Grace Carter, Anthropology, San Diego State University I loved every bit of my time taking the Methods of Primate Behavior and Conservation DANTAcourse this summer. The amount of knowledge and insight learned through this experience willbe treasured forever. Every part of Costa Rica was amazing, but nothing beats the magic of theOsa where we learned the course materials. The food
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A memory came to me last night, that I didn’t realize how formative it had been in the way that I think, make decisions, and navigate in social environments. It was when I was just 21 years old, and I was on a field study with my college in Costa Rica with a group of students studying primate behavior and
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Each year DANTA offers a number of training courses in various aspects of tropical biology. Typically, the courses are one month long but shorter courses are also offered through our organization. The courses are intended for undergraduates or early graduate level students who have a keen interest in tropical biology and conservation but have little or no experience of working in a
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Kew Gardens is London’s largest UNESCO World Heritage site. It is a great place for photography, education, and relaxation. Visit them to support their conservation and science initiatives.
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Less familiar to you may be nuisance animals such as dolphins that have learned to steal fish from fishermen, macaques that barter with tourists’ stolen sunglasses in exchange for food, and elephants that disable electric fencing with trees in order to raid a farmer’s crops. Instances of human-wildlife conflict like these are not rare, and they may result in death or injury for animals and property damage or hardship for humans (and in some cases, injury and death).
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As scientists, we strive to communicate our research findings not only because our funding sources encourage us to, but because our results are meaningless if they are not conferred to the public, policy makers, and future generations for them to consider and act on. Last week I was fortunate to attend a talk by Dr. Madeline Sofia, an NPR producer on Joe’s Big Idea, in which she outlined important dos and don’ts for scientists who want to become better communicators.
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“I am so excited to share a huge personal accomplishment– a portion of my dissertation research was featured in the February 2018 issue of National Geographic magazine…”
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What fundraising project brings together 13 primate conservation organizations, numerous independent wildlife photographers, primate conservation societies, zoos, and various youth and educational organizations, all in the name of primate conservation? The 2018 Primate Connections calendar, of course! Through the purchase of a calendar you too can become part of the Primate Connections Network. The Primate Connections Network is a growing group of
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This summer, for example, I drove across the country by myself, oversaw several research assistants I interviewed and hand-picked, navigated new cities, worked alongside awesome elephant keepers– all in pursuit of my dissertation on personality and problem solving in Asian elephants. Not only did I learn more about elephants and their behavior this summer, but I also learned a few things about myself and about life in general:
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My mom started working at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium when I was ten years old. She works in the administration building, so she didn’t have the kind of frequent contact with animals you would expect. But with her encouragement I started volunteering in the summer ZooAide program. In the following years, I would continue to work at the zoo
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DANTAisms 