A Harvard-trained ecologist and award-winning National Geographic photographer, Mark Moffett has helped shape our view of the world as one filled with wonder, surprise and, most of all, amazing species worth exploring and protecting. The subject of his own PBS special, Moffett is also a highly entertaining and sought-after television guest (The Colbert Report, Conan O'Brien) who challenges the public’s view of the stuffy environmentalist.

The foremost authority on tropical exploration and rain forest treetops, where most of the world's biodiversity lives, Moffett is the author of the acclaimed book, The High Frontier: Exploring the Rain Forest Canopy. He's also investigated the social lives of remarkable species of ants, spiders, and frogs, including many of his own discoveries—he has first-hand experiences with organisms few others have seen. His work has won him top awards in photography and journalism, and a special medal for writing from Harvard. He's known as "The Indiana Jones of Entomology" at National Geographic Magazine, where he has published hundreds of images in 28 of his own stories.

Moffett is currently a Research Scientist at The Smithsonian Institution, and an Associate Curator at the University of California at Berkeley.In 2005 he joined "Buzz" Aldrin, Louise Leakey, Sir Edmund Hillary, and others as a winner of the Lowell Thomas Medal from the Explorers Club and Rolex, Inc., the highest honor given in the field of exploration.


Watch Mark Moffett, aka "Doctor Bugs" on one of Late Night with Conan O'Brien's Most Requested Segments

The Boston Globe calls the work of Mark "Doctor Bugs" Moffett "a stunning mix of adventure, nature photography and hard scientific inquiry that ranks with the best work of Jacques Cousteau." Fans of Late Night with Conan O'Brien would agree: they recently voted Moffett's memorable appearance as one of that show's best ever. On stage, his unique firsthand stories, his award-winning photography and his animated presentation style make conservation, adventure, and unusual creatures exciting for everyone.

Moffett draws on his travels to every corner of the globe—from the tops of rain forests to vast caves below—to explore the rich canopy of life on earth. A real-life scientist-adventurer who gives a tangible experience of some of the most endangered and important parts of this world, he shows audiences the mysterious plants and creatures of the earth's greatest ecological frontiers. In a way that is neither preachy nor dull, he lays out in an accessible manner the importance of preserving our rainforests, leaving audiences with a fresh perspective on all that is beautiful, still unknown, and worth protecting about Nature. Moffett will leave audiences inspired by his courage, awestruck by his knowledge, and intoxicated by his passion.

In an article on globetrotting, Wired calculates that Mark Moffett travels more than the Secretary-of-State. In this presentation, Moffett selects stories from his global adventures and describes the importance of risk-taking, trust and teamwork when pursuing success. He tells of locating the World's most deadly organism, a rarely-seen frog in a remote valley in Colombia whose one touch can kill. He describes finding new species and new ecosystems, by descending a quarter-mile into a sinkhole in Venezuela, by climbing hundreds of feet high in trees in Borneo, or by entering a cave in Mexico where he located an Aztec burial chamber full of rare blind tarantulas. This is a perfect talk for any business or college audience that wants to address the importance of leadership and teamwork from a different perspective.

Is conservation only about the Big Things, such as lions, tigers, and bears? Mark Moffett doesn't think so. National Geographic Magazine editor Mary G Smith says, "you haven't lived until you have seen Mark imitate the courtship display of a jumping spider or praying mantis." As he does on Conan O'Brien and other shows, Moffett, in this presentation, will make an audience fall in love with unlikely creatures, whether it be a romantically-inclined Sri Lankan spider or dancing Brazilian frogs; 100-foot-wide swarms of bloodthirsty army ants of Ghana or the multicolored 'Doctor Seuss' flies of New Guinea who use multi-pronged antlers to battle over females. No one else knows these stories firsthand, or can tell them with Moffett's enthusiasm. In this talk, audiences will see why he's known the world over as "Doctor Bugs."