Meet the TeamDoctoral Candidate in Physical Anthropology
Department of Anthropology
Washington University in St. Louis
Unites States of America
Academic WebsiteMrinalini Watsa is a graduate student in the Anthropology Department at Washington University in Saint Louis. She is an Indian citizen who moved to America to pursue an undergraduate course of study at Grinnell College in Iowa from which she earned her B.A. in biology. However, after interning at the Southwest National Primate Research Center as well as the Great Ape Trust of Iowa, she went on to acquire an M.A. in Physical Anthropology from Washington University in Saint Louis. Today, she is a doctoral candidate at the same institution and her research centers around primate genetics, behavior and reproduction.
Gideon Erkenswick - Co-Founder
Gideon Erkenswick assisted in the founding of PrimatesPeru in 2009. He is originally from Chicago, Illinois, obtained a B.A. from Grinnell College in 2006 with a major in Sociology, and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in biology from the University of Missouri – St. Louis. His area of research is in disease ecology and evolution in natural communities, with particular emphasis on uncovering zoonotic disease pathways, and host-pathogen relationships. Before joining PrimatesPeru, Gideon worked with several nonprofit organizations in the fields of public health and immigration, and education.
Dr. Jennifer Rehg - Principal Investigator
Field Season II: January 2011 - August 2011
Carley Rose - Field Research Assistant
Carley Rose will be graduating in 2011 with her BS in anthropology at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Her main interests are in biological anthropology and primatology, with a focus on primate and human evolution, mate selection, pair-bonds, and parental investment. She is interested in pursuing her college career at the University of Wisconsin in Madison to study primate behavior, ecology and conservation. She is joining PrimatesPeru to gain experience for graduate school and to live one of her biggest dreams. When she can pull herself away from researching and studying she enjoys exploring the wilderness, going to antique stores, drinking tea, and spending time with her family on the farm.
Alanna Slack - Field Research Assistant
Alanna is studying Wildlife and Fisheries Biology at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina. She plans on focusing on endangered species conservation in graduate school, eventually earning a Ph.D. in a related field. In the summer of 2010, she began working on a research project about co-foraging as a function of age in wild golden lion tamarins, and has continued this project through the 2010-11 school year. Though she has long been interested in primatology, this project introduced her to the wonderful world of the tamarins. Alanna is also particularly interested in the applications of GIS technologies for conservation, which she will study in depth as an undergraduate and graduate student. She is also working on achieving fluency in Spanish, and is actively involved in her campus's Students for Environmental Action group.
Mike Mangalea - Field Research Assistant
Mike Mangalea graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2010 with a BA in Biology and a minor in Medical Anthropology. He has worked at several labs on campus at UNC, becoming proficient in multiple molecular biology techniques. Recently, he has been focusing in neurobiology, working on cloning a pair of genes and characterizing their expression patterns in the brains of Túngara frogs, a tropical species. In the summer of 2009, Mike worked on a field research crew in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado analyzing the evolutionary and reproductive biology of Lincoln’s sparrows. This stint sparked his interest in biological field research and he hopes to gain more experience with the PrimatesPeru team before beginning a graduate program. Outside the world of biology, Mike enjoys skiing, mountain biking, hiking, sailing, playing the bass guitar, and travelling.
Elizabeth Maciag – Field Research Assistant
After her unforgettable time spent enjoying fieldwork opportunities with PrimatesPeru in 2011, Liz now works as a Science Lecturer at Peterborough Regional College in England. Her current teaching focus is on microbiology, physiology and genetics, however she hopes to begin also teaching on an animal science course in the near future. Prior to this she completed her BSc degree at Queen Mary, University of London in 2009, and then her MSc degree at the Royal Veterinary College, University of London in 2010. Her MSc dissertation investigated the effects of forest degradation on the health of three critically endangered species of lemur in North-west Madagascar. In the past she has also worked as a research assistant for an ecological study in North-west Kenya. In her spare time, Liz volunteers at an ‘Exotic Pet Refuge’ which provides a permanent home for unwanted exotic pets and ex-zoo animals, and she also enjoys travelling abroad whenever she can get the chance. Ultimately Liz would like to study for a Doctorate, and to eventually work as a biological researcher and university lecturer, with a particular involvement in conservation science.
