Contact
Department of Primatology
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
phone: +49 (341) 3550 - 200
fax: +49 (341) 3550 - 299
Curriculum Vitae
Education

- Ph.D. - Zoology, University of Wisconsin, May 1996.
- M.S. - Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, December 1993.
- B.S. - Biology and Psychology (double major), University of South Carolina, May 1989
Academic Employment
1998-present | Research Associate, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology |
1997-1998 | Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Gustavus Adolphus College |
1995-1997 | Lecturer, Depts of Psychology, Zoology, & Anthropology, University of Wisconsin |
Management Experience
1998-present | Leader of the Gorilla Research Group in the Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. |
1998-present | Director of long term research project of mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. |
2005-2014 | Co-director of Loango Ape Project, Loango National Park, Gabon. |
2014-present | Director of Loango Gorilla Project, Loango National Park, Gabon. |
2008-present | Established a conservation education program,’ Bwindi Ape Conservation Education Partnership’, with four primary schools, Ruhija District, Uganda |
Established collaborative research projects with several NGO’s, research institutions, and national park services including:
- Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International
- International Gorilla Conservation Program
- Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Program
- Mbeli Bai Gorilla Project
- Bai Hokou Gorilla Program.
Teaching Experience
2007-present | Lecturer, International Max Planck Research School for Human Origins |
1997-1998 | Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN Taught four upper level courses: Animal Behavior, Evolution, Ecology, & Conservation Biology Taught one introductory level course: “Evolution, Ecology, & Behavior” |
1995-1997 | University of Wisconsin, WI, USA Designed and taught the following courses: ‘Comparative Perspectives on Social Behavior’, ‘Ethology’, and ‘Primate Behavioral Ecology’ |
Organized and taught the following to national park staff and conservation partners:
July 2016 | Basics of Mountain Gorillas - Training Workshop, Ruhija, Uganda. |
March 2009 | Gorilla Behavior and Habituation -Training Workshop, Ruhija, Uganda. |
June 2008 | Gorilla Behavior and Tourism -Training Workshop, Ruhija, Uganda. |
January 2008 | Gorilla Behavior - Training Workshop, Muzanzi, Rwanda. |
June 2008 | Gorilla Behavior and Tourism -Training Workshop, Ruhija, Uganda. |
November 2007 | Gorilla Demography - Training Workshop, Musanze, Rwanda. |
Grants & Awards
2016-2017 | United States Fish & Wildlife Service Great Ape Conservation Fund ‘Research as a component of tourism development for Western Gorillas in Loango National Park, Gabon’ $92,450 |
2016-2017 | Tusk Trust, Conservation and Research of Western Gorillas in Loango National Park, $25,000 |
2015-2016 | Tusk Trust Conservation and Research of Western Gorillas in Loango National Park, Gabon $23,250 |
2010-2016 | Berggorilla Regenwald Direkthlife/Mondberge Conservation Education Program for four primary schools neighbouring Bwindi Annual contribution of € 7,000 |
2015 | Berggorilla Regenwald Direkthilfe Renovation of research camp in Loango National Park, Gabon € 20,000 |
2015-2016 | United States Fish & Wildlife Service Great Ape Conservation Fund ‘Conservation, Research and Tourism of Critically Endangered Western Gorillas in Loango National Park, Gabon’ $98,800 |
2013-2015 | National Geographic Society ‘Why so big?: Reproductive success and body size in male & female mountain gorillas’ € 20,000. |
2014-2015 | United States Fish & Wildlife Service Great Ape Conservation Fund ‘Integrating Research and Tourism as Conservation Strategies for critically endangered western gorillas in Loango National Park Gabon’ $57,560 |
2012-2013 | United States Fish & Wildlife Service Great Ape Conservation Fund ‘Conservation, Research, and Tourism of Western Gorillas and Central Chimpanzees in Loango National Park, Gabon’ $67,970 |
2012-2014 | Great Ape Education Project collaborative conservation education project with UNITE, Kassisi Project, and Nature for Kids that produced 3 conservation videos for children and conducted outreach activities with 8 primary schools around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park received €19,000 of a € 260,000 overall grant from the Adessium Foundation |
2011-2012 | United States Fish & Wildlife Service Great Ape Conservation Fund ‘Conservation and Research of Western Gorillas in Loango National Park, Gabon’ $78,755 |
2008-2009 | United States Fish & Wildlife Service Great Ape Conservation Fund ‘Prospects for Growth: Developing Applied Conservation Strategies through Integrative Ecological Modeling of Bwindi Mountain Gorillas’ $41,249 |
2006-2007 | National Geographic Society ‘Prospects for Growth: Assessment of habitat utilization, habitat availability, population trends and genetic variability of Bwindi mountain gorillas’ $18,930 |
2005-2006 | Leakey Foundation ‘Strategies of diet selectivity and habitat utilization in mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda’ $12,000 |
1995 | Sigma Xi- Wisconsin Chapter Graduate Research Award Semi-finalist |
1994 | Chicago Zoological Society Conservation & Research Grant (not utilized due to political instability in Rwanda) |
1991-1994 | National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellowship (stipend and tuition). |
Professional Services
Reviewer for the following journals and publishers:
- Animal Behaviour
- Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology,
- American Journal of Physical Anthropology,
- American Journal of Primatology,
- International Journal of Primatology
- Animal Cognition
- Behavioral Ecology,
- University of Chicago Press
- Cambridge University Press
Reviewer for the following granting agencies:
- National Science Foundation
- the Leakey Foundation
- National Geographic Society.
