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 immigrants have always been drivers of cultural change, contributing to the diversity and formation of local cultures by transmitting new knowledge and skills. Nevertheless, xenophobic tendencies that prevent beneficial mutual exchange are on the rise. There is evidence that both tendencies, being tolerant as well as being xenophobe toward strangers, are as such deeply rooted in our evolutionary past. In my Ph.D. project, I aim to examine the evolutionary roots of the underlying behavioral adaptions of immigrants and locals to the consequences of migration, by using the highly cultural and socially tolerant Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) as a model species. We will investigate the behavioural strategies locals and immigrants use to cope with the challenges of and at the same time make use of the benefits of migration in two closely located orangutan populations in the Gunung Leuser National Park in Sumatra, Indonesia. The two study populations show differences in their social tolerance and organization but are assumed to stand in regular exchange through dispersing immigrant males and are thus the ideal study system for this project. By combining behavioral and genetic data, this interdisciplinary study represents the most comprehensive approach to address the question whether cultural transmission follows the immigrant male dispersal pattern in Sumatran orangutans. The ultimate goal for this Ph.D. project is to examine how informational and social benefits drawn from tolerant cultural transmission between foreigners (social learning) affect individuals` survival and reproduction success. In that regard, using extant Asian great apes as a model species will shed light on which factors influenced cultural exchange, tolerance, and xenophobia during human evolution.
My study is conducted in collaboration with the nongovernmental organization FKL (“Forum Konservasi Leuser”) and the Evolutionary Genetics Group, Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Switzerland (Prof. Michael Krützen & Dr. Caroline Schuppli).
Curriculum Vitae
Education
| since 07/2018 | PhD student at the University of Leipzig in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig (MPI EVA) Dissertation title: “The good immigrant: Dispersing orangutan males as cultural vectors and the evolution of tolerance vs. xenophobia” Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Anja Widdig (University of Leipzig), Prof. Dr. Michael Krützen (University of Zurich) |
| 10/2013-10/2016 | Master of Science in Biology (with focus on Biodiversity & Ecology) Thesis title: " Learning from the immigrants: Dispersing orangutan males as cultural vectors” Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Jutta Schneider (University of Hamburg) & Prof. Dr. Carel van Schaik (University of Zurich) |
| 10/2014-03/2015 | Erasmus Mobility Student, University of Zurich, Switzerland |
| 10/2010-10/2013 | Bachelor of Science in Biology Thesis title: „ Effects of ageing in social interest in barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) – Testing prediction from socio-emotional selectivity theory“ Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Jutta Schneider (University of Hamburg) & Prof. Dr. Julia Fischer (German Primate Center, University of Göttingen). |
Work experience
| 04/2017-12/2018 | 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, Reportage on Culture in Sumatran Orangutans, Sumatra, Indonesia |
| 12/2017 | Freelance Biologist, NGO “Lebenraum Regenwald e.V.”, in collaboration with BOSF Bornean Orangutan Survival Foundation |
| 02/2014-12/2014 | Freelance Biologist, Agency for Environment and Energy of the City of Hamburg, Department of Conservation |
| 04/2011-07/2011 | Research assistant, Bio Center Klein Flottbek, University of Hamburg, Germany, Course “Biodiversity of plants” |
Publications
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. |
Open AccessGruber, 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.