Emma Thurau

Biography

Emma received her B.A. in Anthropology (2017) from California State University, Los Angeles, her M.A. in Biological Anthropology at Northern Illinois University (2019) and her Ph.D. in Anthropology at City University New York, Graduate Center. During this time, she worked on several projects within primatology that included such species as howler monkeys, ring-tailed lemurs, diademed sifakas, blue monkeys and black and white colobus monkeys. Most recently, she completed her dissertation investigating the role of plant metabolites on black and white colobus monkeys feeding behavior in Kibale National Park, Uganda. During this research, she used cutting-edge metabolomic and bioinformatic methods to describe how diverse and obscure plant chemicals have shaped primate evolution and adaptations. She has completed primatology field work in Costa Rica, Madagascar and Uganda.

At Notre Dame, she will be collaborating with Dr. Sam Patterson to study the impact of early life adversity on rhesus macaques located in Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico using endocrine and immune biomarkers to assess how early life adversity can be linked to growth, social bonds, reproduction and aging health in primate populations.