I am a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at San Diego State University where I teach and mentor undergraduate and graduate students. I am also the Assistant Dean for the College of Graduate Studies.
As an anthropologist, I am interested in the multifaceted ways human and nonhuman primate histories, ecologies, lives, and livelihoods intersect. As such, most of my research falls within the realm of ethnoprimatology. Ethnoprimatology, the study of human-nonhuman interconnections, was first coined by ecological anthropologist Leslie Sponsel who envisioned a fruitful space where primate ecology and human ecology could come together. My work focuses primarily on the interface between humans and macaque monkeys (Macaca spp.) and draws from primate ecology, conservation biology, environmental anthropology, and multispecies anthropology. My recent research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Wenner Gren Foundation, National Geographic Society/Waitt Foundation, the American Institute for Indonesian Studies, ASIANetwork, and San Diego State University.
I am committed to advancing ethically-informed field primatology and played a leading role in developing the 2014 Code of Best Practices for Field Primatology that has been approved by the American Society of Primatologists and the International Primatological Society. I am also a member of two sections of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Primate Specialist Group: the regional section for Southeast Asia and the Section for Human-Primate Interactions.
From 2018 – 2020, I served as Treasurer on the Board of Directors for the American Society of Primatologists (ASP). The ASP is an educational & scientific society devoted to expanding our knowledge about nonhuman primates and advancing their conservation. I am currently serving on the newly formed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee for the ASP. I also joined the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Primatology (AJP) – the top-ranked journal in primatology (2020 impact factor: 2.371).
My other passion besides teaching and fieldwork is dance! On most days you can find me in classes (ranging from hip hop to jazz funk to contemporary) in a number of San Diego’s local dance studios.
