Volunteer Bloggers

About our Bloggers

Our Florida International University undergraduate research team travels to the DuMond Conservancy every Tuesday and Thursday evening to participate in active research. As part of their experience, our undergraduate research team will write about their ongoing experiences with the owl monkeys. 




Natalie Marques

My name is Natalie Marques and I am an undergraduate student at FIU. I am a dual degree-seeking student in both Biology and Criminal Justice. Along with being a full time student I have 2 part time jobs. I work both at FIU College of Medicine and Knowles Animal Emergency Clinic. I am also President of The FIU Pre-Veterinary Society. I am studying to essentially become a veterinarian. I love volunteering at the DuMond conservancy because I am able to work with exotic animals and do research at the same time. The Conservancy has opened up an entirely new field of study for me and I am very interested in researching the owl monkey’s behavior.

Elizabeth Tapanes

When I started coming out to the owl monkey woods I remember thinking to myself: I would do this forever if I could make a career out of it. Although I was dead set on following my childhood plans to be a Veterinarian, my six years conducting behavioral observations on owl monkeys changed my focus. I recently graduated with a B.S. in Biology, and I have taken a number of classes focused on independent research and primatology. I fell in love with the owl monkeys for being so unique in that they are the only monogamous noctural anthropoid. I am currently monitoring the reproductive breeding program of Ma's Night Monkey established by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and I love watching the newborn infants grow and learn. My research interests are focused on evolution, anthropology, and conservation.

Alexis Pedraza

Hello, I’m a student at FIU majoring in biology, planning on attending veterinary school when finished with my bachelor’s degree. While working at Monkey Jungle as a dietician and keeper, I heard about the DuMond Conservancy and their work. My interests are in infant development of owl monkeys. I love being at the Conservancy because there is always so much to learn from everyone there. When not studying or working, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends and watching movies.

Andrew Zamora

My fascination with primates (and especially lemurs) began at age 10 when I met Bugsy, a black and white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata) at my cousin’s birthday party. I was immediately captivated by Bugsy’s charm, energy, and curiosity and knew then that I wanted to be a primatologist. As a research assistant at the DuMond Conservancy I have collected data on projects examining owl monkey (Aotus spp.) vocalizations during feeding, pair bonding behaviors, and stress hormone levels using urine samples. My research interests are in primate social behavior, communication, and cognition. Why is any of that worth researching? Because I know that the evolutionary contexts of these facets of primate taxa have a lot to teach us about ourselves and what makes us human. This idea is central to my undergraduate thesis which explores components of theory of mind in long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis).  Soon I will begin collecting recordings of owl monkey chirps to see if there are any subtle variations in their acoustic structure which communicate different information. So there’s a lot of monkey business in my life and even more to come.

Maria Gonzalez

My name is Maria and I am a senior at Florida International University. After taking a primate biology class

last semester, I started volunteering at the DuMond Conservancy on the weekends, which gave me a chance to spend time with the extensive primate collection found there. Soon enough, I became interested in doing research under Dr. Sian Evans’ supervision and since then, I have had the opportunity to work on several research projects working with owl monkeys and spider monkeys. I work full-time at the English Language Institute at FIU. There, I am in charge of recruiting and registering students, assisting the director in meetings and student fairs, administering the TOEFL test, etc. Furthermore, when I am not busy with school and work, I enjoy traveling, photography, going to the beach, and biking.