People

My career interest in the study of primate behavior and cognition began in 2004 during volunteer work at the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida. The following year, I conducted an observational study of “Knuckles”, a juvenile chimpanzee believed to be afflicted with cerebral palsy. The rarity of this physical disorder among chimpanzees presented a unique opportunity to study how it affected his individual behavior, as well as his social interactions with other members of his conspecific group at the center. My observations suggested that the way in which Knuckles was treated by other chimpanzees was influenced more by his behavior than his physical appearance. Outwardly, he was the size and stature of a typical juvenile male. Although he matured physically, his group-mates continued to treat him as an infant because this was more consistent with his behavior, which was affected by cerebral palsy.

Upon completion of my B.A. in Anthropology at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida in May of 2005, I relocated to Atlanta and joined the Living Links Center as a research assistant to Dr. Frans de Waal. My duties include the observation and coding of chimpanzee social interactions as well as conducting digital video tasks designed to evaluate problem solving abilities of the Yerkes chimpanzees. I plan on analyzing this information to assess various aspects of chimpanzee cognition.

In addition to my work with Dr. de Waal, I also assist in a research program that is being conducted in conjunction with Dr. Victoria Horner and Dr. Andrew Whiten from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, UK. These studies focus on social learning and cultural transmission in chimpanzees.