Haneul Jang
Research staff
Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
phone: +49 (0) 341 3550 331
e-mail:
haneul_jang@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de
Current Research
My doctoral dissertation investigated navigational and orientation strategies of the BaYaka hunter-gatherers in the Republic of Congo during daily search for food in the forest. Using semi-structured interviews, systematic observations, and tools from social network analysis, my postdoctoral research examines foraging group dynamics, childcare and food sharing among the BaYaka women to investigate linkage between cooperative foraging and cooperative childcare in human subsistence decision making. I work in a close collaboration with Dr. Adam Boyette.
Curriculum vitae
Education
| 2020 | PhD Department of Primatology Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany Dissertation: Examining human spatial abilities in a tropical forest: a mixed-methods study among the Mbendjele BaYaka of the Republic of Congo Supervisors: Dr. Karline R. L. Janmaat and Prof. Dr. Christophe Boesch |
| 2014 | MSc EcoScience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea Thesis title: Visiting behavior of Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch) to preferred plant species with the use of phenological knowledge Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Jae Choe |
| 2012 | BSc Molecular and Life Science, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea. Main Subjects: Biology |
Fieldwork
| 2020 – 1 month | Pilot study for the postdoctoral research with the Mbendjele BaYaka people, Likouala Province, the Republic of Congo, Mar 2020 |
| 2016 – 6 months | PhD data collection on foraging behavior of the Mbendjele BaYaka people, Likouala Province, the Republic of Congo, Mar – Aug 2016 |
| 2015 – 6 months | PhD data collection on foraging behavior of the Mbendjele BaYaka people, Likouala Province, the Republic of Congo, Mar – Aug 2015 |
| 2013 – 13 months | Master’s degree data collection on foraging behavior of Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch), Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park, west Java, Indonesia, Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 |
Grants and Awards
| 2019 | Travel bursary to attend 8th EFP-PSGB, Oxford, UK. |
| 2018 | John Templeton Foundation for attending Diverse Intelligence Summer Institute, University of St Andrews, Scotland |
| 2015 | Leakey Foundation Research Grant (PI with Dr. Karline R.L. Janmaat) Foraging cognition of the Mbendjele BaYaka hunter-gatherers, Republic of Congo |
| 2012 | The grand prize from LG global challenger, Seoul, Korea |
| 2011 | Honors Student. Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea |
| 2009 | Undergraduate Research Fellowship program. Ewha Womans University, Korea |
| 2007 | Honors Student. Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea |
Other experiences
| 2019 | Co-Organizing the workshop/symposium “Battery Tests of Primate Cognition: A Counter Reply from Field Primatology” 8th European Federation of Primatology meeting, Oxford, UK. |
| 2018-2019 | Organizing the Department Seminar of the Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany. |
| 2018 – 2 weeks | Diverse Intelligence Summer Institute, St. Andrews, UK |
| 2014 – 2 months | Teaching assistant for a field course “Field Methods in Tropical Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation” by Dr. Myron Shekelle, Siau Island, Sulawesi, Indonesia. |
| 2014 – 2 months | Research assistant for “The orangutans (Pongo spp.) do not spontaneously share benefits with familiar conspecifics in a choice paradigm”, Seoul zoo, Korea. |
| 2012 – 2 months | A survey research on Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch), Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park, West Java, Indonesia, Sep – Oct 2012 |
| 2011-2012 – 5 months | Research assistant for “Color preference in a tool-use task: How do captive orangutans shape their choice?”, Seoul zoo, Korea. |
Publications
Kandza, V. H., Jang, H., Ntamboudila, F. K., Lew-Levy, S., & Boyette, A. H. (in press). Inter-group cooperation in shotgun hunting among BaYaka foragers and Yambe farmers from the Republic of the Congo. Human Nature. |
Jang, H., Ross, C. T., Boyette, A. H., Janmaat, K. R., Kandza, V., & Redhead, D. (2024). Women's subsistence networks scaffold cultural transmission among BaYaka foragers in the Congo Basin. Science Advances, 10(2): eadj2543. |
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Kandza, V. H., Jang, H., Ntamboudila, F. K., Lew-Levy, S., & Boyette, A. H. (2024). Dyadic inter-group cooperation in shotgun hunting activities in a Congo Basin village. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 6: e22. |
Open AccessKandza, V. H., Jang, H., Ntamboudila, F. K., Lew-Levy, S., & Boyette, A. H. (2023). Intergroup cooperation in shotgun hunting among BaYaka foragers and Yambe farmers from the Republic of the Congo. Human Nature. |
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Veen, J., Jang, H., Raubenheimer, D., van Pinxteren, B., Kandza, V., Meirmans, P., van Dam, N., Dunker, S., Hoffmann, P., Worrich, A., & Janmaat, K. (2023). Development of embodied capital: Diet composition, foraging skills, and botanical knowledge of forager children in the Congo Basin. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11: 935987. |
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Chittar, C. R., Jang, H., Samuni, L., Lewis, J., Honing, H., Loon, E. E. v., & Janmaat, K. R. L. (2023). Music production and its role in coalition signaling during foraging contexts in a hunter-gatherer society. Frontiers in Psychology, 14: 1218394. |
