Current Projects

Orangutan Behavior Project

• In collaboration with ZooTampa at Lowry Park and Dr. Bransford, The orangutan project completes weekly behavioral observations of the zoo's Bornean orangutans. The project is currently researching orangutan space use, activity budgets, and the impact of public presence.

Canine Experimental Video Enrichment (CEVE)

• In collaboration with Dr. Kelley Winship at the US Navy Marine Mammal Program and the National Marine Mammal Foundation, we are training a dog to participate in a cursor game. Experimental video enrichment training involves a set of computerized games that are played by a canine to observe problem solving skills and a new type of animal enrichment. You can see our dog participant, Orlo, in action on his Instagram page: @orlo_thedapperscrapper

Parrot Cognition Project

• The Parrot Cognition Project study works with a local Saint Petersburg couple, Dalton Mason and Tori Lacey, and their African Grey Parrot, Apollo. Researchers are currently observing Apollo's abilities to recognize and verbalize different concepts such as materials, colors, and object labels. This study is inspired by and based upon Dr. Irene Pepperberg’s “Model/Rival Technique”. 

Squirrel Cognition Project 

• This study seeks to investigate the cognitive abilities of native squirrels at Eckerd College through behavioral observation and problem-solving tasks. Squirrels are identified through personality assessments before being exposed to a multi-access puzzle box. Researchers observe foraging cognition and problem-solving capabilities in correlation to squirrels' boldness and performance when interacting with the puzzle box. 

Dog Symbolism Project 

• The dog symbolism project investigates canine cognition through the use of symbol cards. Dogs will be trained to associate behaviors with symbols present on cards. After training, multiple symbol cards will be shown to observe the cognitive decisions made by the dog. The goal of this project is to see if the trained dogs will “read” the symbol cards similar to a human cognition.