The Applied Primate Eco-omics (A.P.E.) Lab studies the ecology of nonhuman primate health with an eye toward improving human and wildlife welfare.

 

We work at the individual and group levels to:

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(1) offer comparative perspectives on the ecological forces underlying human health challenges;

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(2) support conservation efforts by characterizing the needs of nonhuman primates across the human-wildlife interface;

 

(3) provide important contextual information for anthropological and evolutionary studies of nonhuman primates.

 

To do so, we embrace a multilevel, ecosystem-based vision of primate health, combining noninvasive “omics” approaches (e.g., microbiomics, transcriptomics) with tried-and-true behavioral, physiological, and ecological methods.

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Research in the A.P.E. Lab focuses primarily on chimpanzees living at Ngogo in Kibale National Park, Uganda. These chimpanzees offer remarkable opportunities for studying primate ecology and health given some unusual demographic traits, including large group sizes and human-like life expectancies. For more information, please visit the Ngogo Chimpanzee Project website.