Lab Director: Katharine Jack
Current Graduate Students
Margaret conducting field research in Honduras.
Margaret Buehler joined our Ph.D. program in August 2017. She completed her master’s degree at Northern Illinois University, with her thesis “Inter-sexual social interaction in wild white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) in Costa Rica. Her dissertation examines the role of subordinate males in social groups of white-faced capuchins in Santa Rosa.
Danielle Kulick, Co-advised with Dr. Amanda Melin (University of Calgary). Nelle began her PhD in 2021 after completing her B.S. in Environmental Biology and Anthropology at Tulane in 2020. Her research interests span the topics of primate
Nelle in the Área de Conservación Guanacaste while conducting field research in 2021
social behavior, sensory ecology, conservation biology, and understanding the effects of forest regeneration and climate change on wild capuchins in Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. Email: dkulick1@tulane.edu; Twitter: @nellekulick
Nick in the field conducting laser photogrammetry for the “Scent of an Alpha Male” project
Nick Chapoy started the Anthropology PhD program in 2022 with a focus in biological anthropology. He earned an MRes in primate biology, behavior, and conservation from Roehampton University (2021) in London and a B.A. in Anthropology and Psychology from the University of Montana (2015). He has spent the last few years as a research assistant working on primate research projects, including chimpanzees and mountain gorillas in Uganda, woolly monkeys in Ecuador, and capuchin monkeys in Costa Rica. Nick’s research interests include how male sociality influences vocal communication in wild capuchin monkeys living in Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. Email: nchapoy@tulane.edu; Twitter: @nickchapoy
Current undergraduate lab members:
Eva DiMeo, Evelyn Howard, Hubert Mendez, Sean Peek, Sonya Murphy, and Kyle Nguyen
Former Graduate Students:
Lauren Brasington, Ph.D. 2020. Countering infanticide: New perspectives on sexual conflict in white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator). Current Position: Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University.
Gillian King-Bailey, Ph.D. 2019. The behavior and endocrinology of dominance in female white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus imitator) in Sector Santa Rosa, Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Current Position: Graduate Student Research Liason, Sonoma State University.
Valerie Schoof, Ph.D. 2013; Behavior and reproductive endocrinology of male white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) in the Santa Rosa Sector of the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Costa Rica; Current Position: Associate Professor, York Research Chair in Primate Behavioural Endocrinology, Glendon College, York University.
Bryan Lenz, Ph.D. 2013; The effects of cattle ranching on a primate community in the Central Amazon; American Bird Conservancy, Bird City Americas Director and Glass Collision Program Manager.
Claire Sheller, M.A. 2009
Kristen Ritchotte, M.A. 2015
Zdanna King, M.A. 2009
Andrew Childers, M.A. 2008
Former undergraduate lab members:
Michaela Brown, Class of 2021, Anthropology.
Sophie Lieber, Class of 2021. Double major in Anthropology and Art.
Zachary Bisconti, Class of 2020, Double major in Biological Anthropology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
Nathalie Clarke, Class of 2020.Double major in Biological Anthropology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
Aaron Friedman Class of 2016. B.A. in Environmental Studies and Political Science.
Mikayla Stern-Ellis Class of 2017. Double major in Biological Anthropology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
Stephen Cortese, Class of 2018. Double majoring in neuroscience and evolutionary biology
Zach getting Dr. Jane Goodall’s autograph during her visit to Tulane in March 2017. Yes, he is wearing a banana suit!
Interested in joining my lab?
Undergraduate students should make an appointment to meet with me. All students must be able to commit to a minimum of 3 hours of work per week. Duties will vary with skill levels and interests, but it is my intent that lab interns will gain skills in data input, management, analysis, and presentation. My goal is to work with each of you to help you gain the skills needed to engage in successful research and, eventually, publishing the results in academic journals. Independent study credit is possible.
Graduate students who enter our doctoral program under my guidance are expected to conduct field research at my long-term study site in Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. While I am primarily interested in having students who would like to collaborate on research on white-faced capuchin monkeys, I am also open to comparative studies that focus on the other two primate species at the study site. Our capuchin project has been ongoing since 1983, and student projects are vital to the maintenance of this long-term study. If you are interested in applying, please contact me via email and include a brief description of the type of research that you are interested in pursuing.
Co-directors of the Santa Rosa Primate Project:
Linda Fedigan | Katharine Jack | Amanda Melin
Current Collaborators:
Fernando Campos | Linda Fedigan | Urs Kalbitzer | Dr. Shoji Kawamura | Jessica Lynch-Alfaro | Amanda Melin | Valerie Schoof | Stacey Tecot | Eva Wikberg |
Official sites for SNRP and ACG (in Spanish):
Santa Rosa National Park | Area de Conservación Guanacaste