Daan earned his PhD in 2023 from the University of Antwerp for his work on the function of positive emotions in bonobos. At the COMPARE lab, he is studying virtual tool use and the impact of positive emotions on cognition and sociality in great apes. He is currently working with bonobos at the Planckendael Zoo and is developing new projects with chimpanzees and orangutans at the Indianapolis Zoo.

Gal earned her PhD from the University of St Andrews in 2023 for her work on the social dynamics and gestural communication of wild chimpanzees. At the COMPARE lab, she is studying signals of positive affect and synchronization of multimodal signals in wild chimpanzees.

We’re hiring a postdoc to lead the work on dog cognition. If you’re interested in applying, please reach out to Erica Cartmill by email: ericac(at)iu.edu

Jina is a developmental psychology PhD student in the UCLA LING lab. Her work asks whether social relationships with adults impact the ways children learn from them. Her current project explores the role of short-term mofel amiliarity on two-year-olds’ word learning. Jina is co-supervised by Catherine Sandhofer, and is part of the UCLA Language and Cognitive Development Lab.

Lilit is a linguistic anthropology PhD student in the UCLA LING lab. She studies the language policies and practices of Armenian preschools and the ways in which these environments shape the political economy and formation of national identity in post-Soviet Armenia. Lilit received funding from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to support her research. She is currently teaching at the American University of Armenia and the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography in Yaravan. She plans to graduate UCLA in 2024.

Brenda is a biological anthropology PhD student at the UCLA LING lab. She is interested in animal minds, emotions, ethics, care, and moral stances regarding animals. Her work focuses on social behavior and infant care in langur monkeys in China. She is also an artist.

Emma will join the COMPARE lab in fall 2024. She graduated from Grinnell College and was the lab manager for Brian Hare’s Canine Cognition Center at Duke University. Emma plans to study social cognition in great apes, focusing on playful teasing and surprise.

Carolyn is a linguistic anthropology PhD student in the UCLA LING lab. Her work explores the intersection of political economy, expertise, race, immigration, gender, and class within the context of workplace interactions in Los Angeles professional kitchens. Carolyn received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to support her research. Her current project highlights the ways expertise is embodied during collaborative tasks.

Andrew is a biological anthropology PhD student in the UCLA LING lab. He studies the relationship between how people talk about and reason about the metal states of others. He has conducted field work in Ecuador, and his dissertation project compares language across English, Spanish, Arabic, and Korean as part of the Geography of Philosophy Project. He plans to graduate UCLA in 2024.

Sasha is a biological anthropology PhD student in the UCLA LING lab. Her work focuses on the cognitive effects of laughter in great apes and the evolution of play signalling. Sasha received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to support her research. She has worked at Lomas Barbudal, the Ape Initiative, and the CNPRC. She is currently completing a residency with Chris Krupenye at Johns Hopkins and plans to graduate UCLA in 2024.

POSTDOC

Johanna was a postdoc in the lab in 2019. She studies social cognition and inference in great apes. She is currently a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

POSTDOC

Isabelle was a postdoc in the lab from 2020-2022. She studies social cognition and physical cognition in great apes and Goffin’s cockatoos. She is currently a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior.

POSTDOC

Laura was a postdoc in the lab in 2023. She studies social cogntion in great apes and human children. She is currently a UC President's Postdoc at Berkeley. In 2024, she will join the faculty at UC Santa Barbara.