ANT 347C

SPRING 2020

LECTURE: Mondays 1-2 PM WCP 4.120 

LABS: Mondays 2-5 PM WCP 4.120 and offsite

This course focuses on the study of primates and animal behavior. You will learn how to formulate hypotheses and predictions, devise research projects to test these predictions, collect data, and write scientific research reports. You will gain familiarity with technologies that facilitate wildlife studies. Working around a specific research question, students will develop and implement a sampling protocol and collect their own data, which they will then analyze and discuss. The final project for this course will involve (1) a presentation to your peers in a conference environment, and (2) a written, comprehensive scientific report.

Students will learn what goes into creating a scientific article. Students will conduct hands on research on campus squirrels. Students will receive direct mentoring in academic writing and professional development from the professor.

COURSE OUTLINE (March 30 to end of semester)

Course Outline (prior to Spring Break)

Get on Zoom: https://zoom.its.utexas.edu/

Readings: Setchell Chs 17, 18, 20, 4, 5, 15, 22, 23, 24 (read these chapters before the end of the semester)

Movies: Grizzly Man, Gorillas in the Mist, Jane, Rise of the Warrior Apes

	Due	In class Discussion	Homework

30-Mar	Submit outline of proposal (a few sentence intro, research question, hypotheses, predictions) Now is a good time to read Setchell Ch 18 (also you could reference Chs 9 and 12)	Primate fieldwork amid Covid-19 pandemic Academic writing (grants and articles)	read about primate risk to Covid-19 (find scholarly and reputable news articles, e.g.)
6-Apr	Review Dr. Sandel grant	Feedback on Dr. Sandel grant; (share feedback received)	Read Setchell article & response Optional: Higham & Dominy
13-Apr	Proposal draft (example NSF GRFP research statement, example other grant)	Field work logistics, management, and community standards	Draft Community Standard Policy for Uganda, Ecuador, Peru, Texas, and Madagascar
20-Apr		How to Publish; Peer review discussion (Dr. Sandel manuscript)	Draft personal statement
27-Apr	Personal statement draft	One-on-one writing feedback (schedule time block for 30 minutes at some point this week)	Tinbergen 1963, Response on aims and methods of primatology
4-May	Response on aims and methods of primatology	Aims and methods of primatology	Work on research statement

10-May	Final proposal due	(Hard deadline 18-May)

If you want to go on to graduate school, want to be the next Jane Goodall, or just are interested in science and animals, this is the course for you!

Video Ad for Course

(I recorded this ad when I was in Uganda this past fall, but internet was too slow to upload it. Consider this my ice breaker.)

ABOUT DR. SANDEL

My research focuses on the behavior and physiology of wild chimpanzees in Uganda. I study social relationships formed between male chimpanzees during adolescence and young adulthood, the social network of the chimpanzee community, and markers of growth and stress during development. I am also interested in a variety of topics related to the evolution of animal behavior including cognition, skin, and war. More about Dr. Sandel