J. Michael Fay (born September 1956, Plainfield, New Jersey) is an American

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

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 in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

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 (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

, 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 land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, and then joined the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

working in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

and the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

. In 1984 he joined the Missouri Botanical Garden. He completed his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

on the western lowland

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling 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 fi ...

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 (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

. He has worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society 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 highes ...

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 of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

on the need for preservation of wildlife and habitat. He was once attacked by an elephant and currently lives in Alaska on an island with no indoor plumbing. 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 MediaStorm is a New York City-based film production and interactive design studio. The company produces online news stories using high-quality photography, audio, interactivity, and video, and consults on interactive web projects. ''Seattle Post-In ...

''A survey of the proposed Nouabale conservation area in northern Congo'', J. Michael Fay, et al. , Wildlife Conservation International, September 1990

Article by David Quammen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fay, J. Michael American ecologists American environmentalists Peace Corps volunteers 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