Early Final Thoughts and Plans for Costa Rica.

With much regret, I will be leaving Costa Rica earlier than expected due to personal reasons. Unfortunately, this means I will not be able to perform my original research project I had intended to do on the mantled howler monkey, or Alouatta palliata.

Fortunately, in my time here in Costa Rica and at La Suerte Biological Field Station, I’ve learned how to start to become a real primatologist. I’ve learned to perform map and compass readings, data collection techniques for plant phenology, feeding ecology, and other methods necessary for primatologists. I’ve met people that are wonderful and I was extremely lucky to have an excellent professor and teaching assistant for the course.

I’m still in love with primatology, as well! A lot of girls (my class had only girls) so far have confessed they have no interest in primatology after this–and good on them; I wish them luck for everything else and I hope they find something that works better for them.

I’ll confess this: I’m not against field work; I’d like to do it again, in fact. However, I don’t think Latin America is the area for me. Instead, I think I’d like to work in Asia. Specifically, China or Japan. I’m not against Africa either. I will also admit that it was extremely difficult for me to actually just see what I was looking at, so maybe next time I’ll focus on a species that’s more terrestrial.

Since I’m not going to be performing a research project in the field, I will probably be doing something in a zoo. I’m all right with this since I can apply what I’ve learned from La Suerte into a project, but I am a little worried for what it calls for. If anyone has any experience for protocols for these sorts of things, or even just experience, I’d really love to hear it.

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience. I’d be lying if I said it was easy or it wasn’t hard; it sucked to be so hot that you would sweat through your clothes, to be literally in nowhere, to be divebombed by beetles, mosquitoes, cicadas, and other bugs while you were trying to take a shower or go to the bathroom, or (lucky me) waking up with a dead bat in your bed. And I realize, for a field station–mine is incredibly well-provisioned with working toilets and other “luxuries” which are rampant in the U.S., but there was so much more in all that too–I’ll never get an experience like that where I can just walk outside and get an alarm call by mantled howler monkeys, take a few steps in and see bowl-shaped fungi that had a little miniature ecosystem within itself, to see birds that I could only see in zoos back at home.

It was amazing and rewarding; there’s no place even remotely as a natural beauty as Costa Rica–but there’s no place like home either.

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Monkeys on my Mind.

I leave for Costa Rica in two weeks. Excitement and nervousness are an understatement at this point as I’m still trying to scrounge up last minute things–hiking boots, thick socks, laundry stuff–nit-picky, last minute things that are all important. Another thing I’ve been trying to do is get a phone; from what I understand, all calls I receive at the field site will have to be emergencies and that will absolutely not fly with my family, so I’ve also been tasked with ordering an international phone for a month.

Since I’ve figured out a potential idea for a research project, I’ve become more excited than ever to go. In my head, I’ve already been planning out how I’m going to determine my data since what I’ve got in store is all behavioral-based so I’ll need to potentially create my own scoring sheet. Not to mention, running around in the jungle will probably make me extremely physically fit considering I haven’t really had to scale Bascom Hill this year.  But, I think the most exciting for me, is being able to do this with people that are interested in the subject and want to be there. I don’t have a lot of people I can get excited about primates with (I’m sure my significant other and friends all want to punch me in the throat with how much I can go on), so this will be awesome for me.

And since finals ended for me on last Thursday, I’ve also been turning my attention to graduate school applications. I’ve signed up to take the GRE on August 21st and bought myself at least three GRE prep books so far. I’m a little intimidated about working with math again after a huge hiatus, but here’s hoping I can do well. I’m also incredibly nervous about my grades, but that’s another story entirely.

I’m looking into a lot of Anthropology programs since I don’t think I have the requisites available for Biology programs. I’m starting to create my lists of grad schools I’d like to attend and I’ve got a decent size so far. Right now, I think the front-runners for me are: Central Washington University (M.S. in Primate Behavior!), University of Iowa and Iowa State University tied for second, Ohio State University for third, and somewhere in there that I’m also considering: Southern Illinois University, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and University of Texas-San Antonio. I’m not really sure at this point what I can consider to be a reach or safety, so until I apply and find out, they’re all reaches in my book.

