Dr. Kenneth Glander

Evolutionary anthropologist

Professor, evolutionary anthropology

Duke University

 

• PhD, University of Chicago

• MA, University of Chicago

• BA, University of Texas, Austin

 

Dr. Glander’s research focuses on how plant-produced chemicals affect primate feeding, as well as the role these chemicals play in social organization. For more than 40 years he has studied plant-primate interaction among wild howler monkeys in Costa Rica, and he has widened his target population to include the captive lemur colonies at the Duke Lemur Center.

Dr. Glander wants to learn 1) how and why primates choose what to eat, 2) how they adapt behaviorally and physiologically to environmental change, 3) what’s going on with their gut bacteria, and 4) how they respond to different light/dark cycles.  His genetic analyses have also contributed to efforts to manage wild primate populations: to prevent inbreeding, he sometimes advises that individuals be moved into other groups.