Sokwe2

I am currently the Wheldale Onslow Research Fellow at Newnham College, University of Cambridge, where my primary research interests surround the behavioural ecology and conservation of savanna chimpanzees. My first degree is in Zoology from the University of Glasgow, where I developed initial interests in tropical biology, studying wild hummingbirds in Ecuador and dry habitat chimpanzees in Senegal. For my PhD at the University of Cambridge, I investigated variation in a fundamental behaviour in chimpanzees - nest, or bed-building. Of higher primates, only great apes build nests nightly as sleeping-platforms, which are made by bending, breaking and interweaving branches over a tree limb foundation. I investigated how these nests are made, how techniques vary across individuals and communities, and via observation and experimental tests she investigated the function of these ubiquitous shelters. After completing my PhD in 2011 I conducted a land-scape scale survey of western Tanzania's chimpanzee populations, using genetic census techniques on non-invasively collected faecal samples, to prioritise areas for conservation and investigate gene flow and population connectivity. Since 2005 I have conducted research in Tanzania where I co-direct the Ugalla Primate Project. We are interested in the behavioural flexibility of chimpanzees, in particular, how savanna-woodland dwelling chimpanzees have adapted to such a dry environment.

November 2013