Dr. Caitlin O'Connell and Dr. Cheryl Knott present at Zoos and Aquariums Committing to Conservation Conference
Dr. Caitlin O’Connell presented on GPOCP’s village forests project. She shared how village forests and land rights are effective conservation strategies as well as the methods used to monitor forests and biodiversity.
Dr. Cheryl Knott honored as a trailblazing conservationist by Disney Conservation Fund
The Disney Conservation Fund celebrates 11 female conservationists dedicated to conserving wildlife and creating a healthier planet for people. Read more about these trailblazing women and their contributions here.
Dr. Cheryl Knott and Gunung Palung National Park featured in National Geographic Feb. 2024
Check out the story here and some amazing photos of our team’s wild orangutan conservation efforts in Gunung Palung National Park, “Borneo’s Wild Green Heart”, for over 30 years.
New 2022 Knott Lab Publications!
DiGiorgio, A, Y Ma, Y Upton, S Gopal, N Robinson, TW Susanto & CD Knott. (2022). Famished Frugivores or Choosy Consumers: A generalist frugivore (wild Bornean Orangutans, Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) leaves available fruit for non-fruit foods. International Journal of Primatology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-022-00347-2
Durgavich, LS, FS Harwel & CD Knott. (2022). A composite menstrual cycle of captive orangutans, with associated hormonal and behavioral variability American Journal of Primatology, e23420. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23420
Brown, ER, TG Laman, EE Kane, FS Harwell, TW Susanto & CD Knott (2022). Application of a parallel laser apparatus to measure forearms and flanges of wild Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeous wurmbii) American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 84, e23445. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23445
Lameira, AR, G Santamaría-Bonfil, D Galeone, M Gamba, ME Hardus, CD Knott, H Morrogh-Bernard, MG Nowak, G Campbell-Smith & SAWich. (2022). Sociality predicts orangutan vocal phenotype. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 6, 644-652.
Santika, T, J Sherman, M Voigt, M Ancrenaz, SA Wich, KA Wilson, HP Possingham, E Massingham, DJI Seaman, AM Ashbury, A. M., CD Knott…E Meijaard. (2022). Effectiveness of 20 years of conservation investments in protecting orangutans. Current Biology, 32, 1-10.
Knott, CD, AM Scott, CA O’Connell, TW Susanto & EE Kane. (2021). Field laboratories for non-invasive wildlife and habitat health assessment and conservation. In: S. A. Wich, & A. K. Piel, (Eds.), Field Methods for Conservation (pp. 129-156). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
We are excited to welcome, Samantha Vee, a new Ph.D. Student joining us in Fall 2022!
Samantha received her B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from CUNY John Jay College and her M.A. in Ecology and Evolution from Stony Brook University. For her M.A. thesis, she investigated the social and energetic costs and benefits of infant care for mothers and allomothers in Phayre’s leaf monkey. She is broadly interested in understanding how primates respond to anthropogenic changes, with the goal of informing conservation practices. For her dissertation research, she hopes to use a variety of techniques to study how human disturbance affects the health and fitness of orangutans.
GPOCP/Yayasan Palung awarded a 5-year a US Fish & Wildlife Service Grant
GPOCP/Yayasan Palung, under the direction of PI Cheryl Knott, was awarded a $499,978, five-year grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service for conservation research on wild orangutans in Borneo, entitled “Conserving Bornean Orangutans in Primary, Disturbed and Customary Forests in Gunung Palung National Park, Indonesia, and the Surrounding Landscape”. Over the next 5 years, the research team will be applying new technological tools to assess orangutan behavioral and physiological adaptations in anthropogenically-altered forests compared to primary rainforest.
Dr. Cheryl Knott named Yale University’s Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholar
Dr. Cheryl Knott has been named the Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholar at Yale University where she will be on leave for the Fall semester of 2022. The Bass Visiting Environmental Scholars Program brings premier scholars dealing with the study of the environment, past or present, to present seminars, interact with faculty, students, and research groups, and participate in Yale’s academic community.
