“Going to China is something I never thought I would be able to do, especially this early on in my life, and it was a wonderful experience to do so,” Fratellone said. Wagner who is in the biology department.”įratellone specifically focused on social organization of Tibetan macaque while in China. Dr Sheeran was with me when I went to China, and so was Dr. “Specifically, we work with Anhui University, which is in China, and you also collaborate with professors here. “In regards to the research, you learn techniques, and you get to collaborate with different researchers,” Fratellone said. One of Lorenz’s students is looking at genetic variation in Vervet monkeys throughout Africa and the parasites that affect them.Ĭhina, Ecuador, Indonesia and even the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle are places where students in the program may conduct additional research.Īccording to graduate student Gregory Fratellone, students can gain experience in other countries with professors at Central.
“And what that genetic variation tells us about evolutionary history of species, and how they are related to other species.” “I’ve always been interested in genetic variations within and between populations of either humans, chimpanzees or other species,” Lorenz said. “Graduate students usually look at more evolutionary questions or questions about cognitive abilities of primates because they are our closest living relative they are often used as a model,” Sheeran said.Īs for the genetic research in the program, students get the chance to study other species and how their DNA has changed over time.Īssociate Professor of Anthropology Joseph Lorenz, focuses his research on genetics of primates. Most undergraduates in the program are planning to pursue a career in a sanctuary or zoo setting, while graduate students focus on conducting more research. Krista Banda, graduate student and teacher research assistant You have to get people involved and help the people there too.”
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It’s really great to find a community that understands how conservation works and how to make it successful. So our relationships with primates and their relationships with us historically to this day has been changing because humans have been changing.”īanda thinks Central’s primate program is unique because the people involved care about the primates and also care about the students. “A lot of students start to get the understanding of how primates work in the world, so it’s mostly focused on human-primate interface. “The primate program here is a really short Master’s program that lasts about two years,” Banda said. The undergraduate primate behavioral program is built to prepare students for field work, research and husbandry training for the graduate program.Īccording to Krista Banda, graduate student and teacher research assistant, the graduate primate program focuses on conservation of the animals, genetic research and behavioral research. “There are seven chimps there, and they can learn that kind of hands-on caregiving and husbandry that they used to get here,” Sheeran said.Īlthough considered a hands-on experience, students are never in the same room as the chimps due to possible dangerous situations.Īccording to graduate student Whitney Emge, students interact with the chimps by being on the other side of the cage. Students get the chance at CSN to have a similar experience to what they used to have at Central. “Luckily, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest has been able to step up and kind of fill in that aspect of the program,” Sheeran said.
Now, graduate students have the opportunity to work with seven chimps at the Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest (CSN), just twenty minutes away in Cle Elum.
“But it was kind of like the heart of the program was gone, because everyone just loved to spend time with the animals.”Īdjustments had to be made after the chimps’ departure. “The academic programing stayed the same whether they were here or gone,” Sheeran said. Sheeran said the removal of the chimps did not affect the academic programs or enrollment, but she felt there was a void in the program. Everyone who met the chimps fell in love with them.” “They learned about caregiving and husbandry, and they that in around their classes. “We did have some students that came here specifically to work with the chimps,” Sheeran said. According to Director of Primate Behavior and Ecology Lori Sheeran, students greatly benefited from the chimps’ presence on campus. However, that changed in 2013, when the chimps moved to the Fauna Foundation.įor students in the undergraduate and graduate primate behavior and ecology program, having chimps to interact with was a dream come true.
Two years ago, Central was one of two universities in the world that had chimpanzees on campus.
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