Alicia Rich

Twenty-two years ago I sat wide-eyed and cross-legged while I listened to my second grade teacher read us a book about a primatologist. My teacher probably had no idea that she would instill a fascination that guided and consumed my career from that day forward. As a teenager and undergraduate I spent many years working at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, which led me to some great opportunities to study primates in captivity as well as in the wild in both Costa Rica and Kenya. Now, as a Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology, I spend my days in a genetics lab at Indiana University, where I study the chimpanzee molecular ecology.

I feel lucky to be working in an area that has allowed me to accumulate a total of 20 months of field research (18 in rural Africa) as well as laboratory experience analyzing DNA. I’m always looking for projects that can combine my interests in human evolution, conservation biology, and health/disease. In my spare time I’m also a competitive ultrarunner.

May 2016