Knott Lab Presents at the Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists Conference, November 2021
Creating Multimodal Collaborative Projects
A new (2021) course taught by Dr. Cheryl Knott, KHC AN 102, Wildlife Conservation is part of Boston University’s Digital Learning & Innovation on Cultivating Digital Transferable Skills. Students created multimodal research projects on conservation in which students creatively combined multiple media formats. Read more about this new course and see the student’s projects here.
Knott’s Commitment to Long-term Research in Indonesia highlighted in Atlantic Article
April 2021 – Dr. Cheryl Knott & Collaborators were interviewed about their long-term orangutan research commitments and 27 years studying orangutans at Gunung Palung National Park in Indonesia for an Atlantic article by Wudan Yan. Dr. Cheryl Knott talks about how she was able to continue to conduct research during a pandemic thanks to her research relationships and research assistants.
‘Parachute Science’ Doesn’t Work in a Pandemic – The Atlantic
The work of both Dr. Knott and her family has been recently highlighted by The Boston Globe and featured by Boston University on The Brink.
“Up Close, and Up High, with Orangutans” (Boston University The Brink, February 24, 2020)
During the summer of 2014, Dr. Knott and her family wrote about their experiences in Borneo in a series of posts titled “Postcards from Borneo,” for National Geographic’s PROOF blog. To read their posts, visit the following links:
A Family Adventure Begins Anew
The World’s Stinkiest (but Best) Fruit
The Best Swimming Hole in Gunung Palung
Over the years, Dr. Knott’s research in the jungles of West Borneo has garnered extensive media coverage. Below is a selection of the popular news articles covering her work.
“Hormone Hunter”. Boston University Arts & Science Magazine (October 2011)
National Science Foundation video feature about Cheryl Knott and the Gunung Palung Orangutan Project
“Orangutans — who’s your daddy?” Dr. Cheryl Knott on CBC’s Quirks and Quarks (Dec 12, 2009)
“Orangutan research yields conservation benefits” (Harvard Gazette, Feb 8, 2007)
“Orangutan habitat may be gone in 15 years, UN report says” (National Geographic News, Feb 7, 2007)
“Orangutan Pee Collector: Worst Job in Science?” (Popular Science, October 2005)
“Saving Gunung Palung: A Rainforest Marriage” (Harvard Colloquy, October 2003)
“Field Dispatch: Borneo” (National Geographic, October 2003)
“Blocking the Road to Extinction” (Harvard Gazette, Oct 16, 2003)
“Orangutans Find a Friend” (San Diego Tribune, Oct 6, 2003)
“Orangutans in the Wild” (The Science Show Apr 17, 1999)
“Orangutan Scientist Talks with CNN” (Next at CNN, Jan 2, 2003)
“Professor Predicts Orangutan Extinction” (Harvard Crimson, Oct 1, 2003)
“Orangutans Could Go Extinct in 20 Years, Researcher Warns” (USA Today, Oct 1, 2003)
“Wild Orangutans: Extinct by 2023?” (National Geographic News, Sept 30, 2003)
“Loggers Move In on Orangutan Stronghold” (National Geographic News, Sept 29, 2003
GPOCP/Yayasan Palung awarded 5-year US FIsh and Wildlife Service Grant, 2022
We are excited to welcome, Samantha Vee, a new Ph.D. student joining us in Fall 2022!
Samantha received her B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from CUNY John Jay College and her M.A. in Ecology and Evolution from Stony Brook University. For her M.A. thesis, she investigated the social and energetic costs and benefits of infant care for mothers and allomothers in Phayre’s leaf monkey. She is broadly interested in understanding how primates respond to anthropogenic changes, with the goal of informing conservation practices. For her dissertation research, she hopes to use a variety of techniques to study how human disturbance affects the health and fitness of orangutans
GPOCP/Yayasan Palung awarded 5-year US Fish and Wildlife Service Grant, 2022
GPOCP/Yayasan Palung, under the direction of PI Cheryl Knott, was awarded a five-year grant of $499,978 from the US Fish and Wildlife Service for her conservation research on wild orangutans in Borneo. Over the next 5 years this research team, including Boston University and Indonesian students and researchers will be applying new technological tools to assess orangutan behavioral and physiological adaptations in anthropogenically-altered forests compared to primary rainforest.
