Susan M. Longest

Contact

Committee on Evolutionary Biology
University of Chicago
1025 E. 57th St
Chicago, IL 60637
Email: slongest@uchicago.edu

Research

I am currently a PhD candidate in the Committee on Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago. My research investigates the social behavior of animals. Most of my questions focus on the proximate level of analysis; specifically the mechanisms at work in a system. Though I always aim to use my results to inform potential functions of a system and therefore address questions on the ultimate level of analysis. My research interests include: the evolution of sociality, development, dominance, maternal effects, life histories, parental care, and the physiological correlates of behavior. While my research is question-driven, I tend to be attracted to the anomalies in the animal world. I find that by studying the exceptions to the rule, I form a better understanding of what the rules really are within a system.

My dissertation research investigates the development, acquisition, and maintenance of female dominance in ring-tailed lemurs. I have conducted a comparative study of a population of ring-tailed lemurs at the Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve in southwestern Madagascar to a free-ranging, food-provisioned population on St. Catherines Island, Georgia, USA. In addition to behavioral observations, I have conducted enzyme immunoassays on fecal samples to investigate the hormonal correlates to the behaviors I am studying. I am currently working on writing my thesis, which I expect to defend during the summer of 2009.

Teaching

I am currently teaching a graduate course with Sue Margulis that I designed on pedagogy in the biological sciences.

EVOL 49400 - Approaches to Teaching in the Biological Sciences
This course will introduce different teaching philosophies and methods that address how to be an effective teacher in the biological sciences. Specifically, the course will address what skills and knowledge undergraduates need to acquire and which assignments best teach these skills. During the course, we will review the range of biological curricula across the U.S. and investigate the different expectations associated with those curricula. New innovations and approaches to teaching biology will be introduced in an attempt to keep up with the ever-dynamic discipline of biology. Students will prepare course syllabi, discuss different approaches to teaching, and draft a philosophy of teaching statement. The overall goal for the course is that the students think critically about the art of teaching and formulate their own thoughts on the matter to better prepare them for their own careers in teaching.

Please email me if you would like a copy of the syllabus.

Education

2003 - Present	University of Chicago PhD, Evolutionary Biology (expected June 2009) Certificate in University Teaching (expected December 2008)
2005	University of Chicago S.M. Evolutionary Biology
2003	Cornell University B.S. Biology (with Honors and Distinction in Research)
	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Animal Science and Biology

Honors and Awards

2008 - 2009	Fellow, Committee on Evolutionary Biology’s Grant in Areas of National Need
2004 - 2007	NSF Predoctoral Fellow
2002	Biology Honors Program, Cornell University

Grants and Funding

2008	American Museum of Natural History/St. Catherines Island Foundation
2008-2009	University of Chicago Hinds Fund
2007	Institute for Mind and Biology Travel Fund
2007	Animal Behavior Society Student Research Grant
2007-2008	University of Chicago Hinds Fund
2006	Women’s Board Travel Fund
2005-2006	University of Chicago Hinds Fund
2004-2005	American Society of Primatologists
2002-2003	Morley Student Research Grant

Presentations

Behavioral and hormonal correlates of dominance acquisition of infant ring-tailed lemurs in a wild versus a food-provisioned population. International Primatological Society Congress. Edinburgh, Scotland, 2008

The development of dominance in ring-tailed lemurs. Committee on Evolutionary Biology Annual Student Symposium. University of Chicago, 2008

Alloparental care in ring-tailed lemurs. International Ethological Conference. Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2007. [Poster]

The development, acquisition, and maintenance of female dominance in ring-tailed lemurs. St. Catherines Island, 2007.

Development through weaning in ring-tailed lemurs at two sites. Animal Behavior Society Meeting. Burlington, Vermont, 2007.

Guest Speaker, Introduction to Radio Telemetry. Envirovet Course, St. Catherines Island, 2007.

Factors affecting early development, social integration, and infant mortality in wild ring- tailed lemurs (Lemur catta). Animal Behavior Society Meeting. Snowbird, Utah, 2006. [Poster]

Guest Speaker, School for International Training's Ecology and Conservation Course, Madagascar. 2006.

The development, acquisition, and maintenance of female dominance in ring-tailed lemurs. Thesis Proposal Defense. University of Chicago, 2005.

Secondary begging in tree swallows. University of Chicago Animal Behavior Brownbag Seminar Series. 2004.

Secondary begging in tree swallows. University of Chicago Animal Behavior Brownbag Seminar Series. 2003.

Secondary begging in tree swallows. Honors Thesis Defense. Cornell University, 2002.

Elsewhere