J. Michael Fay (born September 1956,

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a City (New Jersey), city in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Nicknamed "The Queen City",

ecologist Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

and conservationist notable for, among other things, the

MegaTransect MegaTransect was the name for a project conducted in Africa in 1999 by J. Michael Fay to spend 465 days on the expedition hike of 2,000 miles (3,219 kilometers) across the Congo Basin of Africa to survey the ecological and environmental status of ...

, in which he spent 455 days walking 2,000 miles (3,200 km) across

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and the MegaFlyover in which he and pilot Peter Ragg spent months flying 70,000 miles in a small plane at low altitude, taking photographs every twenty seconds. Both projects were sponsored by the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

, which produced articles and documentaries about the projects.

Biography

Fay graduated in 1978 from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

, and then joined the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

working in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

and the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

. In 1984 he joined the

Missouri Botanical Garden The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropy, philanthropist Henry Shaw (philanthropist), Henry Shaw. I ...

. He completed his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

on the western lowland

gorilla Gorillas are primarily herbivorous, terrestrial great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or five su ...

in 1997, while also surveying large forest blocks by aeroplane and working to create and manage the Dzanga-Sangha park and the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the

and

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

. He has worked for the

Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a global 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) non-governmental organization, headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, with a mission to save "wildlife and wild places across the globe". Founded in ...

since 1990, and was an Explorer in Residence at the

. In 2006, Fay and ''National Geographic'' photographer Michael Nichols traveled to

Zakouma National Park Zakouma National Park () is a national park in southeastern Chad, straddling the border of Guéra Region and Salamat Region. Zakouma is the nation's oldest national park, declared a national park in 1963 by presidential decree, giving it the high ...

to document the danger poachers create for the world's largest remaining concentration of elephants. Their trip resulted i
''Ivory Wars, Last Stand in Zakouma''
He has testified before the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

on the need for preservation of wildlife and habitat. As of 2022, he is working on conservation projects in Gabon with the Agence Nationale Des Parcs Nationaux.

References

External links

Unuk River Post

National Geographic

National Public Radio transcript on MegaFlyover

produced by Mediastorm
''A survey of the proposed Nouabale conservation area in northern Congo'', J. Michael Fay, et al., Wildlife Conservation International, September 1990
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fay, J. Michael American ecologists American environmentalists People from Plainfield, New Jersey University of Arizona alumni 1956 births Living people Missouri Botanical Garden people American expatriates in Tunisia American expatriates in the Central African Republic

Biography

See also

References

External links