Current Position: Lecturer in the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior at Indiana University Bloomington; Consultant at Arrow Academic Consultants; Co-founder of ManyZoos

My dissertation focused on individual variation in behavior in zebra finches and Asian elephants. I leveraged multiple personality assessments (such as keeper surveys, novel object tests, etc.) and problem-solving tasks (such as string-pull, trap-tube, and floating object tasks) to examine the connections between personality and cognition. My research on elephant personality, learning, and social learning informs our understanding of human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. Outside of research, my favorite lab memories include mentoring undergraduates, planning lab outings and activities, and winning the annual holiday costume contest!

Check out my website here!

Current position: Postdoc at UC Berkeley

Lauren Stanton is interested in how animals use cognition to navigate social and environmental complexity, especially in urban environments. She is also interested in human-wildlife interactions and promoting coexistence with nuisance species. Her dissertation research in the ABC Lab was focused on experimental investigation of raccoon cognition and behavior in both captive and wild settings. She also conducted comparative research with coyotes and striped skunks. Through her research Lauren has developed new and exciting techniques for the study of cognition in the wild and has worked on a diversity of collaborative projects ranging from raccoon genetics and physiology to community science and machine learning. Lauren is now a postdoctoral researcher in the Schell Lab at UC Berkeley where she continues to study carnivore cognition and human-carnivore interactions.

Check out my website here!

I'm a fourth-year undergraduate majoring in biology, but I also have minors in chemistry, journalism, and business. I've grown up around animals and I've always been interested in how they think and act, especially urban animals. When I started with the Raccoon Project, I volunteered as a telemetry technician, but now I'm working with the project on outreach events and our social media presence! I'm also a social media/PR intern with the NASA Space Grant Consortium and the social media coordinator for the UW McNair Scholars.