Linda Winkler, Anthropology and Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh at Titusville, will develop a primate field ecology course at a tropical forest site in Nicaragua with her project entitled Primate Behavior and Biology:  Developing a Field Ecology Course. The project will expose students to the issues inherent in primate field work, tropical forest ecology, and conservation management in a third-world country.       Winkler has already taken two groups of students to Nicaragua and needed funds to further develop the course.  Course development will include reconnaissance, capture, marking, and release of free-ranging howling monkey groups.  The marking of individual primates will facilitate recognition of them for field projects and assist in establishing group demography.

Mark D. McColloch

      The course teaches students how to do field work exposing them to the adventure and rigors of primate studies in the wild.  While developing and implementing field projects, students learn how to write a research proposal and to implement and modify it.  Students have to grapple with a number of research issues.  They also enjoy the hands-on experience and cross-cultural exposure, facing issues such as land use and conservation. In addition to enhancing her students’ understanding of field ecology, the course will immerse them in the cultural diversity of Nicaragua, where they will experience everything from its third-world poverty to the friendship of its people.

      Winkler’s interests include primate conservation, primate behavior and genetic variability, and cultural diversity.  She has taught at Pitt for 12 years.

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