Welcome
TDARFAC Launch Party
Antananarivo, Madagascar
About Me
I am a primate behavioral ecologist and the Founder and Executive Director of The Dr. Abigail Ross Foundation for Applied Conservation (TDARFAC). I graduated with my B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin- Madison, M.A. in Biological Anthropology from Northern Illinois University, and Ph.D. in Evolutionary Anthropology from the University of Toronto, Canada. I have conducted fieldwork and participated in conservation research projects in Costa Rica, Bolivia, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa, and Madagascar. I enjoy wildlife photography, strength training, exploring new places, and boating on the Rock River.
Previously, my research focused on maternal-infant relationships in an Endangered lemur, Coquerel’s sifaka (Propithecus coquereli). These lemurs live in Ankarafantsika National Park located in northwestern Madagascar. I examined relationships between mothers and their infants by evaluating hormonal stress responses and nutritional food quality during lactation. Watch a short video on my research filmed by the American Society of Primatologists.
Significance of Research
The dynamic relationship between mothers and their infants determines the future reproductive success of many species. Understanding maternal-infant relationships is critical to the future conservation of all primate species. Yet, these relationships have been overlooked in evolutionary anthropology. Maternal care is the primary determinant of infant survival and fitness. In this way, mothers and their infants can be considered the fundamental unit of natural selection. Thus, species survival in the future unequivocally hinges on the relationships concerning mothers and their infants. Species will go extinct without the presence of healthy infants that eventually go on to reproduce themselves. This has tremendous conservation implications for long-term species survival and validates the importance of examining the many facets of maternal-infant relationships. This relationship is especially vital in endangered species that exhibit slow life histories, as do all Propithecus species. The goal of my research is to demonstrate how maternal energetics, infant care, and development are compellingly interrelated; while contributing to the understanding of evolutionary dynamics at work in seasonal environments. Learn more here.
Research Interests
Non-Human Primate Maternal-infant Relationships
Maternal Effects
Infant Growth & Development
Environmental & Reproductive Endocrinology
Nutritional Ecology
Life Histories
Coquerel’s Sifaka Mom With Five-Month Old Infant in Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar
"The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction."
~ Rachel Carson
Silverback With Juvenile Mountain Gorilla in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
“Anthropology demands the open-mindedness with which one must look and listen, record in astonishment, and wonder that which one would not have been able to guess.”