The PrimateCast

Send us Fan Mail Today's episode is all about royalty. No, not those odd primates shuffling around palaces in crowns and robes, but the monarchs of the butterfly world. We're joined by Dr. Jaap de Roode , Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Biology at Emory University, who's one of the world's experts in insect self-medication. Yup, you heard that right. You might have caught one...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The PrimateCast, your host sits down with science communicator Amanda Mathieson , Head of Public Engagement, Education and Communications at Biorbic , Ireland's National Bioeconomy Research Centre. She's also a pioneer in the space of developing STEM-themed escape rooms. And that was the main topic of discussion in the interview. Throughout the episode...

Send us Fan Mail Explore zoo animal welfare with Dr. Lance J. Miller, a leading authority in animal welfare science at Brookfield Zoo Chicago , formerly Chicago Zoological Society's Brookfield Zoo. Lance is Vice President of Animal Welfare Science at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, but he also holds a slough of other appointments. He’s Chair of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums Animal...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I sit down with my friend and colleague, cognitive scientist Dr. Nicolas Claidiere from the Center for Research in Psychology and Neuroscience at Aix-Marseille University. Nico was on the podcast once before, in episode 30 when we recorded from the International Primatological Society's conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, back in 2014.  So let's call this a 10-...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when a primatologist and podcaster leaves behind an academic career in Japan to embrace a new chapter in wildlife conservation in Canada?  Crickets on the show, for one... Join me as I share my emotional decision to move on from Kyoto University and take up the role of Senior Scientist, Wildlife Conservation at the Wilder Institute / Calgary Zoo. The challenges of upr...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s installment of the podcast, I’m really excited to share a fascinating conversation I had with Dr. Tecumseh Fitch about the evolution of cognition and communication. Tecumseh Fitch is Professor of Cognitive Biology at the University of Vienna where he co-founded the Department of Cognitive Biology and plays a leading role in the radically interdisciplinary Vienna Cogniti...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode, I sat down in the studio with evolutionary anthropologist Dr. Laura Buck in the Research Centre for Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology of Liverpool John Moores University. Dr. Susumu Tomiya of CICASP also joined the conversation. After waxing on the plausibility that some ancient hominins in cold climates might have hibernated - spoiler alert! Not very -...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s lecture, Dr. Paula Pebsworth joined us from her home in Texas to give a lecture titled “ You never know where life will take you: an interdisciplinary and unconventional path ”. This lecture was extra special for me, because Paula and I were grad students together at Kyoto University’s Primate Research Institute over a decade ago, both under the supervision of Mike Huff...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s origin story, Dr. Colin Chapman joined us over Zoom from his home on Vancouver Island to talk about, quote, “ A Few Fun Things I have Learned Studying Primates ".  Colin Chapman has a whole bunch of titles that are worth a quick once over: he is a Killam Research Fellow, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a fellow at Humboldt Foundation, a Wilson Fellow, hold...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The PrimateCast origins, we’re sharing a lecture from primatologist and cognitive ethologist, Patricia Izar from the University of São Paulo. Pat is one of the eminent Latin American primatologists, and along with her close friends and colleagues Drs. Dorothy Fragaszy and Elisabetta Visalberghi - see episode #68 for more on this from Elisabetta Visalberghi - she...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, comparative cognitive scientist Dr. Reggie Gazes and my office neighbor Dr. Ikuma Adachi . Reggie is an associate professor of psychology and animal behavior at Bucknell University in Lewisburg Pennsylvania. She and Ikuma overlapped as trainees in the lab of Dr. Robert Hampton at the now-named Emory National Primate Research Center. Listen to Rob in episode 20 of...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The PrimateCast origins, we’re sharing a lecture given by wildlife biologist and conservationist Dr. Ian Redmond , OBE. Ian is renowned for his work with gorillas and elephants in Africa. Through research, filming, ecotourism, and conservation science and activism, he’s spent over 40 years cultivating the wisdom and the network needed to inspire and incite real...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, conservationist, author and founder of The Orangutan Project , Leif Cocks.  Leif is a tireless conservationist who seems to be involved in innumerable conservation projects throughout Southeast Asia, but most notably The Orangutan Project, which he founded in 1998. We talk about Leif’s path to conservation, which began early on with an interest in animals and natu...

