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Susan C Alberts

Susan C Alberts

Jack H. Neely Associate Professor of Biology
Contact Info 
Location: 020 Bio Sci
Office Phone: (919) 660-7272
Office Fax: (919) 660-7293
Email Address:  send me a message
Website: http://www.biology.duke.edu/albertslab
Mailing Address: Department of Biology Box 90338 Duke University Durham NC 27708
Teaching (Fall 2012):

  • BIOLOGY 267.001, EVOLUTION OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOR Synopsis
    LSRC A156, MW 12:00 PM-12:50 PM
  • BIOLOGY 267.01D, EVOLUTION OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOR Synopsis
    Bio Sci 144, F 10:20 AM-11:10 AM
  • BIOLOGY 267.02D, EVOLUTION OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOR Synopsis
    Languages 208, Th 12:00 PM-12:50 PM
Education:
  • Ph.D., University of Chicago, Department of Ecology and Evolution, 1992
  • M.A., University of California, Los Angeles, 1987
  • B.A., Reed College, 1983

Research Interests:
Behavorial ecology of large mammals

Research Summary:
My lab has two primary lines of research. The first involves understanding how behavior impacts individual fitness in natural populations of large mammals. This research is based on detailed information about individual behavior and life histories, and is focused on the savannah baboon population and the African elephant population in Amboseli National Park, in southern Kenya. The second involves the relationship between genes and behavior; how does behavior affect population genetic structure, and how do genes influence behavior? See my lab web page for more information.

Representative Publications   (More Publications)

  1. Charpentier MJE, Van Horn RC, Altmann J, Alberts SC, Paternal effects on offspring fitness in a multi-male primate society, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, vol. 105 no. 6 (2008), pp. 1988-1992 .
  2. Tung J, Charpentier MJE, Garfield D, Altmann J, Alberts SC, Genetic evidence reveals temporal change in hybridization patterns in a wild baboon population, Molecular Ecology, vol. 17 (2008), pp. 1998-2011 .
  3. Charpentier MJE, Tung J, Altmann J, Alberts SC, Age at maturity in wild baboons: genetic, environmental and demographic influences, Molecular Ecology, vol. 17 (2008), pp. 2026-2040 .
  4. Silk JB, Alberts SC, Altmann J., Social bonds of female baboons enhance infant survival, Science, vol. 302 (2003), pp. 1231-1234 .
  5. Archie EA, Hollister-Smith JA, Poole JH, Moss CJ, Alberts SC, Behavioural inbreeding avoidance in wild African elephants, Molecular Ecology, vol. 16 (2007), pp. 4138-4148 .
  6. Alberts SC, Watts HE, Altmann J, Queuing and queue jumping: long term patterns of reproductive skew among male savannah baboons, Animal Behaviour, vol. 65 (2003), pp. 821-840 .
  7. Van Horn RC, Buchan JC, Altmann J, Alberts SC, Divided destinies: group choice by female savannah baboons during group fission, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, vol. 61 (2007), pp. 1823-1834 .
  8. Smith KL, Alberts SC, Altmann J, Wild female baboons bias their social behaviour towards paternal half-sisters, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, vol. 270 (2003), pp. 503-510 .
  9. Hollister-Smith JA, Poole JH, Archie EA, Vance EA, Georgiadis NJ, Moss CJ, Alberts SC, Paternity success in wild African elephants, Animal Behaviour, vol. 74 (2007), pp. 287-296 .
  10. Buchan J, Alberts SC, Silk JB, Altmann J, True paternal care in a multi-male primate society, Nature, vol. 425 (2003), pp. 179-181 .