Verreaux's sifaka are lemurs living in western Madagascar. They eat mainly leaves and some fruit, flowers, seeds, and vines. They live in small, cohesive, mixed-sex social groups. This project examines all aspects of sifaka behavioral ecology, including social behavior (affiliation and aggression), feeding behavior, movement through the habitat, mating, intergroup interactions, etc.
I am looking for someone who is responsible, dependable, meticulous, and able to work independently. Students who have taken classes in primate behavior, primate ecology, or animal behavior are preferred but it is not required. Students who want to be involved with data analysis need to have experience with programming in R and/or statistical analysis.
ongoing -- data are being collected daily in Madagascar by a team of research assistants.
Primarily I am looking for volunteers to help me enter and clean data. Students who want to be involved with analyzing the data are encouraged to participate in data analysis, lab meetings, and to do independent readings. Honor's theses have been developed with the data for students who wish to expand beyond just entering data. However, some previous volunteers have also just wanted to enter data and not get involved beyond that point. So duties can vary depending on the interests of the volunteers.