Professional societies:
- International Primate Society
- German Primate Society
- Regular contributor of articles for Gorilla Journal (publication of Berggorilla Regenwald Direkthilfe)
- GRASP (Great Ape Survival Partnership; UNEP) Scientific Council, 2013-present
- Primates, Advisory Board member, 2012-2017
- IUCN Section on Great Apes committee member, 2002-present
- Evaluator for IUCN Red List Assessment of Gorilla beringei, 2008
- Evaluator for IUCN Red List Assessment of Gorilla beringei beringei, 2015
- Wildlife Conservation Society Fellow
- Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Program Conservation Advisory Committee Member, 2009-2011
- Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Program – Science Advisor, 2012-2013
- Art of Conservation, Advisory Council Member, 2012-2013
Conference & Workshops Organized
August 2014 | Co-organizer for ‘Understanding the Variability of Gorilla Social Structure’, symposium at International Primatology Conference, Hanoi, Vietnam. |
June 2014 | Co-organizer for ‘Apes Across Africa’ Workshop, Fort Portal, Uganda. Goal was to bring together early career African ape conservationists and researchers for a four day workshop of talks, discussions, training sessions, and field site visits. Meeting was attended by fifty participants, including representatives from 14 African countries. |
November 2013 | Co-organizer for ‘Gorillas Across Africa’ workshop, Musanze, Rwanda. Goal was to bring together early career African conservationists and researchers working with gorillas for a fourday workshop of talks, discussions, training sessions, and field site visits. Meeting was attended by forty participants, including representatives from 8 African countries. |
June 2011 | Co-organizer for ‘Gorillas Across Africa’ workshop, Ruhija, Uganda. Goal was to bring together early career African conservationists and researchers working with gorillas for a four day workshop of talks, discussions, training sessions, and field site visits. Meeting was attended by forty participants, including representatives from 7 African countries. |
August 2009 | Co-organizer for ‘Assessing the Prospects for Growth of the Bwindi Mountain Gorilla Population’ workshop, Kabale, Uganda. Goals were to assess the relative effects of potential management actions on population growth and establish future priorities for gorilla research & management strategies. Meeting was attended by +40 participants from six organizations working in and around Bwindi and beyond. |
June 2008 | Organizer for ‘Research & Conservation of Bwindi Mountain Gorillas Workshop’ , Ruhija, Uganda. Meeting consisted of presentations and discussions of ongoing research in Bwindi. Attended by +30 participants from six organizations working in and around Bwindi. |
August 2004 | Co-organizer for ‘Feeding Ecology in Apes and Other Primates’ conference, Leipzig, Germany. Goal was to bring together more than 20 researchers to present findings and discuss future avenues of research concerning feeding ecology of great apes. |
January 1999 | Co-organizer for ‘Mountain Gorillas of Karisoke: Research Synthesis and Potentials’, Leipzig, Germany. Goal was to have 15 researchers present findings and discuss future avenues for research of Virunga mountain gorillas. |
Invited Workshops/ Symposia
August 2016 | Plasticity and individual variation: evolutionary significance and conservation consequences, Symposium at International Primatology Conference, Chicago. |
May 2014 | Western Gorilla Research & Conservation Symposium, Libreville, Gabon. |
September 2013 | Great Ape Summit, Jackson Hole, WY, |
May 2013 | Great Ape Conservation Workshop, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. |
April 2013 | Reconstructing Dietary Adaptations in Human Evolution, Tempe, AZ. |
August 2012 | Mountain Gorillas Then and Now: Celebrating 45 Years of Research at the Karisoke Research Center, Symposium at International Primatology Conference, Cancun, Mexico. |
August 2012 | Flexibility in Social Relationships in Female-dispersal Species, Symposium at International Primatology Conference, Cancun, Mexico. |
October 2010 | Aggression & Peacemaking in an Evolutionary Context, Lorenz Workshop, Leiden, Netherlands. |
September 2008 | Leakey Foundation 40th Anniversary - Primatology symposium, San Francisco, CA. |
October 2007 | Conservation for Migratory Species Gorilla Meeting, Paris, France. |
May 2007 | Rwandan Biodiversity Conference, Kigali, Rwanda. |
May 2005 | Great Ape Conservation Workshop, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. |