Leanne T. Nash
Professor
Ph.D., Physical Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
SHESC Themes: Human Origins, Evolution and Diversity
Field Specializations: Behavior Analysis, Ecology, Physical Anthropology, Primatology
Regional Focus: Africa (East)
Contact: Leanne T. Nash, SHESC 362
Research:
Leanne T. Nash has an undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of California, Davis, and master's and doctoral degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests are in primate social behavior and ecology. She has worked on various species of galagos in South Africa and in East Africa and on Lepilemur in southwest Madagascar. She has also worked on Galago senegalensis in captivity in a colony that was formerly housed at ASU and maintains a continuing research affiliation for work on captive chimpanzees with the Primate Foundation of Arizona.
Nash's topical areas of focus include the relationship of ecological variables to social differences among nocturnal prosimians, the role of gum as a dietary staple in some galagos and other primates and the social development of immatures. The work on captive animals has focused on sex differences in the behavior of immatures and the nature and stability of individual differences (temperament).
Research Projects:
Primate Diversity
Teaching:
Nash teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses. Undergraduate courses include Primatology and Primate Behavior Laboratory, as well as the introductory course in physical anthropology, Bones, Stones and Human Evolution. Graduate courses include Primatology and topical seminars. She serves on or chairs several committees of graduate students.
Nash has also been active in service to national organizations. In particular, she chaired a group that hosted an extremely successful annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Tempe in 2003. That year, she was elected to a three-year term on the AAPA Executive Board.
Select Publications:
Burrows, A. M. & Nash, L. T. (2007). Introduction: Lorisoid evolution, morphology, and behavior. American Journal of Primatology, special issue, 69(1), 1-5.
Burrows, A. M. & Nash, L. T. (Guest Eds.) (2007). Lorisoid evolution, morphology, and behavior. American Journal of Primatology, special issue, 69(1), 1-124.
Nash, L. T. (2007). Illuminating antipredator efforts of nocturnal and cathemeral primates: Moonlight effects on behavior, with special attention to Lepilemur leucopus. In S. L. Gursky & K. A. I. Nekaris (Eds.), Primate anti-predator strategies (pp. 173-205). New York: Springer.
Schaefer, M. S. & Nash, L. T. (2007). Limb growth in captive Galago senegalensis: Getting in shape to be an adult. American Journal of Primatology, 69(1), 104-112.
Kamilar, J. M. & Nash, L. T. (2006). Primates in the Great Northwest. Evolutionary Anthropology, 15(2), 39.
Nash, L. T. (2004). Kinship and behavior among the nongregarious nocturnal prosimians: What do we really know? In B. Chapais & C. Berman (Eds.), Kinship and behavior in primates (pp. 200-222). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Nash, L. T. (2004). Studies of primates in the field and in captivity: Similarities and differences in ethical concerns. In T. R. Turner (Ed.), Ethics in Physical Anthropology (pp. 27-48). Albany: SUNY Press.
Nash, L. T. (2003). Sex differences in the behavior and social interactions of immature Galago senegalensis braccatus. Folia Primatologica, 74(5-6), 285-300.