Fernando Campos
Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Contact
Bio
My research on nonhuman primates addresses evolutionary questions about how organisms respond to changing environments, and how differences between individuals in these responses are linked to important life outcomes, including health, survival, and reproduction. This work aims not only to uncover important biological processes but ultimately to inform conservation planning. Primates are in the midst of a global extinction crisis that is driven by anthropogenic pressures. For conservation to be successful, it must be informed by research on how individuals, groups, and populations are affected by different forms of environmental variability and change. My work employs a biodemographic perspective that investigates factors that determine mortality and fertility, draws links among these factors to health outcomes and life trajectories, and makes comparisons among these processes in humans to those in other organisms.Most of my research has been carried out with natural primate populations, mainly white-faced capuchins in the Área de Conservación Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica, where I maintain an active, field-based research program. Some of my current and ongoing research projects involve savannah baboons in the Amboseli ecosystem of East Africa, and I also do comparative, cross-species research by leveraging a database of primate life history data from several long-term field research sites.
Research Interests
- Behavioral ecology
- Life histories
- Aging
- Biodemography
- Global change
- Primates
Degrees
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PhD in Anthropology, University of Calgary (2014)
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MA in Anthropology, University of Calgary (2008)
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BSc in Biology, California Institute of Technology (2002)
