DOUBLE Congratulations as our lab celebrates Amanda Seyler and Ejigu Worku, both of whom have been awarded an Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship (AGES) in recognition of outstanding academic achievement in graduate studies.
This award is a wonderful acknowledgement of their academic accomplishments and dedication to graduate research. Congratulations on this well-deserved achievement!
Congratulations to James Tetreau on his first 1st -authored paper publication !
Published in Folia Primatologica,“The Relationship Between Sexual Size Dimorphism and Feeding Ecology Divergence in Primates” examines whether differences in body size between male and female primates are associated with differences in feeding behaviour and dietary composition.
We are pleased to share that PhD student Ejigu Worku has received additional funding from the International Primatological Society through the Lawrence Jacobsen Education Development Grant in support of his research project, “Human–grivet monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops) conflict and coexistence in the Zegie Peninsula, Ethiopia.”
This new award builds on previous support from the Primate Society of Great Britain, which also funded the same project. Together, these two grants will provide important support for the implementation of project activities.
We warmly congratulate Ejigu on this achievement and are grateful to the International Primatological Society and the Primate Society of Great Britain for supporting this important work.
Our lab’s own Dr. Kathleen Reinhardt was recognized with both a Merit Award and an Emmett Chappelle Award for her early‑career research presentation at the Biological Rhythms meeting!
Dr. Reinhardt earned:
a Merit Award, recognizing the quality of her abstract and presentation in early‑career research, and
an Emmett Chappelle Award, recognizing work that broadens the field and supports inclusive excellence in biological rhythms research.
Kathleen’s work bridges evolutionary anthropology and chronobiology, asking how ecological and lifestyle conditions shape sleep and circadian rhythms across primates and humans.
As highlighted previously by the lab, Kathleen has been examining how recent lifestyle changes impact sleep and circadian rhythms among Indigenous communities in Peninsular Malaysia.
Kathleen’s double recognition at Biological Rhythms is a wonderful reflection of her dedication, creativity, and leadership as an early‑career scientist, and it’s also a proud moment for our lab community.
Please join us in congratulating Kathleen on these well‑deserved honours!
With the project title “Human–grivet monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops) conflict and coexistence in the sacred landscapes of the Zegie Peninsula, Ethiopia,” Ejigu made all of us proud to be awarded in the 2025 competition with the Primate Society of Great Britain.
You can check a more detailed version of his project here.
The Venkataraman Lab proudly showcased its diverse research at the Canadian Association for Biological Anthropology (CABA) 2025 edition in Victoria-BC, bringing together innovative projects that span ecology, culture, and human evolution. Our team contributed through engaging talks and posters, sparking conversations about the intersections of biology, society, and sustainability.
Please see below:
Ani Mitsunaga (undergrad)
Hunter-gatherers: The original Ostromian society?
Ani Mitsunaga at CABA 2025
Ejigu Worku (PhD Student)
Role of Ethiopian Orthodox Church Forests in sustaining primates in a changing world
Ejigu Worku at CABA 2025
Amanda Seyler (PhD Student)
Maternal subjective social status in rural Nicaragua: A mixed-methods analysis of cultural and economic factors
Amanda Seyler at CABA 20205
Kathleen Reinhardt (Postdoctoral Researcher)
Recent lifestyle change impacts sleep and circadian rhythms among the Indigenous peoples of Peninsular Malaysia
Kathleen Reinhardt at CABA 2025
Watch/listen to it HERE.
Watch/listen to it HERE.
Our lab member and Postdoctoral Fellow, Kathleen D. Reinhardt, had her research showcased in the UCalgary News and with The Atlantic.
Click below to learn more about sleep and circadian rhythms with an ecology and evolution approach!
The 2023 AABA Conference was held in person from April 19-22. Authors from all over the world delivered 642 peer-reviewed scientific presentations, and among them, three from our lab:
Swapanthi Akkapeddi won an award for her poster on gelada time budgets.
Jordie Hoffman presented their work on women’s hunting and won an award for Outstanding Student Presentation.
Dr. Kathleen Reinhardt presented her work on sleep ecology among the Orang Asli of Malaysia.
Swapanthi Akkapeddi
Jordie Hoffman
Dr. Kathleen Reinhardt
Hunter-gatherers don’t live in an economic idyll but their deep appreciation of rest puts industrialised work to shame.
New essay by Dr. Venkataraman on Aeon.
Read the full text here.
Celebrated 19th-century biologist Ernst Haeckel pushed race science as his little-known protégé Nikolai Miklucho-Maclay defended Indigenous rights. A biological anthropologist reflects on the impacts of their ruptured relationship.
New essay by Dr. Venkataraman on Sapiens.org
Read the full text here.
Read here.
Dr. Venkataraman organized and hosted the Orang Asli Seminar Series 2022, hosted through Keene State College.
The video recordings of the 2022 Orang Asli Seminar Series are now posted on YouTube. LINK
Our protocol paper was published in BMJ Open detailing the study design and plan for the Orang Asli Health and Lifeways Project (OAHeLP). Link
Swapanthi did a research project on gelada time budgets and Hannah did research on historical health data of the Orang Asli.
Triana Hohn defends her Honour's thesis on reconciliation in wild geladas. April 2022
A few weeks ago I published an article about whether women hunted in prehistoric societies:
https://theconversation.com/women-were-successful-big-game-hunters-challenging-beliefs-about-ancient-gender-roles-153772
