Masters Work | Recent Field Work | Older Field Work | Bachelors | Associates
Yale School of the Environment (then Forestry and Environmental Studies)
I have a Master in Environmental Science from Yale University’s School for the Environment.
I worked with Dr. Os Schmitz and fellow graduate Amy Zuckerwise, MESc, to develop my thesis. We used camera traps to study human impacts on felid species in the Madidi National Protected Area, in the Bolivian Amazon.
This field work was done in collaboration with the Bolivian chapter of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Me and colleague, Amy Zuckerise, along Rio Hondo in the Madidi National Park, Bolivia.
Our field site in the Madidi National Park, Bolivia, with one of the boats we used to get around.
We looked for tracks or scat as sign of felid presence, including jaguar (Panthera onca), puma (Puma concolor), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), jaguarundi (Hepailurus yagouaroundi), margay (Leopardus wiedii), and oncilla/tigrillo (Leopardus tigrinus).
Capuchinos de Taboga
A behavioral psychology project following white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus).
I was a field assistant helping habituate the monkeys to human observers, taking data on their daily activities, and tracking movements of our monkey groups.
In the field observing monkeys (during their nap time). Ft: Telula, alpha female of this group.
Field Site in the Taboga forest reserve, a rare tropical dry forest.
Project through University of Michigan
Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program
Project studying the ecology of primates and nesting sea turtles in the Gran Caldera Scientific Reserve along the southern coast of Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, in Africa.
That’s right! A crazy cool opportunity to work with monkeys AND sea turtles – which happen to be two of my favorite things on the planet. Coupled with living on a tropical beach with some really cool people, this was one of the best experiences of my life.
Baby leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) heading out.
Amazing team of people.
Red-eared monkey (Cercopithecus erythrotis erythrotis), one of seven primate species in the park.
The land of amazing waterfalls.
Undergraduate Research at UNCG
I have a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from UNC-Greensboro. Through my undergrad studies at UNCG, I worked in was a research assistant in several labs, worked with The HERP Project as an environmental educator, interned with the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, and generally became obsessed with salamanders.
I helped take care of a captive sand fly population for work on ways to reduce disease transmission in the lab of Dr. Gideon Wasserberg.
I helped with lab work and microbial isolation of organisms found living in coal ash in the lab of Dr. Parke Rublee.
I helped with data cleaning and organization for a project looking at paternal care in rodents through ultrasonic vocalizations in the lab of Dr. Matina Kalcounis-Rueppell.
Zoo Science Degree and Internships
I have an Applied Associate in Science Degree in Zoo and Aquarium Science from Davidson-Davie Community College, NC.
I learned a lot about how animals think and act, that I absolutely adore animals of all kinds, and that I wanted to work in conservation.
This community college was a huge step in my academic career, giving me a lot of knowledge and experience at affordable costs. I then transferred to UNC-Greensboro to finish my bachelors.
I interned at the Greensboro Science Center, NC, helping with animal husbandry and education programs.
For a summer, I was an intern at the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, SC. I helped out on the cat-bear rotation, working with lions, tigers, bears (I know), primates, hyenas, and koalas.
At the North Carolina Zoo, I had an internship at the Sonoran Desert exhibit, with ocelots, vampire bats, ringtail cats, and lots of desert birds and reptiles. I also interned at the Watani Grasslands exhibit, where they have white rhinos, ostriches, and several species of antelope.
Courtney Anderson, MESc 
