The SciencesDecember 2, 2015
The Orangutans of Sikundur, Part 2: The Males
Stories by James Askew
James Askew is a PhD candidate in Integrative and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Southern California Jane Goodall Research Center. His research is focused on orangutan behavior, specifically the "long call" and its role in social and reproductive relationships. Over the next 18 months he will be running a comparative study of three different populations at sites in Borneo and Sumatra. His advisors are Drs. Craig Stanford and Roberto A. Delgado, Jr. James discovered an interest in apes after visiting the mountain gorillas of Rwanda while backpacking in Africa as an undergraduate in Marine Biology and Coastal Ecology at the University of Plymouth. As a result, he completed a Masters in Animal Behavior at the University of Exeter, where he first studied orangutan vocal communication for his thesis. When not sweating in the field, James lives in Hollywood with his girlfriend and their overweight cat Mabel. He enjoys reading, filmmaking and playing/watching soccer (especially Arsenal). This research wouldn't be possible without funding from the University of Southern California Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, the Foster Endowment, and Sigma Xi Grants in Aid of Research. Nor would it be possible without James' collaborator NGOs: the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Project, the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project and the Kutai Orangutan Project. All are fantastic organizations working to conserve Indonesia's rainforests!
The SciencesDecember 1, 2015
The Orangutans of Sikundur, Part 1: The Females and Their Infants
Credit: James Askew
EnvironmentNovember 19, 2015
Call of the Orangutan: Research in the Midst of an Environmental Disaster
The Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project in Borneo is besieged and under threat from raging forest fires
EnvironmentJuly 6, 2015
Call of the Orangutan: The Ups and Downs of Research in Indonesia
Despite the work of conservationists, poaching and habitat destruction are still major problems in North Sumatra
March 9, 2015
Call of the Orangutan: The Importance of Play
The past couple of months have been excellent for our data collection, as we've encountered a number of parties of orangutans. This is a more common occurrence in the high productivity forests of Sumatra, where we’re working, than on Borneo, where animals tend to be much more dispersed due to limitations in food availability.
January 26, 2015
Call of the Orangutan: Rescuing a Crashed Drone
Editor's Note: This is the second part of a two-part post about using drone technology to search for orangutans around the Sikundur research station in North Sumatra.
January 23, 2015
Call of the Orangutan: Using Drones to Scan the Forest
One of the most interesting areas the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP) is currently working on is mapping, monitoring and surveying orangutan habitats around the island using drones.
EnvironmentNovember 25, 2014
Call of the Orangutan: A Camera Trap Menagerie
In order to get more information about the forest here at the Sikundur research station in North Sumatra, I've set up four camera traps, which I'm using to get a better look at the wildlife around the site.
EnvironmentNovember 15, 2014
Call of the Orangutan: Injuries and Their Limitations
This last month has been extremely stressful for all of us at Sikundur research station in North Sumatra while we've been following two of our favorite orangutans, Suci and her 3-year-old infant Siboy.
August 20, 2014
Call of the Orangutan: How to Follow an Orangutan
In my previous post, I wrote about the first task in studying orangutan behavior: finding the animals. In this one I'll explain the second major task: following them.
August 15, 2014
Call of the Orangutan: How to Find an Orangutan
While many animal researchers use fancy scientific methods to analyze data and samples they've collected, the mechanics of virtually every animal behavior study begins with finding an animal or animals and recording its or their behavior at a given interval to produce what's called an ethogram.
August 13, 2014
Call of the Orangutan: An Ape Named James
It has been an exceptionally exciting and productive first month for me at the Sikundur research station. I couldn't have asked for much more in terms of data, and it's been so hectic that sitting here in Medan, the capital city of North Sumatra, it seems like far longer than a month since I started!
July 9, 2014
Call of the Orangutan: Welcome to Camp
It's taken a bit longer than I'd initially anticipated, but I'm finally at my first field site, Sikundur in North Sumatra, which will be my home for the next eight months.
The SciencesMay 23, 2014
Call of the Orangutan: Conservation Success Stories
Having made it to Sumatra, the first location for my field research, I've endured another frustrating few weeks waiting for yet more permits to come through.
May 2, 2014
Call of the Orangutan: Permits and Siteseeing
JAKARTA, INDONESIA--As an international researcher, one of the most important aspects, and indeed one of the biggest challenges, of the job is obtaining permits from the government of the country in which you're working and residing.
April 10, 2014
Call of the Orangutan: Expedition Preparations
I'm writing this post while waiting at the gate for my flight from LAX to Indonesia. To anyone that knows me (especially my advisors, former teachers, and long-suffering parents) this last minute approach will not come as any sort of surprise.
March 31, 2014
Call of the Orangutan: An Expedition to Indonesia
This week I'll swap the traffic and sunshine of Los Angeles for the rainforests of Indonesia, where I'll be living for the next 18 months. The reason for my long trip is to collect data for my PhD dissertation studying orangutans, and I'm excited to be writing this expedition blog which I hope will give [...]