Summer of Chimpanzees
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Now, working on her honors thesis, Fallon takes time to reflect on her time in Uganda: "This summer was a life-defining experience," she comments. "I truly enjoyed the wondrous excitement and adventure that comes from a first trip to Africa."
Her summer's work was funded by a Nathan Altshuler Scholarship (in Anthropology) and an Honors Fellowship (from the Charles Center). Her thesis's goal is to apply the knowledge she acquired about the wild apes' foraging behavior to help enrich the lives of chimpanzees in captivity.
King remarks that in her 22 years of teaching at the College, she had never before helped arrange an African field experience for an undergraduate. "Brittany's an exceptional person," King says. "She came to this project with extensive volunteer experience in ape enrichment at Save the Chimps, a renowned sanctuary in her home state of Florida. Despite a heavy schedule here at the College, she enjoys creating enrichment items for the chimpanzees at the Metro Richmond Zoo. She cares deeply about apes and is on track to make key contributions in science and to make a real difference in apes' lives."
Fallon expects to begin graduate work in primate studies in fall 2011.
