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Mimi Arandjelovic

Research staff

Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig

e-mail: arandjel@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de

personal web page  

I am a biologist whose research has primarily focusesd on primate genetics, molecular ecology and conservation biology. My current role as staff scientist in the Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution at the MPI-EVA is focused on improving methods for extracting and amplifying DNA from non-invasive wildlife samples for high throughput sequencing, with the hopes of developing workflows for DNA analysis on-site, in primate range countries. I am also co-director of the Pan African Programme: The Cultured Chimpanzee (PanAf) a research consortium focused on studying chimpanzee ecology and evolution from all four Pan troglodytes subspecies from over 40 temporary research sites across Africa. The PanAf takes a collaborative, holistic approach to studying chimpanzee culture and behaviour and combines modern approaches like video camera traps and samples for genetic, microbiotic, pathogenic and isotopic analyses with traditional field approaches such as transects, phenology and habitat structure. The data generated by the project has broad implications for the conservation of African primates and other species sympatric to them, as well as understanding the population history of chimpanzees and the factors currently contributing to their distribution and survival. I currently lead and co-lead the PanAf projects focused on chimpanzee genetics, genomics and microbiome, as well as our citizen science project Chimp&See and our AI platform for automated species detection from camera trap videos, ZambaCloud. I am also  a member of the IUCN SSC PSG SGA (Primate Specialist Group, Section on Great Apes), including the chimpanzee cultures working group and co-chair of the Western Chimpanzee Action Plan Genetics Working Group (WCAP-GWG).