Welcome to my website of the University of Amsterdam.
More detailed information about my research can be found on
my personal website: https://karlinejanmaat.wordpress.com/
I am a cognitive behavioral ecologist and my main research goal is to understand the evolutionary function and diversity of cognition of individual animals and primates in particular that live in different populations. My personal challenge is to uncover the extent of the cognitive complex skills of animals, such as episodic memory and flexible route planning, and to map the context in which animals use them. I specialize in studying the cognitive strategies that wild primates use in their daily search for food and use observational methods to map the behavior and socio-ecological environment of individual monkeys, apes and humans in multiple populations. I combine these methods with Camera trap, GPS tracking, VR technology and state-of-the art modeling techniques. By implementing my findings in a comparative framework, and by collaborating with field and laboratory researchers and theoretical biologists, I want to increase our understanding of the evolutionary function of foraging cognition and its variation and plasticity. By implementing my knowledge of the daily challenges faced by animals in the natural habitat with observations in ARTIS, I also try to gain a better understanding of the mental well-being of animals in zoos and the effect of this habitat on the development of cognition.
I have supervised and co-supervised the following PhD students
Check my Youtube channel for interviews about my research
I am involved in the following courses and other teaching activities:
Bachelor programme Psychobiology
Supervision of BSc theses
Coordinator and teacher in the following courses in the Minor track Evolutionary Psychobiology:
Bachelor program Cognition, Language and Communication
Teaching in Collegetour
Bachelor and Master programme Biology and Biological Sciences
Supervision of BSc and MSc theses
Teaching in the course Neurobiologie en gedrag
If you are interested in my research aims and would like to do a student research project in the field, ARTIS or with existing data on the behavour of non-human or human animals feel free to contact me and send me a CV and a motivation letter.
If you are interested in my research aims and would like to do a student research project starting a study in the field, ARTIS or with existing data on the cognitive behavour of non-human or human animals feel free to contact me and send me a CV and a motivation letter.