Carolyn Thompson

Curriculum Vitae

2017–Present: PhD Researcher, Institute of Zoology and University College London
2011–2012: M.Res. Primate Biology, Behaviour & Conservation, University of Roehampton
2006–2010: B.Sc. (Hons) Life Science, The Open University
2004–2006: B.Sc. (Hons) Geography, University of Manchester

Employment

2018–Present: Museum Engager, University College London Culture

2018–Present: Student Representative, IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Section on Small Apes

2018–Present: Primate Field Supervisor, Operation Wallacea, Madagascar

2017–Present: Postgraduate Teaching Assistant and Lecturer, University College London

2017: Forest Ecology Lecturer, Operation Wallacea, Indonesia

2014–2016: Head Primate Scientist, Borneo Nature Foundation, Indonesia

2013: Research Intern, Indicators and Assessments Unit, Institute of Zoology (ZSL)

2013: Assistant Manager and Research Coordinator, Alouatta Sanctuary and Batipa Field Institute, Panama

2010–2012: Office Assistant, Orangutan Foundation UK

2010: Research Assistant, Environment and Rural Development Foundation, Cameroon

Research Interests

I am interested in the impacts of anthropogenic activities such as unregulated tourism, hunting, resource exploitation, and habitat loss on non-human primate populations and behaviours. The majority of my field work has been carried out in Madagascar and Indonesia looking at changes in population densities and demographics over time, ranging behaviour, individual development, and social system comparisons. I am currently working in China and have become interested in mixed-method approaches to conservation problems with an ethnographic focus.

Current Research

In 2017 I started my doctorate research investigating the patterns and drivers of small ape decline in China, Vietnam and Myanmar, with the hope of informing future conservation management strategies. The small apes, also known as gibbons (Hylobatids), are distinguished by their ability to brachiate (i.e. swing) through the trees, their small family groups, and their species-specific territorial songs. Of the 20 species, 19 are considered Critically Endangered or Endangered by the IUCN.

My doctorate research focuses on three species: Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus), Skywalker Hoolock gibbon (Hoolock tianxing), and the Cao Vit gibbon (Nomascus nasutus). All these species reside in isolated forest fragments in China, Vietnam and potentially neighbouring Myanmar. With increasing anthropogenic threats from habitat loss and hunting, effective conservation strategies are of the utmost importance requiring robust, evidence-based understanding of key population parameters, as well as adopting an integrated biosocial approach to provide contextual detail of the human-wildlife issues. My doctorate research uses an interdisciplinary, mixed-method approach, involving both biological and ethnographic methods, to improve our understanding of the human-gibbon interface.

Supervisors

Prof. Samuel Turvey, Institute of Zoology (ZSL)

Prof. Helen Chatterjee, University College London

Dr. Susan M. Cheyne, International Union for Conservation of Nature

Prof. Fan Peng-Fei, Sun Yat-Sen University, China

Publications

Cheyne, S.M., Supiansyah, S., Adul, A., Neale, C.J., Thompson, C., Wilcox, C.H., Ehlers Smith, Y.C., and Ehlers Smith, D.A. Down from the treetops – Red langur (Presbytis rubicunda) terrestrial behaviour. Primates. 2018. 59(5): 437-448.

Thompson, C. The impact of tourism on Ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) behaviour, home range size and habitat use at Berenty Reserve, Madagascar. M.Res. Thesis. 2012. University of Roehampton: London.