My research focuses broadly on understanding the ecological underpinnings of social behavior. In my earlier research I asked how feeding competition affects social relationships, paying close attention to the role of food distribution and abundance on female affiliative and aggressive behavior. I conducted this research on gray-cheeked mangabeys (Lophocebus albigena) in Kibale National Park, Uganda and on rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) at the California National Primate Research Center. I am currently asking how the ecological constraint of living in fragmented habitats influences social behavior, feeding competition, and cultural behavior including tool use in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) living in Gishwati Forest Reserve, Rwanda.
