Study into health of wild mountain gorillas wins primate research award
Research to examine the health of wild, male mountain gorillas (gorilla beringei beringei) in Rwanda has received a prestigious grant from the International Primatological Society (IPS).
By Helen Breese | Published on 17 June 2024
Categories: Press office; Research; School of Social Sciences;
Nottingham Trent University PhD student, Eric Ndayishimiye, has been named as the first ever winner of the Sebastían Ramírez Amaya Award for Fieldwork in Primatology for 2024.
The award was created in memory of Colombian primatologist Sebastían Ramírez Amaya who tragically lost his life conducting field research in Uganda for his own PhD project in 2022. It aims to encourage young researchers in primatology to pursue their professional dreams and contribute to primate research and conservation.
Eric, who sits within NTU’s School of Social Sciences, said: “I am delighted to be the first ever winner of the award. It is a huge encouragement for the fieldwork needed for my PhD research project which I have recently started.”
Eric’s research takes place in the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda where gorilla density is high, leading to an increase in meetings between groups. This can cause higher stress levels and reduced immune function.
Silverback dominant male gorillas in this population are particularly vulnerable to lethal disease and respiratory infections. Despite the possible connections between high group density, increased stress reactivity, and health and fitness, these links haven’t been investigated until now.
The study is in collaboration with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, Rwanda, where Eric was previously a research officer and remains a research affiliate, and will use a range of data collection techniques including behavioural observations, hormone analysis and GPS tracking. The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund is the world’s longest running gorilla research program dedicated to the protection, monitoring, and research of the endangered mountain gorilla and its habitat.
Eric completed his undergraduate degree at the National University of Rwanda and his master’s degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Chester, UK.
His master's research investigated human-wildlife conflicts targeting golden monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis kandti) that coexist with mountain gorillas. He also participated in various gorilla research projects during his time at the Fossey Fund, which focused on correlates of body size in both sexes and mating behavior in female gorillas.
Eric added: “My research seeks the understand the complex interaction between changes in group dynamics, challenges in the dominance hierarchy, social stress, physiology, and fitness in wild adult male gorillas.”
Dr Chris Young, NTU senior lecturer, Eric’s director of studies, and member of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Social Interaction, said “This is a great achievement for Eric and is very well deserved. The award of this grant will go towards helping us understand the links between immune function, stress physiology and behavior - a crucial step to inform conservation action plans.”
Professor Marina Cords, VP for Research, International Primatological Society, added: “On behalf of the IPS Research Committee and members, I am delighted to report that we easily identified an entirely deserving candidate for the first annual Sebastían Ramírez Amaya Award. Congratulations to Eric Ndayishimiye! We look forward to hearing about his research results.”
Notes for Editors
About Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) received the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2021 for cultural heritage science research. It is the second time that NTU has been bestowed the honour of receiving a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its research, the first being in 2015 for leading-edge research on the safety and security of global citizens.
The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent. 86% of NTU’s research impact was assessed to be either world-leading or internationally excellent.
NTU was awarded The Times and The Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2023 and ranked University of the Year in the Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023. It was awarded Outstanding Support for Students 2020 (Times Higher Education Awards), University of the Year 2019 (Guardian University Awards, UK Social Mobility Awards), Modern University of the Year 2018 (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide) and University of the Year 2017 (Times Higher Education Awards).
NTU is the 5th largest UK institution by student numbers, with approximately 40,000 students and more than 4,400 staff located across five campuses. It has an international student population of 7,000 and an NTU community representing over 160 countries.
Since 2000, NTU has invested £570 million in tools, technology, buildings and facilities.
NTU is in the UK’s top 10 for number of applications and ranked first for accepted offers (2021 UCAS UG acceptance data). It is also among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and was the first UK university to sign the Social Mobility Pledge.
NTU is ranked the second most sustainable university in the world in the 2022 UI Green Metric University World Rankings (out of more than 900 participating universities).