Dr. Cheryl Knott named Yale University’s Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholar Dr. Cheryl Knott has been named the Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholar at Yale University where she will be on leave for the Fall semester of 2022. The Bass Visiting Environmental Scholars Program brings premier scholars dealing with the study of the environment, past or present, to present seminars, interact with faculty, students, and research groups, and participate in Yale’s academic community.
Knott Lab Presents at the Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists Conference, November 2021
Creating Multimodal Collaborative Projects
A new (2021) course taught by Dr. Cheryl Knott, KHC AN 102, Wildlife Conservation is part of Boston University’s Digital Learning & Innovation on Cultivating Digital Transferable Skills. Students created multimodal research projects on conservation in which students creatively combined multiple media formats. Read more about this new course and see the student’s projects here.
Knott’s Commitment to Long-term Research in Indonesia highlighted in Atlantic Article
April 2021 – Dr. Cheryl Knott & Collaborators were interviewed about their long-term orangutan research commitments and 27 years studying orangutans at Gunung Palung National Park in Indonesia for an Atlantic article by Wudan Yan. Dr. Cheryl Knott talks about how she was able to continue to conduct research during a pandemic thanks to her research relationships and research assistants.
‘Parachute Science’ Doesn’t Work in a Pandemic – The Atlantic
The work of both Dr. Knott and her family has been recently highlighted by The Boston Globe and featured by Boston University on The Brink.
“Up Close, and Up High, with Orangutans” (Boston University The Brink, February 24, 2020)
During the summer of 2014, Dr. Knott and her family wrote about their experiences in Borneo in a series of posts titled “Postcards from Borneo,” for National Geographic’s PROOF blog. To read their posts, visit the following links:
A Family Adventure Begins Anew
The World’s Stinkiest (but Best) Fruit
The Best Swimming Hole in Gunung Palung
Over the years, Dr. Knott’s research in the jungles of West Borneo has garnered extensive media coverage. Below is a selection of the popular news articles covering her work.
“Hormone Hunter”. Boston University Arts & Science Magazine (October 2011)
National Science Foundation video feature about Cheryl Knott and the Gunung Palung Orangutan Project
“Orangutans — who’s your daddy?” Dr. Cheryl Knott on CBC’s Quirks and Quarks (Dec 12, 2009)
“Orangutan research yields conservation benefits” (Harvard Gazette, Feb 8, 2007)
“Orangutan habitat may be gone in 15 years, UN report says” (National Geographic News, Feb 7, 2007)
“Orangutan Pee Collector: Worst Job in Science?” (Popular Science, October 2005)
“Saving Gunung Palung: A Rainforest Marriage” (Harvard Colloquy, October 2003)
“Field Dispatch: Borneo” (National Geographic, October 2003)
“Blocking the Road to Extinction” (Harvard Gazette, Oct 16, 2003)
“Orangutans Find a Friend” (San Diego Tribune, Oct 6, 2003)
“Orangutans in the Wild” (The Science Show Apr 17, 1999)
“Orangutan Scientist Talks with CNN” (Next at CNN, Jan 2, 2003)
“Professor Predicts Orangutan Extinction” (Harvard Crimson, Oct 1, 2003)
“Orangutans Could Go Extinct in 20 Years, Researcher Warns” (USA Today, Oct 1, 2003)
“Wild Orangutans: Extinct by 2023?” (National Geographic News, Sept 30, 2003)
“Loggers Move In on Orangutan Stronghold” (National Geographic News, Sept 29, 2003
We are excited to welcome, Samantha Vee, a new Ph.D. student joining us in Fall 2022!
