Primate Conservation Grants from ASP

Happy New Year everyone!

The online submission system for the 2012 ASP Conservation Grants is now open. The final deadline to submit applications is January 31, 2012. Please note that a letter of recommendation is required for non-member applicants and all student applicants. Instructions for submitting applications and letters of recommendation are outlined on the grant application form found on the ASP website.
Looking forward to another year of great conservation projects!


Erin Riley,
ASP Conservation Committee Chair

New owl monkey conservation grant program from ASP

Fantastic announcement from the American Society of Primatologists:

"The ASP Conservation Committee is pleased to announce a new grants competition, the Brumback Aotus Conservation Grant, to support conservation-related research on owl monkeys (Aotus). This opportunity has generously been made possible by Dr. Roger Brumback, currently Professor of Pathology and Psychiatry at Creighton University School of Medicine, whose research in the 1970s contributed greatly to our knowledge of Aotus cytogenetics. In fact, in recognition of his important work, a species of Aotus was named after him: Aotus brumbacki. [For more information, see the ASP June 2000 Bulletin.]

ASP intends to make up to three awards of $3000 - $5000 each. Please note that grant funds cannot be used to reimburse expenses already incurred. The application deadline is December 1st, 2010. Decisions will be announced on Jan 31st, 2011.
To apply, please visit http://www.asp.org/conservation/index.html to download an application form. Applications must be emailed in pdf format to ASP Conservation Chair, Dr. Erin Riley (epriley@mail.sdsu.edu). Contact Dr. Riley with any questions."

Ethics of Field Primatology: reflections, concerns, new directions

I recently wrote about a stand-out symposium at the 2009 American Society of Primatologists meeting; Katie MacKinnon of St. Louis University and Erin Phelps Riley of San Diego State University organized a session to explore current issues in the ethics of conducting field primatology. Fortunately for those who were not there, they also just produced an edited issue of the American Journal of Primatology that rounds up some wonderful insights on this complex subject. I especially like Karen Strier's sometimes sober reflection on the unintended consequences of long-term field sites. Kudos to Erin and Katie for giving voice to this issue! (p.s. Congrats to newly-tenured Dr. Erin Riley!)

Dr. Erin Riley's new paper in Evolutionary Anthropology

A woman who invokes Alfred Russell Wallace AND uses an awesome word like "depauperate" in her abstract has a mind to be reckoned with. Plus, I always covet her earrings (your miles may vary). Erin is an assistant professor of Anthropology at San Diego State University.

The Endemic Seven: Four Decades of Research on the Sulawesi Macaques