I’m absolutely not guaranteed or entitled to a graduate level education, so here’s hoping that doing this work in Costa Rica, at the research lab here as a technician, and my classes will help me get to the next level in primatology.

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Ethics of Primatology and People

In my Primate Conservation course this week, we talked about Dr. Linda Fedigan’s (2010) article on Ethical Issues Faced by Field Primatologists: Asking the Ethical Questions.  And honestly, it really blew my mind and made me think about how I should be considering things when I conduct my research in Costa Rica.

The one thing I liked most about this and I feel some primatologists forget sometimes: non-human primates and primates typically do not exist in an exclusive vacuum. In many cases, primates (non-human and human primates) exist side-by-side and have common interactions–be it through a shared living space, access to necessary resources (think: open water sources and food resources); their interactions are enough to influence disease ecology, behavioral ecology, and the overall function of the ecosystem in which non-human primates and human primates utilize. If this is already seen as invasive by many (and it is), think of the role a foreign researcher plays in attempting to study in a foreign nation; particularly if they are from an affluent nation going towards a more impoverished one.

And it is on that note that I find Fedigan’s article to be at its best: in Appendix B of her article, she devises an example version of a revised protocol sheet for Animal Care Form for Field Studies,

        “Part C. Local people

         1.) List and briefly describe any national or regional laws in the country where your research will take place that are pertinent to your field study of primates (e.g. laws pertaining to human/animal interactions, hunting, the pet trade, extraction of resources, etc.)
        2.) List and briefly describe any cultural traditions in the country where you propose to work that are pertinent to your field study of primates.
        3.) What measures will you take to observe those laws and local customs?”

The considerations to cultural understanding and awareness are what inspire me and excite me the most as a future primatologist; in order to perform the best research possible, you need to understand the environment you’ll be in to some extent. And since, as I’ve stated before, human primates and non-human primates typically don’t exist in a vacuum, the best thing you can do is to understand and work with the people who you’ll be around. At the risk of sounding callous, I think this was the message to learn from Dian Fossey‘s story.

But there isn’t just the cultural understanding that should come with primatology: it should also serve as an education tool. I don’t necessarily think or believe every researcher should make their site a tourist trap or anything like that. But I do believe it is the role of a researcher to attempt to balance the needs of native people (in so much as hunting for subsistence) and the role of their research as a tool for education and conservation (side note: to some extent, I believe all primatologists are conservationists, even captive ones.) Researchers should be willing to take in natives and educate them; instead of dragging in a team from an affluent country, use locals and educate them so maybe they would be willing to take on a greater responsibility of environmental management and protection for their local resources. Because when all is said and done, and a researcher leaves–the natives will still be there. If you can get them interested in protecting instead of hunting to gain money, and instead, try and gain money for protection and conservation (assuming that the local or national government has the funds for such.)

There’s a lot I like about the Fedigan article and I could easily yap about it for days, but here’s what I’m going to pledge to do when I’m in Costa Rica so I can, to my awareness, perform as ethically as possible:

1.) I will invest time (after my finals are done) to learning about Costa Rican culture. I have done a little legwork and I intend to do more; although I don’t expect to meet any natives aside from any permanent staff at the field station and hotel, I won’t allow myself to be caught off guard. Although, this will be problematic considering I speak very, very limited Spanish. (“Me gusta cerveza!”)

2.) I will do my best when I am in the field to perform strictly to the rules that will be set out for me by my director. I realize this is incredibly vague now, but I’m assuming things like “Don’t scream!” or “Don’t make sudden movements!”

3.) Luckily, I will be working with New World Monkeys (Latin/South American), so the zoonotic disease transmission is lowered, but I’ll attempt to take some masks with me before I go to minimize any potential risk. Fortunately, I have had my TB test performed in the last six months, and assuming it suddenly didn’t creep on me, I won’t be passing that along.

4.) I will be using clean sanitation areas as much as possible to lower any potential zoonotic transmission. Though the risk is cut, I refuse to take chances if I can help it.

5.) Most importantly, I will treat my subjects with as much respect and consideration that allows me to in that specific context of observational research.