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Lappan, S., Oktaviani, R., Choi, A., Ham, S., Jang, H., Kim, S., Yi, Y., Mardiastuti, A., & Choe, J. C. (2023). Demography of a stable gibbon population in high-elevation forest on Java. In S. M. Cheyne, & C. Thompson ( |
Jang, H., Janmaat, K. R. L., Kandza, V. H., & Boyette, A. H. (2022). Girls in early childhood increase food returns of nursing women during subsistence activities of the BaYaka in the Republic of Congo. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289(1987): 20221407. |
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Yi, Y., Choi, A., Lee, S., Ham, S., Jang, H., Oktaviani, R., Mardiastuti, A., & Choe, J. C. (2022). Transient co-singing of offspring and mothers in non-duetting Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch). Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10: 910260. |
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Boyette, A. H., Lew-Levy, S., Jang, H., & Kandza, V. H. (2022). Social ties in the Congo Basin: Insights into tropical forest adaptation from BaYaka and their neighbours. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 377: 20200490. |
Jang, H., & Boyette, A. H. (2021). Observations of cooperative pond fishing by BaYaka and Bantu people in the Flooded Forest of the Northern Republic of Congo. African Study Monographs, 41(2). |
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Jang, H., Oktaviani, R., Kim, S., Mardiastutie, A., & Choe, J. (2021). Do Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch) use fruiting synchrony as a foraging strategy? American Journal of Primatology, 83(10): e23319. |
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Janmaat, K. R., de Guinea, M., Collet, J., Byrne, R. W., Robira, B., van Loon, E., Jang, H., Biro, D., Ramos-Fernández, G., Ross, C., Presotto, A., Allritz, M., Alavi, S., & Van Belle, S. (2021). Using natural travel paths to infer and compare primate cognition in the wild. iScience, 24: 102343. |
Jang, H. (2020). Examining human spatial abilities in a tropical forest: A mixed-methods study among the Mbendjele BaYaka of the Republic of Congo. PhD Thesis, Universität, Leipzig. |
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Yi, Y., Fichtel, C., Ham, S., Jang, H., & Choe, J. C. (2020). Fighting for what it’s worth: participation and outcome of inter-group encounters in a pair-living primate, the Javan gibbon (Hylobates moloch). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 74(8): 96. |
Jang, H., Boesch, C., Mundry, R., Ban, S. D., & Janmaat, K. R. L. (2019). Travel linearity and speed of human foragers and chimpanzees during their daily search for food in tropical rainforests. Scientific Reports, 9: 11066. |
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Jang, H., Boesch, C., Mundry, R., Kandza, V., & Janmaat, K. (2019). Sun, age and test location affect spatial orientation in human foragers in rainforests. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286(1907): 20190934. |
Presentations
| 2019 | Jang, H., Boesch, C., Mundry, R., Ban, S.D., Janmaat, K.R.L. Comparison on large-scale spatial performances of human foragers and chimpanzees in tropical rainforests. Oral presentation at 8th European Federation of Primatology meeting & Primate Society of Great Britain winter meeting, Oxford, UK. Jang, H., Boesch, C., Mundry, R., Ban, S.D., Janmaat, K.R.L. Travel linearity and speed of human foragers and chimpanzees during their daily search for food in tropical rainforests. Poster presentation at the 3rd Annual Workshop for Early-career Social Learning Researchers (ESLR), Leipzig, Germany. Jang, H., Boesch, C., Mundry, R., Ban, S.D., Janmaat, K.R.L. How does spatial movement pattern of human foragers and chimpanzees compare when they travel to food locations in the forest? Poster presentation at the 16th Conference of the Gesellschaft fürPrimatologie (GfP), Göttingen, Germany. |
| 2018 | Jang, H., Boesch, C., Mundry, R., Ban, S.D., Janmaat, K.R.L. How do the spatial performances of chimpanzees and human foragers compare when they travel to food in less familiar areas? Oral presentation at 27th Congress of the International Primatological Society, Nairobi, Kenya. Jang, H. Invited presentation, entitled “Travel linearity and speed of human foragers and chimpanzees during their daily search for food in tropical rainforests.”. Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea. |
| 2015 | Jang, H. Invited presentation, entitled “Foraging behaviors of the Mbendjele BaYaka hunter-gatherers, Republic of Congo.”, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea. Jang, H. Do Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch) use fruiting synchrony? 14th conference of the Gesellschaft fuer Primatologie, Leipzig, Germany. |
| 2014 | Jang, H. Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch) regulate the timing of visits to preferred plant species in response to predictability of fruiting patterns. 25th Congress of the International Primatological Society, Hanoi, Vietnam. |
| 2014 | Jang, H. Invited presentation, entitled “Visiting behavior of Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch) to preferred plant species with the use of phenological knowledge”, Primate Research Institute (PRI) in Kyoto University, Japan. |
| 2013 | Jang, H. Invited presentation, entitled “Visiting behavior of Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch) in response to temporal characteristics of preferred plant species”, Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) in Bogor, Indonesia. |