Research Areas

Dr. Lisa O’Bryan received her B.S. in Zoology from Texas A&M University and her Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior from the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on the role communication plays in the structure and function of social groups (both animal and human) and also how the dynamics of these groups and their broader environment affect communication patterns. For her Ph.D., she studied the foraging, social and communication behaviors of chimpanzees through observational field studies and captive experiments. For her first postdoc, she received a James S. McDonnell Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Studying Complex Systems and joined the New Jersey Institute of Technology to develop and use wearable tracking devices for studying the role communication plays in the collective behavior of free-ranging animals, including wild baboons and domesticated herds.