Lectures

Mark has spoken about exploration, tropical forests and societies in humans and other animals to both scholars and the public, including at the Smithsonian Institution; NASA's Goddard Space Center; Google headquarters in both Mountain View and New York; the Institute of Human Origins; the Santa Fe Institute; a think tank organized by the Joint Chiefs; the World Science Festival; the Explorers Club; the American Philosophical Society; the Simons Foundation; the EPA; the National Geographic headquarters; and for conferences in ecology, animal behavior, entomology, human evolution, anthropology, and social psychology; such universities as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Oxford, and Cambridge; as well as numerous public venues in the U.S. and other countries--and has shared the stage with the likes of Edward O. Wilson and Jane Goodall.

Conservation and the behavior of humans and other species don’t need to be presented as dry statistics and dismal news. Mark challenges himself to find ways to tell stories about the little-known in nature. Through his scientific knowledge and unique, first-hand experiences, he introduces a Universe of special creatures in smart, adrenaline-packed appearances.

Here are three of his lecture topics:

• Mark looks at societies across the animal kingdom, and in humans right up to the present day.  How do those societies stay intact over the long haul, and what causes them to break down?  How do we humans accommodate strangers in our societies, when most species cannot?

• Why modern humans are more like certain ants than we are like our nearest relatives, the chimpanzees.  Why are comparisons of ants and humans valuable, and how do ants build societies more complex than we find for any other species in nature other than our own.

• A rainforest resembles a city, its architectural space providing for millions of resident species. How is it put together, and in what ways does its physical structure compare to that of other natural communities, from coral reefs to the metropolises of bacteria thriving on our teeth?

Despite the seriousness of these topics, Mark keeps his presentations fun and fascinating. "You haven't lived until you've seen Dr. Moffett imitate the mating dance of a frog or praying mantis," proclaims retired editor Mary Smith at one of his talks at the National Geographic headquarters.  Below is a spot-on portrait of Mark on stage by the master New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast.