Carolyn L. Ehardt
Professor
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 1980
Research
Professor
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 1980
Research
In 1994 I began long-term conservation ecology research in the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania, which continues to the present. The early work involved survey research to establish baseline distribution and abundance information for the various primates, larger mammals, and birds in the relict forests of these mountains – part of one of the world’s biodiversity ‘hotspots.’ Subsequent research is focused on the Endangered Sanje mangabey Cercocebus sanjei, including the first ecological data for this endemic primate derived from study of an habituated group in Mwanihana Forest of the Udzungwa Mountains National Park. In 2004, this research led to ‘discovery’ of the first new African diurnal monkey species to be made known to science in the last 20 years (the highland mangabey Lophocebus (or, Rungwecebus) kipunji). My most current funded research has been the collection of genetic and vocalization data for this new primate and a number of other mangabey species in Africa to begin to decipher the debated taxonomic relationships among the various threatened taxa, and to examine divergence and other aspects of the disjunct Tanzanian subpopulations of the Sanje and highland mangabeys.
My affiliations include: IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group-Africa Section; Senior Editor African Primates; Project Director, Sanje Mangabey Monitoring Project, Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania; Review Board, Conservation Information Service.
Teaching
My teaching spans a range of topics in biological anthropology, with course offerings across the various levels. In addition to introductory courses, I offer specialized courses at the undergraduate level in Primate Diversity, Primate Ecology, Conservation of Primates in Global Perspective, Ecology and Epidemiology of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, and Human Adaptability. At the graduate level I offer seminars such as Conservation of Primates and Other Threatened Species, as well as Human Population Ecology.
Representative Publications
2007 - Ehardt, C.L. and Butynski, T.M. The Recently Described Highland Mangabey Lophocebus kipunji Cercopithecoidea, Cercopithicinae): Current Knowledge and Conservation Assessment. Primate Conservation 21: 81-88.
2005 - Ehardt, C.L., T.P. Jones, and T.M. Butynski. Protective status, ecology and strategies for improving conservation of Cercocebus sanjei in the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania. International Journal of Primatology 26:557-583.
2005 - Jones, T., C.L. Ehardt, T.M. Butynski, T.R.B. Davenport, N.E. Mpunga, S.J. Machaga, and D.W. De Luca. 2005. The highland mangabey Lophocebus kipunji: A new species of African monkey. Science 308: 1161-1164.
2004 - Struhsaker, T.T., A.R. Marshall, K. Detwiler, K. Siex, C.L. Ehardt, D.D. Lisbjerg, and T.M. Butynski. 2004. Demographic variation among Udzungwa red colobus in relation to gross ecological and sociological parameters. International Journal of Primatology 25: 615-658.