It is that last one, I think, that makes or breaks any primatologist: myself to be included.

References
Fedigan, L.  (2010).  Ethical Issues Faced by Field Primatologists: Asking the Relevant Questions.  American Journal of Primatology, 71, 1-18.

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You mean more like the monkeys, right?

I’ve developed a massive scientific pet peeve. For some, theirs is the term, “missing link” (which I abhor too) or dumbing down or sensationalizing science–to each their own. My personal one, which I’ve been growing for the past few months is the decision of scientific literature and media to explain primate behavior as being “more like us.”

Uh, what?

We can prove evolution happened. We can also put it in reverse too. It’s not just a theory–it’s a fact.  As my lecturer in my Anthro 105 course stated best, “A fact is something no rational individual argues against.” And assuming that most of these scientific writers believe in some course of evolution, it makes no fucking sense that anyone would refer to a primate “becoming like us.”

Instead, it’s more believable that we’re more like our ancestors.  And here’s why:

Last night when I was leaving for my apartment, I saw a beautiful display of altruism: an older gentleman was having some difficulty moving his wheelchair across a  very busy intersection of traffic. A girl, going the complete opposite way and seeming to be in a hurry (she was running and definitely did not have the shoes for it; so I assume she was meant to be somewhere and fast) stopped, turned around, and asked the older gentleman if he needed help. I wasn’t close enough to hear the exchange, but I saw the girl turn and help the older man to the other side and even for a little bit after that.

OK. So I don’t really have enough context to truly be declaring that to be altruism, but I think we can agree it was certainly a kind gesture and good deed; potentially at the expense of the girl if she had to be somewhere with high responsibility (maybe a job interview, actual work, a presentation–who knows). As such, I’m going to consider it altruism despite the lack of background knowledge.

If we establish altruism as the idea of performing an act of benefit to another individual at the potential cost to the actor, primates have been known to perform altruism, with observed rates depending on a given species and particular relationship to the receiving individual (obviously, you’re more likely to help family than most others), but some people disregard altruism towards kin as a nepostic means, which I certainly understand. As such, I’m going to avoid an example of that.

An example of not necessarily nepotistic altruism can be seen with any time an alarm call is given by an actor, warning others of the detection of a predator.  Sometimes, this isn’t even necessarily of their own species, as observed by researchers investigating Diana monkeys (Cercopithecus diana) giving alarm calls that can be interpreted by other primates and even yellow-casqued hornbills (Zuberbühler 2000; Rainey et al. 2004). However, despite this obviously good deed for the other primates and hornbill–it comes at the cost for detection of the Diana monkey by revealing its presence and potentially exposing itself for the predator to detect.

Does it really benefit the Diana monkey for the other primates and hornbill to survive? Maybe, but not directly, although it certainly doesn’t hurt. Perhaps the hornbill is an excellent seed disperser so it propagates further generations of trees in which Diana monkeys prefer to use. Maybe the hornbill provides something for the Diana monkey–regardless, the direct link isn’t there.

Regardless, altruism isn’t just “human,” and nor are monkeys “becoming human.”  It’s just getting in touch with our evolutionary roots.

References
Rainey, H.J., Zuberbühler, K., Slater, P.J.B.  (2004).  Hornbills can distinguish primate alarm calls.  Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences, 271(1540), 755-759.

Zuberbühler, K.  (2000).  Interspecies semantic communication in two forest primates.  Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences, 267(1444), 713-718.

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Costa Rica and Me.

In a little less than a month, I’ll be leaving to go to the sunny, blissful paradise of Costa Rica, quite literally, almost  a tourist nation with the majority of its revenue coming from tourism. It makes sense, seeing as Costa Rica is a fairly safe country.  There are many rankings for which (considering only Latin America, at least,) Costa Rica takes the gold, most specifically: Happy Planet Index in 2009 which also took the first worldwide, Environmental Performance in 2008, Press Freedom and Democracy in 2007, Travel and Tourism Competitiveness in 2008, and Life Satisfaction Index (2006-2007) in 2008. So with the compilation of all those firsts over a relatively short amount of time, I can deduce that if those rankings are worth any of their salt: the Costa Ricans are a pretty happy little tourist country with great environmental standards.

