Julia Mörchen
Position: PhD Student
Research Group "Primate Behavioural Ecology"
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution
Deutscher Platz 6
D-04103 Leipzig Germany
and
University of Leipzig Faculty of Life Science
Institute of Biology
Behavioral Ecology Research Group
Talstrasse 33
D-04103 Leipzig Germany
e-mail: julia.moerchen@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]uni-leipzig.de
Research interests
Throughout human history migrants have been drivers of cultural change, contributing to the formation and diversity of local cultures by transmitting new skills and knowledge. Before the age of global connectedness, human cultural evolution critically depended on knowledge transmission during migration events, next to independent local invention and spread of variants. While social tolerance fosters mutual exchange of knowledge, and the likelihood of beneficial knowledge transfer with critical fitness value, xenophobic perceptions of unfamiliar individuals likely prevent cultural exchange. However, social learning between unfamiliar individuals can also entail costs, such as competition over resources, or the increased likelihood of harmful disease transmission. Accordingly, there is likely strong selective pressure on traits that allow individuals to balance the costs and benefits of associating and social learning from an unfamiliar individual.
In my Ph.D. project, I investigate the evolutionary roots of the underlying behavioral adaptions of migrants and locals to the consequences of migration, by using the highly socially tolerant Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) and the less tolerant Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) as model species. The two species differ in their evolved levels of social tolerance due to differences in the island’s forests` productivity. In both species, orangutan males disperse over large distances when reaching sexual maturity. Orangutans are known to be highly cultural great apes and are thus the ideal study system for this project.
The ultimate goal for this Ph.D. project is to examine how the exchange of beneficial knowledge between unfamiliar individuals can affect i.) their social learning behaviour ii.) the quality of their cultural repertories and thus likely their overall fitness. To assess potential links between social integration and fitness, we will iii.) link levels of social integration with measures of reproductive success including copulation frequencies, body condition, and ecological competence.
Curriculum Vitae
Current Position
| 07/2023 - | PhD candidate, Development and Evolution of Cognition Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany |
| 01/2019 - 06/2023 | PhD candidate, Primate Behavioral Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig & Behavioral Ecology Research Group, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig |
Education
| 10/2013-10/2016 | Master of Science in Biology, University of Hamburg, Germany, Supervised by: Prof. Carel van Schaik & Prof. Jutta Schneider, Final grade: excellent (GPA 1.19) Master Thesis: “Learning from the immigrants: dispersing orangutan males as cultural vectors” |
| 10/2014-03/2015 | Erasmus Mobility Student, University of Zurich, Switzerland |
| 10/2010-10/2013 | Bachelor of Science in Biology, University of Hamburg, Supervised by: Prof. Julia Fischer & Prof. Jutta Schneider, Final grade: excellent (GPA 1.25) Bachelor Thesis: “Effects of Ageing in social interest in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) - testing predictions from socio-emotional selectivity theory” |
| 10/2008 – 09/2010 | Research student & Veterinary assistant, Zoo Palmitos Park, Canary Island, Study abroad Programme of Free University Berlin, during Bachelor Biology studies |
| 09/2006 - 07/2008 | Matura, Friedrich- von- Spee School, Paderborn, Germany, Final grade: excellent (GPA 1.5) |
Praxis
