Research Summary
Kuruman River Reserve, South Africa — Cooperative breeding, in which animals help others raise their young, occurs in many animal species. It appears to be common in the Kalahari Desert, where extreme conditions have molded cooperative breeding in meerkats, those inimitable relatives of mongooses that stand upright to peer across the landscape. The explanation for this behavior has been that related animals benefit by having shared genes passed on in the young they helped nurture. However, renowned behavioral ecologist Dr Timothy Clutton-Brock and his colleague Dr Marta Manser believe that even more immediate and selfish reasons stimulate cooperative breeding. You can help them examine how environment and evolution shape cooperative behavior.
Meet the Scientists
Professor Timothy Clutton-Brock
University of Cambridge
We have been working on our study population of meerkats in the Kuruman River Reserve for 13 years. As a result, almost all of the meerkats in our study group are well used to humans observing them, and our meerkat population provides a unique opportunity to investigate the evolutionary causes and ecological consequences of cooperation in mammals. You will work with members of an established group of researchers from all over the world. We are all most grateful to you for your help and hope that you will find your time with the project interesting, rewarding, and fun.
Dr Clutton-Brock is a Professor of Animal Ecology at the University of Cambridge. He has worked on the ecology of mammals (including primates, ungulates and carnivores) for over 30 years and has written more than 200 papers and several books on their ecology and behavior. He is co-founder and President of the Tropical Biology Association, which teaches ecology, conservation biology and evolution to students from Europe and Africa. He directs research at the Kuruman River Reserve and was responsible for its establishment. Dr Clutton-Brock will be in the field as his schedule allows, typically visiting once or twice a year at the reserve working on the meerkat project.
Dr Marta Manser
Zurich University
Dr Manser is an Associate Professor of Animal Behavior at Zurich University. Her principal interest is in animal communication and cognition. She has been involved in the meerkat project for eight years and is responsible for communicating much of the research. She will be at the project site as her schedule allows, typically visiting once or twice a year.
Melissa Kotze
Field Team Leader
Melissa received her BSc degree in Environmental Management with a focus in zoology from the University of South Africa. She has volunteered on a regular basis at a baboon sanctuary and has some experience with the rehabilitation and care of the chacma baboon (papio cynocephalus ursinus). Melissa believes that conservation and protection are the way to a better environment. She has been with the project since January 2009, and has since taken on many responsibilities, including assisting with captures and the habituation of meerkat groups. Her first language is Afrikaans but she is also fluent in English. Her hobbies are indoor rockwall climbing, golf, and field hockey. Melissa lived in Malaysia for the past year and loved exploring the islands around it. She will be responsible for organizing activities for the Earthwatch teams.