Colin Chapman

Colin A. Chapman is a professor at the Vancouver Island University in British Columbia, Canada. In addition, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, an Honorary Lecturer at Makerere University in Uganda, a Member of the Committee of Research and Exploration at National Geographic, and an Associate Scientists of the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York. Prior to taking on his position at McGill University, he was at the University of Florida in the Department of Zoology from 1993 to 2004. He is internationally recognized for his 30+ years of research into primate ecology, population regulation, nutrition, and disease dynamics and for his contribution to conservation globally. He is Director of the Kibale Monkey Project; a long-term project in Kibale National Park, Uganda that he started in 1989, building on the data of Thomas Struhsaker from Duke University who worked in Kibale from 1970 to 1987. The project focuses on primate ecology and conservation, but also has a very strong component examining forest dynamics, including those driven by climate change, elephant numbers, and forest succession. The team of researchers he has worked with have also placed a heavy emphasis on conservation strategies, including forest regeneration, animal population recovery, fragmentation, people-parks relationships, zoonotic disease spread, and the link between providing health care and conservation. Early life and education Chapman was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and he did all of his degrees (B.Sc., MA. Ph.D.) at the University of Alberta and obtained a joint Ph.D. under the supervision of Drs. Linda Fedigan, John Addicott, and Jan Murie. He went on to do a Post-doc with Louis Lefebvre in Biology at McGill University and then Richard Wrangham in Anthropology at Harvard University. Prior to coming to Harvard he conducted primate research in the Caribbean (St. Kitts) and Costa Rica, but when at Harvard he started research in Kibale National Park, Uganda. His interest in conservation started in Costa Rica as this was the time of the growth and the countries park system and he conducted surveys in the area that was to become Guanacaste National Park, with the aim of helping Daniel Janzen evaluate wildlife recovery.