayor was named an “Emerging Explorer” by the National Geographic Society as part of an initiative that selects “the next generation of visionaries” who push the boundaries of adventure and global problem solving.

When she's not saving the planet, she is a mother of four, including newborn twins, and works out to her favorite Enrique Iglesias song, “I Like It.”