I received my doctoral degree from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA in May 2021. Officially part of the Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, I created an interdisciplinary research project working under advisor Dr. Erin R. Vogel in the Anthropology Department. I also worked alongside faculty of Medicine (University of Florida, USA), Biology (Universitas Nasional, Indonesia), Forestry and Veterinary Medicine (Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia). My research explored the physiological consequences of rehabilitation and release in endangered primates by examining, monitoring, and comparing protein balance, energetics, stress, and immune responsiveness in non-invasively collected urine and fecal samples in wild, rehabilitent, and reintroduced orangutans. The project took place in Central Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia at the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation’s (BOSF) Nyaru Menteng Rehabilitation Centre as well as BOSF’s Bukit Batikap Conservation Forest where reintroduced orangutans are monitored long-term. Data from a nearby wild orangutan population studied at the Tuanan Orangutan Research Station were included for comparison. With knowledge gained, I provide crucial insights towards releasing critically endangered animals and began to build a health plan for orangutan rehabilitation and reintroduction to maximize their survival and fitness in the wild.
 
After completing my doctoral degree, I became a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Geneva, Switzerland in the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences (CISA). Working alongside primary investigator Dr. Thibaud Gruber, my research focused on answering questions surrounding the relative profitability hypothesis, tool use, food availability, and energy balance in chimpanzees and humans. (Novel)Tool use has recently and for the first time been documented in east-African chimpanzee communities along the Bugoma-Budongo corridor and appears to coincide with a recent decrease in food supply due to human population growth and deforestation. In some communities, this tool use has been shown as a ‘fallback food-associated’ strategy, following the ‘necessity hypothesis’; in others, it appears to be the result of opportunity (i.e., following the ‘opportunity hypothesis’). Most recently, the ‘relative profitability hypothesis’ was proposed as the more likely explanation for chimpanzee tool use and innovation in the region. To test this hypothesis, which states that regardless of necessity or opportunity the use of the tool must be worth the effort, I non-invasively collected urine samples from wild Ugandan chimpanzees at the Bugoma Primate Conservation Project and urine and saliva samples from students and faculty volunteers at CISA. I then quantified biomarkers of physiological energetics and analyzed these measures alongside behavioral and dietary observations. From this, we can identify potential shortfalls in Bugoma chimpanzee ecology or nutrition as well as enable and encourage the identification and protection of food species vital to the population should re-planting deforested areas become possible. Food abundance, activity budgets, physiological measures of energy balance, and tool use can also be investigated between populations of west- and east-African chimpanzees, as well as with baboons, gorillas, and orangutans. The knowledge from this project will also help facilitate examination into the motivations and innovations of tool use in our hominid ancestors were driven by access to nutrients, energy, or other resources.
 
Currently, I am a Research Scientist and the Laboratory Manager for primary investigator Dr. Erin Vogel and the Laboratory for Primate Dietary Ecology and Physiology (LPDEP). In addition to maintaining day-to-day operations including budget, inventory, and scheduling, I work on projects that revolve around the central theme of how and why organisms acquire and select the food resources they need for survival. To do this, I quantify biological samples (i.e., urine, saliva, feces, etc.) for indicators of stress, energetics, and inflammation in humans, non-human primates (baboons, chimpanzees, lemurs, macaques, orangutans) and whales (via baleen). Urine samples collected from orangutans at the Tuanan Orangutan Research Project in Borneo, Indonesia, co-directed by Dr. Vogel, are also regularly quantified in the LPDEP to better answer questions surrounding the effects of food availability on energy balance and behavior. Additionally, I maintain and organize the database, analyze data in ‘R’, and train undergraduate and graduate students, visiting scientists, and faculty in laboratory techniques and assay protocols.

Overall, I seek to preserve, protect, and restore wildlife and the natural environment. I believe this is best achieved through diverse, equitable, and inclusive collaborations both locally and globally and continue to support these efforts through additional research projects and training and mentorship opportunities.