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Maria Creighton

Student
Biology

Overview


As a formally trained conservationist and behavioral biologist my research interests bridge ideas from both these disciplines. One of my primary research interests is understanding why sociality evolves, and how social behaviors help animals to navigate environmental challenges. To answer these questions, I leverage individual, group, and species -level data on wild animal populations to determine how the social and physical environments interact in their effects on fitness-related outcomes at various evolutionary scales.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Recent Publications


Demographic, behavioral, and ecological data from a long-term field study of wild baboons in Amboseli, Kenya.

Journal Article bioRxiv · October 3, 2025 Long-term data sets on individually recognized animals and their environments are critical to understanding animal behavior, evolution, and ecology. However, they are resource- and time-intensive and seldom made publicly available. The Amboseli Baboon Rese ... Full text Link to item Cite

Reevaluating the relationship between female sociality and infant survival in wild baboons.

Journal Article Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · May 2025 Over the past few decades, studies have provided strong evidence that the robust links between the social environment, health, and survival found in humans also extend to nonhuman social animals. A number of these studies emphasize the early life origins o ... Full text Cite
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External Links


Personal website