Graduate students
Alex
Chrissy
Courtney
Mackenzie
Alexandra Steffeck
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Alexandra is a third-year Ph.D. student with an interdisciplinary background in Psychology, Biological Anthropology, and Primatology. Alexandra graduated with B.S. degrees in Psychology and Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2017. After graduating, Alexandra spent nine months in Palenque National Park, Mexico, studying the travel behavior and spatial navigation of black howler monkeys. Alexandra's Ph.D. will focus on the social behavior and spatial navigation of chacma baboons in South Africa.
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Chrissy is a third-year Ph.D. student. Chrissy graduated with a B.S. in Zoology and English with a minor in Environmental Studies from UW-Madison in 2016. Chrissy served as a field research assistant in South Africa, contributing to the McFarland Lab's behavioral physiology and ecology research on wild chacma baboons. Chrissy also participated in research monitoring the ranging patterns and site fidelity of Bryde's whales and common dolphins in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Chrissy is primarily interested in baboon thermal physiology and behavioral plasticity relating to changing environmental conditions.
Courtney Maiden
University of South Africa
Courtney is a M.Sc. Environmental Management student from the University of South Africa (principal advisor: Maartin Strauss). After graduating from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2017, her postgraduate studies have included conservation biology, environmental law and remote sensing. Courtney’s master’s research is focused on the design of vervet monkey overpass structures to mitigate road-fatalities and encourage habitat connectivity.
Mackenzie Hewes
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Mackenzie graduated with a BS in wildlife ecology and conservation from the University of Florida in 2017 and an MRes Science from University of Portsmouth in 2018. For her master’s thesis Mackenzie examined community variation in the play face in chimpanzees at Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, Zambia. Mackenzie's other research projects have focused on personality and behavioral plasticity with habitat disturbance in mice and hermit crabs in Costa Rica. Mackenzie is interested in consistent individual differences among primates, and is supported by a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
Field researchers
Lauriane
Lesley
Veronicca
Zonke
Dr. Lauriane Faraut
University of Lethbridge, Canada
Lauriane received her a Ph.D. in Primatology from the German Primate Center in 2019. Lauriane's Ph.D. dissertation focused on the "Social knowledge of Guinea baboon males". Lauriane joined the Swebeswebe Primate Project as co-manager in July 2020.
Dr. Lesley Marisa
University of South Africa
Lesley received his Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of South Africa in 2020. Lesley's Ph.D. focused on the "The nutritional ecology, habitat utilisation and activity scheduling of free-living chacma baboons". Lesley joined the Swebeswebe Primate Project as co-manager in June 2020.
Veronicca Khosana
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Veronicca received her National Diploma in Nature Conservation from the Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa, in 2018. Veronicca joined the Swebeswebe Primate Project as a volunteer field assistant in August 2020.
Zonke Mbutho
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Zonke received her National Diploma and BTech in Nature Conservation from the Nelson Mandela University in 2018 and 2020, respectively. Zonke joined the Swebeswebe Primate Project as a volunteer field assistant in August 2020.
Former lab members
Melia & Reilly: FAs 2020
Emma Kirby: MSc 2020
