Previous Research

Human impacts & community dynamics of small felids

During my masters work at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (now the Yale School of the Environment), I assisted a team from the Bolivian chapter of the Wildlife Conservation Society in their ongoing research on wildlife communities in the Bolivian Amazon.

Using camera trap data in three sites experiencing varying levels of human impact, we looked at differences in occupancy probability for four species of wild cat in the Madidi National Protected Area, Bolivia. Our study sought to assess presence of ocelots (Leopardus pardalis), margays (Leopardus wiedii), jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), and oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus) and their space use in areas of low human activity, seasonal tourist activity, and high activity around a local indigenous community. The implications of this study were valuable for understanding coexistence between wild cats and humans, and also for monitoring the impact of tourism on the different species.

Published research here: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14050697

Behavioral ecology and social cognition of white-faced capuchins

I served as a research technician with Capuchinos de Taboga in Costa Rica, a joint project between the University of Michigan, Emory University, Universidad Téchnica Nacional, and the Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservacion.

We followed groups of habituated, wild white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus/Cebus imitator) and recorded detailed observations of their feeding ecology and social behaviors. Phenology data collected on the capuchins’ favorite food sources allows inferences about behavioral adaptation to climate changes.