Sounds like my kind of country. Even moreso when you consider there are primates that live in Costa Rica, which will be the purpose of my visit. I am going through the Maderas Rainforest Conservancy at the La Suerte Biological Field Station in order to study primate behavioral ecology for one whole glorious month. And I could not be more excited.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous: I’ll be meeting people from all over the country that I’ve never met before, I’ll be living in conditions I’m extremely not used to, I won’t be able to have immediate contact with friends and family, and I’ll have to get used to not being able to access the internet on a whim. There will be bees and snakes, and I will potentially ruin many pairs of underwear and pants as a result. But at the same time, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thrilled to be attempting those things.

The most anxious part of the experience is creating my own research. I would really like it if I could come out and be able to publish something–something that I can contribute to the world’s knowledge. Not to mention, use it to give my future career a jumpstart and have even more reason for grad schools to select me as their student. But as it stands, I’m having an exceptionally hard time trying to think of anything original, or at least, maybe even worthwhile? Whenever I come up with a topic, I immediately rush to Google Scholar and–bam. Already done, or at least variations thereof.

Another factor to consider is that there are only three species of primates (IUCN 2007) living in the area I’ll be in. There are Mantled Howler monkeys (Allouatta palliata), White-Faced Capuchins (Cebus capucinus), and Geoffroyi’s Spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi). This isn’t a bad thing because it narrows down the literature of the species I have to examine, but it does make it a little harder considering there are only three and I don’t know the visibility/commonality of any of them in that given population area.

Regardless, until then, I will be anxiously awaiting my experience with the monkeys.

References
IUCN, SSC, Primate Specialist Group.  (April 2007).  Primates of Costa Rica.  http://www.primate-sg.org/costa.rica.spp.htm.

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Why so serious, monkey?

I study prosimians, monkeys, and apes because I want to know myself better.  And like they say, you can’t know your present without your past.

To most people, that might sound a little weird. It might sound a little bit like the “furry” lifestyle, or it might sound like I should potentially take a vacation on a psychiatrist’s chair. But it’s true: humans are monkeys. Well, more like great apes considering we lack tails, we’re generally larger, and we have greater cognitive abilities than most other primates. People like themselves in any capacity, despite any humilities someone might express. We like talking about themselves, thinking about themselves, learning about themselves. Thus, I study primates. I study communication, behaviors, ecology, cognition, morphology, etc.–because it teaches me about me, my family, my friends, my significant other, my classmates, my instructors, my co-workers–all the way up to people I haven’t even met yet.

I study primates, as well, because they teach me about what it means to truly be considerate.

Because of my interest in primates, I’ve become more aware of the world around me: if we do not take care of of our environment, we aren’t taking care of ourselves. For example, when we remove the plants or structural diversity of a given habitat, it can influence the composition, abundance, and distribution of animals and then become likely to congregate in areas with humans; thus, the rate of disease transmission between animals and humans, particularly because pathogens and vectors can mutate and change with the transmission (Pongsiri et al. 2009). HIV/AIDS, Ebola, Herpes B; these are a few of the very many examples in which disease from animals, which are recognizable in humans for the severity of the disease. Moreover, we are capable of spreading diseases to non-human primates (gastrointestinal parasites and tuberculosis are particularly damning for some primates) and thus, create a cyclical problem.

Obviously, conservation is important for other reasons. It’s important to be able to create long-lasting susbsistence patterns for meat-eating in areas where other food is less available, to be able to have primates fulfill their important role in the ecosystem as seed dispersers or predators, as predators of other animals or invertebrates. Everything deserves to have the ability to thrive.

That’s why this serious primate studies her own.

References
Pongsiri, M.J., Roman, J., Ezenwa, V.O., Goldberg, T.L., Koren, H.S., Newbold, S.C., Ostfeld, R.S., Pattanayak, S.K., & Salkeld, D.J.  (2009).  Biodiversity Loss Affects Global Disease Ecology.  BioScience, 59(11), 945-954.

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