My research interests involve human-primate and human-wildlife interaction. This includes primate nutrition, ecology, habitat use, conservation, and sustainability. As a primatologist, my work focuses on how primates use their environment to meet nutrient needs, how primates co-exist in anthropogenic spaces, and what this can teach us about how to better care for captive and rehabilitant primates and conserve spaces for wildlife. As a biological anthropologist, I am interested in how social media can be used to promote conservation of primates and other taxa. As a biologist and anthropologist, I research costs of maternity in extremely poor habitats.
My work at Princeton allows me to mentor students interested in conservation and sustainability more broadly. My work at Rutgers allows me to research primates as they engage with human impact including fires and drought, and to mentor and be mentored by a collaborative team.
My research projects are described briefly below, and in more detail in within separate tabs.
ORANGUTAN FORAGING, HEALTH, AND CONSERVATION
Orangutans inhabit rainforests characterized by extreme fluctuations in and paucity of fruit availability. In addition, fires burn regularly and are becoming more frequent and intense with global climate change. The first project in this research program found that orangutans lose muscle mass during periods of low fruit availability. I am investigating what the impacts of worsening fire cycles and low fruit availability are on orangutan diet, health, and ultimately conservation. This project is being conducted with Dr. Erin Vogel’s lab at Rutgers University with data collected at the Tuanan Research Station.
Fire at Tuanan Research Station
Photo by Nando
NUTRIENT DRIVERS OF ORANGUTAN FORAGING
Orangutans have been characterized as energy maximizers who prefer fruit, but we do not yet know how orangutans balance nutrient intake or whether nutrients beyond energy are prioritized in their diet. This research investigates the macronutrient intake of wild orangutans and how these apes use their environment to meet their energy and macronutrient needs. By first finding that Marginal Value Theorem does not explain why orangutans leave available fruit for non-fruit resources, this work clears a path to investigate why orangutans do leave what are considered preferred food sources. From this, I provide geospatial and behavioral evidence that orangutans make choices to eat non-fruit foods instead of fruit in many instances, and that orangutans maintain a nonprotein to protein intake ratio over varying fruit availability seasons. Following the work of Lambert and Rothman (2015), I question the use of “quality” to describe fruit, and instead support that the quality of a resource is in the eye of the consumer at that point in time. This research was conducted at Gunung Palung National Park, under the supervision of my PhD advisor, Dr. Cheryl Knott.
I am now using my findings to work with the Philadelphia Zoo and the Orangutan Veterinary Advisory Group as well as orangutan rescue and rehab agencies. These projects welcome student involvement.
Photo credit: Alys Granados
BABOONS FORAGING IN EXTREMES
The chacma baboons at Tsaobis, Namibia exist in an extremely marginal habitat with 6 months or more of drought, leading to dried up riverbeds and dying vegetation. Yet these baboons have survived, raised families, and maintained large troop sizes. I will be collaborating with the Tsaobis Baboon Project to start up a nutrition project investigating how these baboons manage to find enough food to reproduce and sustain dependent offspring, and how social dynamics impact the nutrition of these primates. This project will include future student involvement.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND CONSERVATION
Social media is a double-edged sword in the belt of conservation. Conservation organizations are able to increase the reach of their message, to fundraise efficiently, and maintain large networks of supporters via social media channels. Pictures and videos of wild animals can, however, elicit negative attention and yield counter-productive results, as Nekaris et al. (2013) found with the slow loris, a now endangered animal. This research examines how social media posts can more effectively communicate conservation-forward responses while avoiding counter-productive results. This project consistently involves students.
SUPERVISED STUDENT PROJECTS
Will the “Largest Project in Human History” Succeed? Computationally Predicting the Sustainability of Pleistocene Park. Epstein-Gross, D., DiGiorgio, A.L.
The Importance of Collaboration and Hawaiian Cultural Values in Coastal Land Conservation Success in North Kohala. Byrne, S., DiGiorgio, A.L.
Will Individual Actions Do the Trick? Comparing Climate Change Mitigation Through Geoengineering Versus Reduced Vehicle Emissions. Murray, E., Wild, E., DiGiorgio, A.L. See Open Access Article here
Sustainability Through Sci-Fi: Visions of Future Cities via Popular Media and the Hedonistic Sustainability Movement. Dupont, A.G.; DiGiorgio, A.L. See Pre-Review version here.
Andrea DiGiorgio 