Michael Ray Taylor
Joined Atlas Obscura in 2026
I am freelance journalist, author and emeritus professor of communication at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. As a fellow of the National Speleological Society, the Cave Research Foundation, and The Explorers Club, I have led international caving expeditions and science projects. I have collaborated on cave documentaries for the National Geographic Channel, the Discovery Channel, the BBC, PBS, and IMAX filmmaker MacGillivray Freeman Films. I'm author of three cave-related books: Cave Passages, Dark Life, and Caves, and I've written over 200 feature articles and essays, often on nature or environmental subjects, for such publications as Smithsonian, Sports Illustrated, Audubon, Outside, The New York Times, Houston Chronicle, Nashville Scene, and the websites of The Discovery Channel and ABC News. I am a frequent writer of book reviews and author interviews for Chapter 16, a website of Tennessee Humanities, and I keep an eye out for my next adventure assignment.
