The seventh annual northeastern evolutionary primatologists (NEEP) meeting: Back in-person in Boston, MA!

Abstract

The northeastern evolutionary primatologists (NEEP) meeting is an annual regional conference that provides the opportunity for undergraduate, graduate, and early career scientists to present their work and network with each other. All precautions were taken to ensure that primatology students and researchers could safely gather inperson at Boston University for the Seventh Annual NEEP Meeting. This year, Drs. Eva Garrett, Cheryl Knott, and Christopher Schmitt took on the challenge of hosting the conference and creating a sense of normalcy as the meeting returned to its traditional in-person format (Figure 1). As the keynote speaker, Dr. Martin Surbeck (Harvard University) started the conference by presenting his work with wild bonobos along with giving sage advice to the student researchers in the audience. As an adventurous field researcher, Surbeck began with the guidance, “do not assume, check!” When Surbeck began his research, bonobos were known for finding “peace through pleasure” in addition to being female dominant, peaceful, egalitarian, tolerant, and vegetarian. At the Lui Kotale study site, Surbeck and collaborators found a finger from an immature black mangabey in bonobo feces along with a nearby pelt of mangabey hair. This finding challenged the notion that meat eating in bonobos is rare and highlighted the need for more field studies of wild bonobos in order to delineate meaningful differences between bonobos, chimpanzees, and humans. Surbeck later discovered high male reproductive skew among bonobos, leading to questions regarding the attractiveness of males and the potential to monopolize mating opportunities with ovulating females. “Is there a 'Ryan Gosling' bonobo attracting all the ovulating female bonobos?” Surbeck asked the audience. By “zooming out” to see the bigger picture, Surbeck found there are large potential indirect fitness gains for mothers that promote their sons. Rather than females choosing their mates based on “attractive” male characteristics, high-ranking mothers (e.g., Queen Elizabeth as Surbeck suggested) seem to ensure their sons mate more often with ovulating females compared to other males. Collectively, these findings show that bonobos are not necessarily the egalitarian vegetarian ape species they are often assumed to be. Their seemingly tolerant and cooperative behaviors are far more complex than what initially meets the eye. Taking his own advice “to get out there,” Surbeck helped establish a bonobo field site at Kokolopori. From constructing a boat to finding a replacement tire in the middle of nowhere, his group faced arduous challenges at every stage of this journey. In collaboration with the Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI), Surbeck has overseen the Kokolopori Bonobo Research Project (KBRP) since 2016. Currently, Surbeck collaborates with his graduate students, post-docs, and colleagues to critically assess our conventional understanding of bonobo sexuality, tolerance, and cooperation as they study three bonobo groups. Drawing on his own experiences as a field researcher, Surbeck imparted some final words of advice to future field researchers, “take opportunities, keep an open mind, think about implications, but most importantly, have fun!”