Students:

Andrew Ritchie:
ritchie@berkeley.edu

While working on fruit ripening genetics for the USDA, I became interested in how plant characteristics have evolved with respect to their consumers. From an evolutionary perspective, the occurrence of secondary compounds in plants has typically been explained in terms of plant defense: plants produce toxic by-products in order to combat herbivores. However, compounds that are effective at deterring particular herbivores might be ineffective at deterring others. For example, bamboo lemurs are capable of mitigating the effects of high levels in their diet of cyanogenic glycosides, which to other organisms could prove fatal. Thus, the efficacy of plant toxins is dependent on numerous factors such as concentration and distribution in tissues, seasonal and geographic differences, and the behavioral and physiological capacities of the consumer. My research aims to investigate such factors to elucidate the role of particular plant secondary compounds in primate foraging ecology. I am also interested in insectivory and self-medication in primates. My interests have led me to Madagascar, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. During these field experiences, I have been fortunate to work alongside local people, whose knowledge can greatly inform scientific inquiry. I intend to continue incorporating ethnobiological perspectives in my research.

Michael Wasserman:
mwasserm@berkeley.edu

Broadly interested in ecological endocrinology, my dissertation research compares health and fitness differences between primates using peripheral (e.g. forest fragments and edges) and internal forest habitats through the use of noninvasive endocrinological techniques. To do this, I measure fecal cortisol levels, which have been shown to be an effective index of stress. Understanding how fragment and edge characteristics differentially influence primate populations has both ecological and conservation implications, especially in the region of Kibale National Park in western Uganda. Most of my primate research has focused on this region, in particular on two folivorous primates: the red colobus monkey (Piliocolobus tephrosceles) and black-and-white colobus monkey (Colobus guereza). Interest in this region and these species began at the University of Florida, where most of my research examined colobine nutritional ecology. In addition to my focus on the colobines of Uganda, I have also conducted or participated in research in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Brazil, and South Carolina. Through all my studies, I aim to further the understanding of primate ecology and provide knowledge relevant to tropical forest conservation.

Dr. Mariah Hopkins can be contacted at:

Biological Anthroplogy
Department of Anthropology
The College of Liberal Arts
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station C3200
Austin, TX 78712 :: 512.471.4206
hopkins@austin.utexas.edu