On Leave 2007-2008, currently visiting at the National Science Foundation

Scholar of the natural world

am a scholar of the natural world, with a research focus on evolutionary and community ecology, a taxonomic focus on Old World Monkeys and Great Apes, and an area focus on Africa. My central research program focuses on animal nutritional biology, the natural selection and plasticity of feeding-related adaptations (physiological, morphological, behavioral), and the implications of these adaptations for:

(i) interpreting species interactions and the evolution of species abundance and richness;

(ii) the evolution of clade-level feeding adaptations (especially in digestion, gastrointestinal
physiology, and diet);

(iii) explaining and predicting extant community interactions among plant, animal, and fungal species;

(iv) implementing sound tactics for the conservation of biodiversity.

As I have endeavored to illustrate in my published work and in my teaching, these research themes intersect at numerous theoretical and empirical scales: in short, feeding biology serves as a lens through which to interpret and understand primate evolution and adaptation, interactions with other species (including plants), and dietary flexibility in a dynamic ecological world (as a consequence of both natural and anthropogenic change).

University of Wisconsin-Madison
5207 William H. Sewell Social Science Bldg.
1180 Observatory Dr.
Madison WI 53706
Office Tel: 608.265.1993 | Lab Tel: 608.262.5435 | Fax: 608.265.4216
Email: jelambert@wisc.edu