Dynamic network analysis of collective movement and herding in a complex primate society
This project combines field-based data with computational network analysis to understand how social relationships and ecological pressures mediate collective movement and herding in a complex primate society. The application of dynamic network analysis in this research will transform how biologists understand the adaptive value of association in changing environments. The project will focus on the gelada (Theropithecus gelada), a primate species that lives in an extremely large modular society with high fission-fusion dynamics. Behavioral, ecological, and demographic data will be collected from a population of habituated geladas living in the Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia. Potential findings will be of great interest to computational scientists and behavioral ecologists interested in the evolution of cooperation, coordination, and complex systems.
This research will help conserve the Afro-alpine habitat of the Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia--a UNESCO World Heritage Site designated as "In Danger". The fellow will give public talks on conserving Ethiopian biodiversity at a local ecotourism lodge and train Ethiopian nationals as field assistants to collect behavioral, ecological, and GPS data for the duration of this project. The fellow will also organize a workshop on applying network analysis to biology at Addis Ababa University. Additionally, the fellow will give talks to high school biology students and maintain a science blog while in the field. Open source software will be used when possible, and all code derived for analysis will be made freely available on the Internet upon completion of the project.
