Laura Brubaker-Wittman (PhD candidate, BU Anthropology) wins Fulbright Scholarship to Indonesia

Congratulations to Laura Brubaker-Wittman, a PhD student in BU’s Biological Anthropology program, who has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Indonesia to continue her dissertation research “Interacting with Orangutans: A Multispecies Ethnography of Relationship Building in Borneo.”

Laura holds a Master’s degree in Sustainable Development and Policy Advocacy from the School for International Training and a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Colorado. Her doctoral research focuses on the human-nonhuman primate interface by using the mixed methodology of ethnoprimatology, incorporating theories and techniques from both cultural and biological anthropology. Specifically, her work asks questions about how orangutans and humans interact and co-exist in landscapes that have been shaped by human disturbance and what this means for orangutan health and behavior. Ultimately, she hopes her work can bring together science, conservation, and environmental justice to help protect orangutans and support local communities at the same time. Laura’s primary advisor is Prof. Cheryl Knott (Depts. of Anthropology and Biology, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, BU)

[These details come from http://www.bu.edu/bufellow/laura-brubaker-wittman/]