| 01/2019 – 04/2021 | Project leader, SORAYA Orangutan project (www.suaq.org) |
| 04/2017 - 12/2017 08/2018 - 12/2018 02/2014 - 12/2014 | Freelance Biologist, Agency for Environment and Energy of the City of Hamburg, Department of Conservation |
| 07/2017 | Freelance Biologist, “Hadabuan Hills” Expedition, North Sumatra, Indonesia |
| 11/2017-12/2017 | Scientific advisor GEO Magazine, for a reportage on Culture in Sumatran Orangutans, Indonesia |
| 12/2017 | Freelance Biologist, NGO “Lebensraum Regenwald e.V.” in collaboration with BOSF (Bornean Orangutan Survival Foundation) |
| 08/2011 – 09/2012 | Research Assistant, Zoological Institute & Museum, University of Hamburg |
| 02/2012 – 03/2012 | Volunteer Research student, “Living Links to Human Evolution” Research Center, Edinburgh Zoo, University of St. Andrews, School of Psychology, United Kingdom |
| 04/2011 – 08/2011 | Research assistant, Bio Center Klein Flottbek, University of Hamburg, Germany, Course “Biodiversity of plants”, Supervised: Dr. Barbara Rudolph |
| 05/2010 – 09/2010 | News Researcher, NDR, Hamburg Germany |
| 10/2009 – 04/2010 | Research student & Veterinary assistant, Zoo Palmitos Park, Canary Island, Study abroad Programme of Free University Berlin |
STUDENTS & TEACHING
| 12/2020 – 05/2022 | Supervision: M.Sc. Thesis, Natascha Riedel, “Measuring ecological competence in immigrant male orangutans”, University of Leipzig |
| 09/2019 – 11/2021 | Supervision: M.Sc. Thesis, Frances Luhn, “Peering behaviour in dispersing orangutan males on Sumatra and Borneo”, University of Leipzig |
| 06/2019 – 03/2021 | Co-Supervision: M.Sc. Thesis, Jacinthe Grima, “Description of a newly observed food-associated sound in a wild Sumatran orangutan population (Pongo abelii): a cultural innovation?”, Stockholm University |
| 08/2022 08/2023 | Organization and Supervision of “Primate Conservation”, Modul BIO-11-207, University Leipzig |
| 12/2022 – 01/2023 12/2021 – 01/2022 12/2020 – 01/2021 | Co-Supervision, Practical course “Primate Behavioural Ecology”, Modul BIO-11-212, University Leipzig |
| 01/2023 – 02/2023 01/2022 – 02/2022 | Co-Supervision, Day 14 “Verhaltensökologie” Modul 11-BIO-0101, University Leipzig |
Publications
Mörchen, J., Luhn, F., Wassmer, O., Kunz, J. A., Kulik, L., van Noordwijk, M., Rianti, P., Rahmaeti, T., Atmoko, S. S. U., Widdig, A. ǂ., & Schuppli, C. (2024). Orangutan males make increased use of social learning opportunities, when resource availability is high. iScience, 27(2): 108940. |
Open AccessMörchen, J., Luhn, F., Wassmer, O., Kunz, J., Kulik, L., van Noordwijk, M., van Schaik, C., Rianti, P., Atmoko, S. S. U., Widdig, A. ǂ., & Schuppli, C. ǂ. (2023). Migrant orangutan males use social learning to adapt to new habitat after dispersal. Frontiers Ecology And Evolution, 11. |
Ehmann, B., van Schaik, C. P., Ashbury, A. M., Mörchen, J., Musdarlia, H., Utami Atmoko, S., van Noordwijk, M. A., & Schuppli, C. (2021). Immature wild orangutans acquire relevant ecological knowledge through sex-specific attentional biases during social learning. PLoS Biology, 19: e3001173. |
Gruber, T., Luncz, L. V., Mörchen, J., Schuppli, C., Kendal, R. L., & Hockings, K. (2019). Cultural change in animals: A flexible behavioural adaptation to human disturbance. Palgrave Communications, 5: 9. |
Meeting Abstracts
Mörchen, J., van Noordwijk, M.A. & van Schaik, C.P. (2017). “Learning from the immigrants: dispersing orangutan males as cultural vectors”, EFP conference, University of Strasbourg, France, Invited culture symposium talk.
Mörchen, J., van Noordwijk, M.A. & van Schaik, C.P. (2017). “Learning from the immigrants: dispersing orangutan males as cultural vectors”, GFP conference, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Brandão, S.N. & Mörchen, J. (2012). “Small animals for understanding big biodiversity questions - A morphometric study for species concept within Southern Ocean Ostracods”, From Knowledge to Action Conference, International Polar Year, Montreal, Canada.