Samantha received her B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from CUNY John Jay College and her M.A. in Ecology and Evolution from Stony Brook University. For her M.A. thesis, she investigated the social and energetic costs and benefits of infant care for mothers and allomothers in Phayre’s leaf monkey. She is broadly interested in understanding how primates respond to anthropogenic changes, with the goal of informing conservation practices. For her dissertation research, she hopes to use a variety of techniques to study how human disturbance affects the health and fitness of orangutans
GPOCP/Yayasan Palung awarded 5-year US Fish and Wildlife Service Grant, 2022
GPOCP/Yayasan Palung, under the direction of PI Cheryl Knott, was awarded a five-year grant of $499,978 from the US Fish and Wildlife Service for her conservation research on wild orangutans in Borneo. Over the next 5 years this research team, including Boston University and Indonesian students and researchers will be applying new technological tools to assess orangutan behavioral and physiological adaptations in anthropogenically-altered forests compared to primary rainforest.
Dr. Cheryl Knott named Yale University’s Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholar Dr. Cheryl Knott has been named the Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholar at Yale University where she will be on leave for the Fall semester of 2022. The Bass Visiting Environmental Scholars Program brings premier scholars dealing with the study of the environment, past or present, to present seminars, interact with faculty, students, and research groups, and participate in Yale’s academic community.
Knott Lab Presents at the Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists Conference, November 2021
Creating Multimodal Collaborative Projects
A new (2021) course taught by Dr. Cheryl Knott, KHC AN 102, Wildlife Conservation is part of Boston University’s Digital Learning & Innovation on Cultivating Digital Transferable Skills. Students created multimodal research projects on conservation in which students creatively combined multiple media formats. Read more about this new course and see the student’s projects here.
Knott’s Commitment to Long-term Research in Indonesia highlighted in Atlantic Article
April 2021 – Dr. Cheryl Knott & Collaborators were interviewed about their long-term orangutan research commitments and 27 years studying orangutans at Gunung Palung National Park in Indonesia for an Atlantic article by Wudan Yan. Dr. Cheryl Knott talks about how she was able to continue to conduct research during a pandemic thanks to her research relationships and research assistants.
‘Parachute Science’ Doesn’t Work in a Pandemic – The Atlantic
The work of both Dr. Knott and her family has been recently highlighted by The Boston Globe and featured by Boston University on The Brink.
“Up Close, and Up High, with Orangutans” (Boston University The Brink, February 24, 2020)
During the summer of 2014, Dr. Knott and her family wrote about their experiences in Borneo in a series of posts titled “Postcards from Borneo,” for National Geographic’s PROOF blog. To read their posts, visit the following links:
A Family Adventure Begins Anew
The World’s Stinkiest (but Best) Fruit
The Best Swimming Hole in Gunung Palung
Over the years, Dr. Knott’s research in the jungles of West Borneo has garnered extensive media coverage. Below is a selection of the popular news articles covering her work.
“Hormone Hunter”. Boston University Arts & Science Magazine (October 2011)
National Science Foundation video feature about Cheryl Knott and the Gunung Palung Orangutan Project
“Orangutans — who’s your daddy?” Dr. Cheryl Knott on CBC’s Quirks and Quarks (Dec 12, 2009)
“Orangutan research yields conservation benefits” (Harvard Gazette, Feb 8, 2007)
“Orangutan habitat may be gone in 15 years, UN report says” (National Geographic News, Feb 7, 2007)
“Orangutan Pee Collector: Worst Job in Science?” (Popular Science, October 2005)
“Saving Gunung Palung: A Rainforest Marriage” (Harvard Colloquy, October 2003)
“Field Dispatch: Borneo” (National Geographic, October 2003)
“Blocking the Road to Extinction” (Harvard Gazette, Oct 16, 2003)
“Orangutans Find a Friend” (San Diego Tribune, Oct 6, 2003)
“Orangutans in the Wild” (The Science Show Apr 17, 1999)
“Orangutan Scientist Talks with CNN” (Next at CNN, Jan 2, 2003)
“Professor Predicts Orangutan Extinction” (Harvard Crimson, Oct 1, 2003)
“Orangutans Could Go Extinct in 20 Years, Researcher Warns” (USA Today, Oct 1, 2003)
“Wild Orangutans: Extinct by 2023?” (National Geographic News, Sept 30, 2003)
“Loggers Move In on Orangutan Stronghold” (National Geographic News, Sept 29, 2003
