Achievement

The multifaceted nature of the human-macaque relationship in Southeast Asia drives the interdisciplinary approach by GLOBES researchers who consider religion, culture, and biology simultaneously to gain insights into important issues that arise uniquely at the intersection of these two species.The research of GLOBES IGERT trainee Kelly Lane advances knowledge of environmental health by examining the potential for emerging infectious diseases in wild primate populations living in close contact with high density human populations in Southeast Asia. A June 2010 poster presentation at the Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases conference at Cornell University illuminated her work that uses population genetics, parasitology, and agent-based modeling coupled with GIS analyses to understand how host genetics, influenced by an anthropogenic landscape, impacts the distribution of parasites across 15 populations of wild, long-tailed macaques.