Charles L Nunn, Gosnell Family Professor in Global Health

My research addresses a range of questions in primate evolutionary ecology, with major research areas involving infectious disease, primate behavior, the evolution of sleep, and cultural trait dynamics. These research foci are rooted in a comparative perspective that examines variation across species on an evolutionary tree. I am especially passionate about my research on infectious disease; this area plays center stage in my research and teaching, and in my expanding field research. In addition to addressing questions of basic science, I apply ecological and evolutionary perspectives to address practical questions in the conservation of biodiversity and human health.

Contact Info:

Office Location:	106 Biological Sciences Building
Office Phone:	(919) 660-7281
Email Address:
Web Pages:	https://tricem.org/ https://sites.duke.edu/thenunnlab/

Education:

Ph.D.	Duke University	1999
Post-Baccalaureate	University of Washington	1992
A.B.	Dartmouth College	1991

Specialties:

Behavioral Ecology and Physiology
Primate Ecology
Primate Biology

Keywords:

Allometry • Amygdala • Analysis of Variance • Animals • Artifacts • Behavioral Research • Biological Evolution • Biometry • Body Constitution • Brain • Brain Mapping • Classification • Cognition • Communication • Comparative Study • Computer Simulation • Cooperation • Data Collection • Diet • Energy Metabolism • Female • Food Chain • Hippocampus • Homing Behavior • Hominidae • Host-Parasite Interactions • Lemur • Male • Mammals • Maternal Age • Maternal Behavior • Memory • Models, Biological • Muser Mentor • Neocortex • Organ Size • Parasitism • Phylogeny • Predatory Behavior • Primates • Psychology, Comparative • Regression Analysis • Reproducibility of Results • Sexual selection • Sleep • Sleep, REM • Social Behavior • Software • Space Perception • Species Specificity • Statistics as Topic • Territoriality • Time Perception • Vocalization, Animal

Curriculum Vitae  Bio

Current Ph.D. Students   (Former Students)

• Chase Nunez  
• Caroline Rusk Amoro  
• Randi Griffin  
• India A Schneider-Crease  
• Collin McCabe  

Postdocs Mentored

• Debapriyo Chakraborty (October 15, 2015 - present)  
• David Samson (July, 2014 - present)  

Recent Publications   (More Publications)   (search)

1. Creighton, MJA; Nunn, CL, Explaining the primate extinction crisis: predictors of extinction risk and active threats., Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 290 no. 2006 (September, 2023), pp. 20231441 [doi]  [abs]
2. Herrera, JP; Moody, J; Nunn, CL, Predicting primate-parasite associations using exponential random graph models., The Journal of Animal Ecology, vol. 92 no. 3 (March, 2023), pp. 710-722 [doi]  [abs]
3. Evans, MV; Ramiadantsoa, T; Kauffman, K; Moody, J; Nunn, CL; Rabezara, JY; Raharimalala, P; Randriamoria, TM; Soarimalala, V; Titcomb, G; Garchitorena, A; Roche, B, Socio-demographic variables can guide prioritized testing strategies for epidemic control in resource-limited contexts., The Journal of Infectious Diseases (March, 2023), pp. jiad076 [doi]  [abs]
4. Nunn, CL, COVID-19 and Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health., Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, vol. 11 no. 1 (January, 2023), pp. 41-43 [doi]
5. Kauffman, K; Werner, CS; Titcomb, G; Pender, M; Rabezara, JY; Herrera, JP; Shapiro, JT; Solis, A; Soarimalala, V; Tortosa, P; Kramer, R; Moody, J; Mucha, PJ; Nunn, C, Comparing transmission potential networks based on social network surveys, close contacts and environmental overlap in rural Madagascar., Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, vol. 19 no. 186 (January, 2022), pp. 20210690 [doi]  [abs]