https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1313-488X
Overview
Research in the Alberts Lab investigates the evolution of social behavior, particularly in mammals, with a specific focus on the social behavior, demography, life history, and behavioral endocrinology of wild primates. Our main study system is the baboon population in Amboseli, Kenya, one of the longest-running studies of wild primates in the world, ongoing since 1971.
Current Duke Appointments & Affiliations
Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Biology
·
2026 - Present
Biology,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor of Biology
·
2009 - Present
Biology,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology
·
2009 - Present
Evolutionary Anthropology,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences
·
2009 - Present
Duke Institute for Brain Sciences,
University Institutes and Centers
Faculty Research Scholar of DuPRI's Population Research Center
·
2010 - Present
Duke Population Research Center,
Duke Population Research Institute
Faculty Research Scholar of DuPRI's Center for Population Health & Aging
·
2011 - Present
Center for Population Health & Aging,
Duke Population Research Institute
Associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society
·
2017 - Present
Duke Science & Society,
University Initiatives & Academic Support Units
Bass Fellow
·
2012 - Present
Biology,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Recent Scholarly Works
Real-time heart rate in the wild: remote collection of cardiac data in baboons using a low-power Bluetooth and LoRaWAN system.
Journal article bioRxiv · June 26, 2026 1. Cardiac rate and rhythm reveal how animals adapt physiologically to day-to-day challenges. Yet collecting these data in wild animals presents major challenges for long-term data collection and for retrieving the data noninvasively. 2. Here, we present a ... Full text Link to item CiteActivity budgets, social behavior, and fitness outcomes associated with a baboon group fusion.
Preprint · May 5, 2026 Full text Link to item CiteDisparate social structures are underpinned by distinct social rules across a primate radiation.
Journal article Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · May 2026 Over six decades of research on wild baboons and their close relatives (collectively, the African papionins) have uncovered substantial variation in their behavior and social systems. While most papionins form discrete social groups (single-level societies ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
Genetics and Genomics Training Grant
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2026 - 2031Inferring Causal Links Underlying the Relationship Between Longevity and Sociality
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by L.S.B. Leakey Foundation · 2026 - 2027Developing insertable cardiac monitors to assess social and environmental effects on the autonomic stress response in a nonhuman primate model of aging
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Notre Dame · 2022 - 2027View All Grants
Education
The University of Chicago ·
1992
Ph.D.
University of California, Los Angeles ·
1987
M.A.
Reed College ·
1983
B.A.