Anthropology department welcomes Dr. Susan Lappan
The Gibbons
The small apes, or gibbons, are among our closest living relatives, yet they have received little attention from the scientific community and the public in comparison with the other living apes. This oversight is not due to lack of appeal; their physical beauty, graceful acrobatic movements, and thrilling songs make it clear why gibbons are always among the most popular animals in zoos. Rather, the inherent difficulties involved in studying or filming gibbons in their natural habitats and, in some cases, the misconception that among apes, smaller means lesser, have led many researchers and filmmakers to focus their attentions elsewhere. Nonetheless, a growing number of intrepid field and laboratory researchers have made steady progress in the study of gibbon behavior and ecology over the last several decades. This volume is a systematic compilation of recent research on gibbon socioecology and population biology with a focus on understanding gibbons in the context of their natural habitats, and includes contributions on a range of topics, including gibbon biogeography, the ecological roles played by gibbons in their ecosystems, the origins and functions of key gibbon social and ecological adaptations, and the conservation status of wild gibbon populations. (Springer)
The Department of Anthropology is pleased to welcome our newest faculty member, Dr. Susan Lappan. Susan is a primatologist and we are very happy she will be joining us beginning in the 2009-10 academic year. She received her Ph.D. from New York University in 2005 and she has an undergraduate degree in Biological Anthropology from Duke University (1989).
Susan's major research has been in Sumatra where she has focused on issues of ecology and evolution among Siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus) populations. Susan has recently published an edited volume entitled The Gibbons: new Perspectives on Small Ape Socioecology and Population Biology. Since 2007, she has also published several articles on a range of topics from methodological issues in primatology to dispersal patterns, feeding ecology, social relationships, paternal investment and energetic budgets in Siamangs. Susan is the editor of the Journal of Ecology and Field Biology and a fluent speaker of Indonesian.
Since finishing her Ph.D., Susan has taught at San Diego State University and is currently serving as a research professor in primatology at Ewha University in Korea. She has taught courses in The Nonhuman Primates, Primate Conservation, Primate Social Behavior, and Biocultural Diversity. At Appalachian, Susan will be teaching the Anthropology Department's new General Education course ANT 1430 Our Primate Heritage.
With the addition of Susan to our faculty, the department now has 12 full-time and two part-time anthropologists, one excellent staff member, and almost 150 majors. We remain one of the largest undergraduate programs in the country. We are proud of our faculty, students, alumni and our growing national reputation.
