User:Rocordman/Mark Moffett

Mark W. Moffett is a photojournalist/explorer/insect behaviour expert/author/wonderful man. “Mark has developed a career that combines science and photography, in spite of being a high school dropout. Although his family was not academic, encouraged by his parents he sought out biologists by the age of 12. “ Moffett received his BA in Biology at Beloit College in Wisconsin in 1979. He received his PhD from Harvard University where he studied with E. O. Wilson, who developed the field of sociobiology. Mark was the first PhD candidate that Wilson had accepted in about a decade, but Mark was so fascinated by ant behavior that Wilson agreed to accept him as a student. Moffett taught himself novel photographic techniques for his 1989 Ph.D. on ants. National Geographic magazine published these novel photographs, and he went on to become a top photojournalist of that magazine. Moffett became curator of ants at Harvard, and then directed Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology. His research concerns insect social behavior and the structure and dynamics of forest ecosystems, particularly their canopies. He travels the world studying different insects and ecosystems. He has investigated and written about canopies of the Amazon rain forest, where he operates a research station in Peru. He also has worked on the supertall coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest, for which he led the first ever ascent and study of the world's tallest tree, known as the National Geographic redwood. In 1993 Harvard University Press published Moffett's book, The High Frontier: Exploring the Tropical Rainforest Canopy. He has a new book coming out in early 2010. Today his research and National Geographic photography are interspersed with writing and public lecturing about rain forests. In 2010, he is Research Associate, NMNH, the Smithsonian Institution, Associate Curator, the University of California, Berkeley, and Contract Photographer, National Geographic Magazine. He also operates a research station in the Amazon Rainforest in Peru along the Amazon River. A photomural he produced there can be seen at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, WI.

Among his achievements, his home page is, giving a list of over 80 peer-reviewed publications and 20 articles in National Geographic. Among his awards are the Lowell Thomas Medal from National Geographic, and the Beloit College Roy Chapman Andrews Award. He has written books on ants, frogs, and the rainforest.