Send us Fan Mail This episode of The PrimateCast: Origins is taken from CICASP's International Primatology Lecture Series: Past, Present and Future Perspectives of the Field . The IPLS is dedicated to providing origin stories told by experienced researchers in primatology and related fields. The lectures are conducted via Zoom within our CICASP Seminar in Science Communication for graduate st...

Send us Fan Mail This episode features a conversation with Devan Schowe, Campaigns Associate with animal advocacy and wildlife nonprofit, Born Free USA . Born Free USA, and its parent Born Free , are charitable organizations advocating for animal welfare and compassionate conservation, with the ultimate goal of ending human exploitation of animals for any reason. In the interview, Devan outlines t...

Send us Fan Mail This episode of The PrimateCast: Origins is taken from CICASP's International Primatology Lecture Series: Past, Present and Future Perspectives of the Field . The IPLS is dedicated to providing origin stories told by experienced researchers in primatology and related fields. The lectures are conducted via Zoom within our CICASP Seminar in Science Communication for graduate st...

Send us Fan Mail This episode features a conversation with Dr. Tesla Monson , Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Western Washington University. Tesla was in Japan visiting our own Dr. Susumu Tomiya to start some work with our collection of primate bones, so I asked Susumu to join us in the studio as well. Tesla runs the Primate Evolution Lab at Western Washington University,...

Send us Fan Mail “ You should always collaborate with your friends! ” - Sarah Brosnan In this episode I am really excited to be able to bring to you an interview with Dr. Sarah Brosnan , Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Philosophy and Neuroscience in the Language Research Center at Georgia State University. Dr. Ikuma Adachi ,  from Kyoto University's Center for the Evolutionary Origins...

Send us Fan Mail This episode of The PrimateCast: Origins is taken from CICASP's International Primatology Lecture Series: Past, Present and Future Perspectives of the Field . The IPLS is dedicated to providing origin stories told by experienced researchers in primatology and related fields. The lectures are conducted via Zoom within our CICASP Seminar in Science Communication for graduate st...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is all about where, how and why primates got their names! No, we won't be talking about popular primates like Kanzi  the bonobo or Pan-kun (if you're in Japan), but rather the terms we use for the common and scientific names of primates across their taxonomy. Dr. Elaine Guevara is a Lecturer in Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University's Trinity Coll...

Send us Fan Mail This episode of The PrimateCast: Origins is taken from CICASP's International Primatology Lecture Series: Past, Present and Future Perspectives of the Field . The IPLS is dedicated to providing origin stories told by experienced researchers in primatology and related fields. The lectures are conducted via Zoom within our CICASP Seminar in Science Communication for graduate st...

Send us Fan Mail This episode features paleoanthropologist and science educator Dr. Briana Pobiner . Briana works in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History . She is also Associate Research Professor in the Department of Anthropology at George Washington University .  Briana’s anthropological research focuses on understanding the human diet, and changes...

Send us Fan Mail This episode of The PrimateCast: Origins is taken from CICASP's International Primatology Lecture Series: Past, Present and Future Perspectives of the Field . The IPLS is dedicated to providing origin stories told by experienced researchers in primatology and related fields. The lectures are conducted via Zoom within our CICASP Seminar in Science Communication for graduate st...

Send us Fan Mail This episode features distinguished primatologist Dr. Charles Snowdon , or Chuck Snowdon, as he’s maybe better known by. Chuck is Hilldale Professor of Psychology Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin, Madison , and he’s widely known for his work on primate social development, communication and cognition. He ran the Snowdon Primate Center in the Department of Psychology at the U...

Send us Fan Mail This episode presents an interview with Dr. Pamela Asquith , and anthropologist and meta-primatologist who has studied how primatology was done historically in Japan, and tackled the challenge of language, metaphor and anthropomorphism in science. In March 2022, she delivered an excellent talk for CICASP in our International Primatology Lecture Series: Past, Present and Future Per...