Dr. Laura Brubaker-Wittman

Dr. Laura Brubaker-WittmanDr. Laura Brubaker-WittmanDr. Laura Brubaker-Wittman

Dr. Laura Brubaker-Wittman

Dr. Laura Brubaker-WittmanDr. Laura Brubaker-WittmanDr. Laura Brubaker-Wittman
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Research

Research Overview

Biological Foundations: Field-Based Primatology

Biological Foundations: Field-Based Primatology

My research bridges biological and sociocultural anthropology to explore how wild primates and humans shape one another through lived experience, mutual adaptation, and shared environments—offering insights that support more ethical, community-informed approaches to conservation. 

Biological Foundations: Field-Based Primatology

Biological Foundations: Field-Based Primatology

Biological Foundations: Field-Based Primatology

 In collaboration with Indonesian field assistants and researchers, I apply quantitative, field-based primate research techniques that combine long-term behavioral observation and hormone analysis to explore orangutan behavior and ecological adaptation in situ. 

Ethnographic Insight: Anthropology in the Field

Biological Foundations: Field-Based Primatology

Ethnographic Insight: Anthropology in the Field

Drawing from sociocultural anthropology, I use interviews, field notes, and participant observation to understand local knowledge systems and human–orangutan relationships. These methods allow me to study conservation as a lived, culturally embedded practice. 

Toward Ethical, Grounded Conservation

More Than Subjects: Orangutans as Co-Participants

Ethnographic Insight: Anthropology in the Field

By integrating these approaches, I aim to inform conservation strategies that are not only biologically sound but also ethically grounded and community-informed. My research contributes to broader efforts to foster coexistence in shared landscapes. 

More Than Subjects: Orangutans as Co-Participants

More Than Subjects: Orangutans as Co-Participants

More Than Subjects: Orangutans as Co-Participants

Informed by ethnoprimatology and human–animal studies, my work treats nonhuman primates as agentive beings. I explore how orangutans and humans co-create social and spatial worlds through mutual adaptation, habituation, and interaction. 

All photographs © Laura Brubaker-Wittman, James Wittman, and Tim Laman. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2025 Dr. Laura Brubaker-Wittman - All Rights Reserved.


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