Liz Kirby – Field Research Assistant
Liz is studying primatology at Washington University in St. Louis, and will graduate in 2011 with a B.A. in Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology and International Studies. After spending a semester coding videos of chimpanzee tool use for the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project, Liz spent this past summer researching the sociosexual behavior of equids at St. Louis Zoo. She is thrilled to be working with PrimatesPeru, as she has a special place in her heart for small South American primates, and is particularly interested in callitrichid social structure and cooperative childrearing practices. Liz is ultimately interested in a career in wildlife conservation, and plans to apply to graduate school after learning the challenges of integrating behavioral research with conservation policy in the field.
Santiago Cassalett – Field Research Assistant
Santiago Cassalett graduated from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 2010 with a BA in Anthropology and History. While interning with the Great Ape department at the Knoxville Zoological Gardens in 2010, his main focus became centered on primate behavior and primate interactions with their environment. He plans on completing a graduate program in Primatology specializing on the behavioral effects of deforestation and environmental degradation on primates. During his undergraduate study, he was employed by the University Of Tennessee Outdoor Program as a student guide leading rock climbing and backpacking trips. Field work is an opportunity for him to further his knowledge and interest in primate behavior while pursing his interest in environmental conservation and education.
Alice Poirier – Field Research Assistant
I graduated in 2010 with a Research Master’s in Evolution, Ecology and Conservation Biology from Montpellier University in France. I carried out three internships in research laboratories on Evolution and Genetics. I plan to pursue next year with a PhD. I want to study Evolution on behavioural and genetic levels, and this experience in the field will be very rewarding before starting postgraduate studies. I am also fond of water sports, I practise windsurfing and sailing and I use to be a sailing instructor for children during the summer. I have never lived in the middle of the rainforest, but I am very curious and exited about living such an experience and working on primates. I will get involve to the project at CICRA from early February for 5 ½ months and then I want to travel trough Peru for a few weeks.
Ines Nole – Field Research Assistant
Ines is a wildlife veterinarian who doesn’t like to work in a clinic. When living in the city she volunteers with various animal protection organizations. Her preference is always to work in the field with wild animals, especially in the Amazon. During the past several years she has worked with brown titi monkeys, saddleback tamarins and emperor tamarins, giant river otters and Orinoco geese. She is excited to join PrimatesPeru this summer and continue research of tamarins and Goeldii's monkey. Ines says, "I am never bored when working with monkeys, every day is different." We are inclined to agree with her!
William Fu Lien Hsu - Field Research Assistant
William graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Biology degree and a minor in Anthropology in May of 2011. His interest in Anthropology was sparked during his senior year of college while taking a variety of biological anthropology courses such as Human Evolution and Behavioral Ecology of Great Apes. He also spent a semester with the Goualogo Triangle Apes Project working on coding chimpanzee tool use behavior. PrimatesPeru provided an opportunity for him to experience field work and further understand the field of primatology. At the moment he is serving in the Taiwanese military service as a translator in the Department of Environmental Protection. Afterwards he plans to go to graduate school to continue his studies in Biology and Anthropology.
Field Season I: October 2009 - August 2010
Karina Klonoski graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine in 2009, where she majored in biology and minored in anthropology. In the fall of her junior year, she studied conservation biology while abroad at the University of Otago in New Zealand. During her time at Bowdoin, she focused on evolutionary biology, completing an independent study on the genetics of human follicle mites. She also spent time at UCLA investigating the evolutionary adaptation of Pacific tree frog tadpoles to an invasive predator. Karina is ultimately interested in a career in biological research, specifically within the field of ecology and evolutionary biology, and has enjoying this opportunity to get more field experience before beginning a graduate program. She is an avid hiker, runner and writer. Since her time with us, she has joined the Broad Institute in Boston as a research technician.
