Corinna Most

I study the development of social behavior and the acquisition of social skills in wild olive baboons in Laikipia, Kenya. In particular, I investigate the effects of maternal behavior and of relationships between infants and individuals other than the mother on infant development. As a behavioral ecologist, I'm also interested in how environmental changes in the area – specifically the spread of an invasive plant species that has become a favorite baboon food - influence patterns of female reproduction, maternal behavior, and infant development. Finally, as a biological anthropologist, I use methods and theories from human development research to draw comparisons between the processes observed in baboons and those present in our own species.