Overview
My research program in social behavior focuses on social learning and group cohesion. Using naturalistic tasks that I present to captive animals in socially relevant contexts, I can investigate how social interaction modulates behavior, problem- solving, and cognitive performance. By studying and comparing models of carnivore and primate foraging, I can better understand how group-living animals modify their actions to meet environmental demands. A primary interest is determining whether similar factors, related to having a complex social organization, influence learning and performance across taxonomic groups. I am also interested in how animals learn rules of social conduct and maintain social cohesion, as evidenced by their patterns of behavioral developmental, the intricate balance between aggression and play, the expression of scent marking, and the social facilitation or inhibition of behavior.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Comparison of age-related inflammation and oxidative stress in two lemur species.
Journal Article J Comp Physiol B · July 2, 2025 Oxidative damage and inflammation are mechanisms proposed to contribute to physiological senescence. Variation in oxidative damage and inflammation may reflect differential allocation of resources to reproduction and survival, contributing to differences i ... Full text Link to item CiteNeuropeptide receptor distributions in male and female <i>Eulemur</i> vary between female-dominant and egalitarian species.
Journal Article Biology letters · March 2025 Aggression and its neurochemical modulators are typically studied in males, leaving the mechanisms of female competitive aggression or dominance largely unexplored. To better understand how competitive aggression is regulated in the primate brain, we used ... Full text CiteMaternal Androgens in Dominant Meerkats (Suricata suricatta) Reduce Juvenile Offspring Health and Survivorship.
Journal Article Ecology and evolution · November 2024 In oviparous vertebrates, maternal androgens can alter offspring immune function, particularly early in development, but the potential for negative health effects of maternal androgens in mammals remains unclear. We investigated the relation between matern ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
Lemur Health, the Microbiome, and Condition-dependent Signals
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2018 - 2025Doctoral Dissertation Research: Social and ecological influences on brain anatomy
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2023 - 2025Doctoral Dissertation Research: Antimicrobial resistance as a form of anthropogenic disturbance to lemur gut microbiomes
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2020 - 2022View All Grants