Design 21: Social Design Network

I am a Animal Behaviourist specialising in the field of Primate Social Behaviour. I gathered a very keen interest in this area whilst studying my BSc at Leicester University, having always had an obsession with analysing behaviour to understand what makes things tick - people, animals, and the development and destruction of relationships. Whilst studying Zoology I was able to specialise, and chose to delve into the worlds of Psychology, Neuroscience, Ecology and Social Evolution. This led me to my first dissertation title, studying the Social Behaviour of Bonobos. In 2004, I spent 3 months with the team at Leicestershire’s Twycross Zoo, where I encountered the delicate and intricate interactions of a hauntingly human-like and temperate species.

I am currently studying an MSc at Queens University Belfast in Animal Behaviour and Welfare, which is giving me a deeper and broader understanding of animal behaviour in general. I intend to use this as an academic steppingstone to becoming a Primate Conservationist.

Fiercely believing in the balance of nature and preventing the forced extinction of our planets beautiful biodiversity, I am a member of the Primate Society of Great Britain, the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour, the International Primatological Society and the British Ecological Society. Through networking, reading and research, I consistently come across horrific accounts, not only of the treatment of some of our most precious species, but of acts of such catastrophic ignorance to detriment our Earth almost to the brink.

Driven by the need to educate and engage people, not only in the scientific community but those around the world, I have chosen to work with Vervet Monkeys for my MSc thesis, and shall be travelling to Loskop Dam Nature Reserve in South Africa for 2 months to research in the field for this. My long term goals lay within Frontiers Expedition Management Course in Northern Madagasca, completing a PhD, and eventually working (where it really matters), with and around the Primates, sanctuaries and neighbouring communities.