Susan Alberts

Last updated

Susan Alberts
Education Reed College
UCLA
Alma mater University of Chicago
Scientific career
Fields Primatology
Institutions Duke University
Amboseli Baboon Research Project

Susan C. Alberts is an American primatologist, anthropologist, and biologist who is the current Chair of the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University; [1] previously, she served as a Bass fellow and the Robert F. Durden Professor of Biology at Duke. [2] She currently co-directs the Amboseli Baboon Research Project with Jeanne Altmann of Princeton University. [2] Her research broadly studies how animal behavior evolved in mammals, with a specific focus on the social behavior, demography, and genetics of the yellow baboon, although some of her work has included the African elephant. [2] She was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2014, won the Cozzarelli Prize of the National Academy of Sciences in 2016, and was elected a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences in 2019. [1] [3]

Contents

Education

Alberts received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Reed College in 1983, and went on to earn a Master of Arts in Biology from University of California, Los Angeles in 1987. [1] [4] She earned her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution at University of Chicago in 1992 for her work with her advisor, Jeanne Altmann. [1] [4] Her dissertation examined the maturation and dispersal of male baboons. [5] She pursued postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago as an NIH Fellow, and was a Junior Fellow at Harvard University, and a Bunting Fellow at Radcliffe. She has been on the faculty at Duke since 1998. [6]

Research

Alberts' research focuses on the interplay between environment, genetics, and behavior. [2] She has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles in the fields of anthropology, genetics, endocrinology, biology, and primatology. [7] Early in her career, her research focused largely on the behavior of male baboons through dispersal, mate guarding, social rank within the group, [7] while later in her research career, she expanded her inquiry to include life history, epigenetics, endocrinology, and mating systems of both sexes. [7] Notably, her work has found links between longevity and social relationships within baboon groups, with cohesive group-living having benefits for surviving environmental stresses. [8] Her most recent work focuses on the social dimensions of aging [9] and how early-life adversity affects behavior, [10] body size and immune function [11]

Alberts has also served as an editor for numerous peer-reviewed journals in a variety of fields, including Behavioral Ecology (journal), the American Journal of Primatology, and PeerJ. [1] In addition, she serves as a referee for a variety of journals and grant-funding organizations, including the Society for the Study of Evolution, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, PNAS, Behaviour, and the National Science Foundation. [1]

Awards

Awards include: [1]

Elected fellowships

Fellowships: [1]

Bibliography

Pages

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Susan Alberts - CV" (PDF). sites.duke.edu. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 ENR // AgencyND // University of Notre Dame. "Amboseli Baboon Research Project". nd.edu. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  3. ↑ "2019 NAS Election". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  4. 1 2 "Susan C. Alberts | Biology". Duke University Biology Department. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  5. ↑ Alberts, Susan Claire (1992). Holdings: Maturation and Dispersal of Male Baboons (Papio cynocephalus). UChicago Library (Thesis). Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Susan Alberts". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 Biology, Susan AlbertsDuke University | DU · Departments of; PhD, Evolutionary Anthropology 42 52 ·; Chicago, University of. "Susan Alberts | PhD, University of Chicago | Duke University, North Carolina | DU | Departments of Biology and Evolutionary Anthropology". ResearchGate. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Social influences on survival and reproduction: Insights from a long-term study of wild baboons. | Scholars@Duke". scholars.duke.edu. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Research Network on Animal Models to Understand Social Dimensions of Aging | Scholars@Duke". scholars.duke.edu. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  10. ↑ "The biodemography of early adversity: social behavioral processes in a wild animal model. | Scholars@Duke". scholars.duke.edu. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Effects of Early-life Adversity on Body Size and Immune Function in Wild Baboons | Scholars@Duke". scholars.duke.edu. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  12. ↑ BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award 2022
  13. ↑ "2019 NAS Election". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
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