Erin Kane - Field Research Assistant 
Erin Kane is a Ph.D student in anthropology at The Ohio State University, and received her MA from OSU in December of 2011 with a project assessing dietary variation in Diana monkeys. She graduated from Washington University in 2009 with a BA in anthropology and environmental studies, and spent the following spring with PrimatesPeru studying saddle-back tamarins. Erin is currently undertaking a pilot study for her dissertation on behavior and ranging patterns of the sooty mangabey in the Ivory Coast's Tai National Park. Her interests lie in characterizing guenon and mangabey behavior and adaptations, the intersections of diet and behavior, and primate conservation across West and Central Africa.
Rhea K. Mac - Field Research Assistant Alumnus
Rhea K. Mac graduated with a B.A. in biology from California State University Northridge. She is interested in pursuing her M.A. and PhD. in biological anthropology. She wants to study primate evolution on behavioural and genetic levels, and is getting more experience in the field before starting her graduate studies. She discovered her passion for primatology while in the Ecuadorian Amazon for a tropical ecology semester. Rhea is very excited to discover a new part of the Amazon and work with Primates Peru. Her long term goals include being a researcher and a professor. Along with biology, Rhea enjoys wakeboarding, exploring nature, spending time with her family and friends, and dancing to the music on her ipod.
Since working with PrimatesPeru, she has joined the graduate program in physical anthropology at California State University, Northridge.
Emma Katherine Wallace - Field Research Assistant
Emma Wallace obtained her bachelors from Cambridge University, England, in 2009, in Biological Anthropology, specialising in Primatology. After completing nearly four months of field work with PrimatesPeru she went onto studying for her master in Primate Biology, Behaviour and Conservation at Roehampton University, London. The skills acquired during her field season with the PP team were invaluable for conducting her own research for her masters, even though captive gibbons were much easier to observe than wild tamarins! Emma now aims to work in education and animal welfare in zoos.
Holly McCready - Field Research Assistant
Holly McCready is a graduate of the University of Arizona. She began her studies there as a biology major but took one anthropology class and was hooked. She graduated in 2007 with a BS in biology and a BA in anthropology. Her interests are varied: she has worked as an HIV educator in Tanzania and as a technician studying honey bee pollination in California. She spent a year working on a bat conservation project in Pennsylvania and is currently volunteering for a cat spay/neuter program in Portland. She hopes to return to graduate school next year and pursue an anthropology degree in primate behavioral physiology.
Deirdre graduated from Boston University in 2011 with degrees in both Biology and Religion. Her passion for animals started early on thanks to her zoo keeper mother (and no thanks to her city boy father). A special interest in primates arose over the years, and was only strengthened when she was bit by a macaque while studying abroad in India, and then again while volunteering with the gorilla keepers at the Franklin Park Zoo. She is currently working as a veterinary technician in Boston and starting the daunting task of applying to veterinary school. She hopes to earn her DVM in wildlife or exotic medicine and be actively involved in research projects like Primates Peru for years to come. In her spare time she loves to rock climb, dance, eat cheese, then run it off.
Mary Dinsmore graduated from the University of Portland in 2009 where she received a B.S. in Environmental Science and a B.A. in Political Science. Her love of animals, conservation, and ethology grew after studying abroad in Broome, Western Australia as well as Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. In the summer of 2009 she worked as a research assistant studying endocrinology and the behavioral growth and development of an Asian Elephant calf at the Oregon Zoo. She continued working with animals in the Fall of 2009 when she interned at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo. After expanding her knowledge of primates and field research techniques with the Primates Peru team she hopes to go to graduate school and one day conduct research on the social behavior and conservation of lemurs. Besides learning new facts about animals, Mary loves to cycle, dance, scuba dive, and eat lots of Mexican food.
David Lefebvre - Field Research Assistant
David is studying biological engineering at the Institut Superier Industriel Agronomique in Huy City, Belgium. He is originally from the city of Louvain, which is near to Namur. David is interested in studying the various relationships between trees and epiphytes. He arrived in Peru at the end of May 2010, and has been volunteering his time to ongoing research projects at several field stations, including CICRA (tropical floodplains) and Wayqecha (cloud forest). In mid-July he decided to join the PrimatesPeru team until he flies home in mid-August.
