Noah Snyder-Mackler, a doctoral candidate in the psychology department at the University of Pennsylvania, is blogging for the New York Times' Scientist at Work feature while he studies the socio-genetic structure of gelada monkeys.
My research focuses on the evolution of social behavior in a gregarious primate, the gelada. Geladas, endemic to Ethiopia, are not only the only grazing primate, but they are also found in some of the largest social groups of any nonhuman primate (on occasion we have seen more than 1,000 individuals at the same site). Our field site is situated in the extremely remote, stunningly beautiful Simien Mountains National Park (a series of cliffs, plateaus and mountains situated in the highlands of northern Ethiopia). The park is a 15-hour drive north of Addis Ababa and nowhere near electricity, cellphone or the Internet.Original source: New York Times
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