Katie Feilen

Education

Ph.D., Biological Anthropology, University of California-Davis

M.A., Biological Anthropology, University of California-Davis

B.S., Biology and Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Biographical Information

As a primatologist and conservation biologist, she has studied 12 monkey species on three continents. She has lived and worked internationally for over five years, including teaching environmental education with Peace Corps Paraguay, studying white-faced capuchins in Costa Rica, teaching Peruvian college students tropical ecology and conservation in the Amazon, and studying seven primate species in the rainforest of Indonesian Borneo. Katie received an M.A. and Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology from the University of California-Davis and a B.S. in Biology and Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She uses behavior, ecology, and evolution to help understand how primates (monkeys, apes, and lemurs) adapt to changes in their environments and how we can use the scientific understanding of species to assist in their conservation. She engages the Oxford, Ohio community in conversations about climate change through art and inquiry-based science lesson plans. She also supports K12 teacher professional development programs that connect students and teachers to local and global conservation issues and increase the use of inquiry in science classrooms.  

Selected Publications

• Marshall, A.J., Farr, M., Beaudrot, L., Zipkin, E., Feilen, K.L., Bell, L., Setiawan, E., Susanto, T., Mitra, S. T., Leighton, M., Wittmer, H. (2021). Long-term fluctuations in orangutan dispersion along an elevational and productivity gradient. Oecologia. 196: 707-721. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-04964-1 

• Feilen, K.L., and Marshall, A.J. 2020. Responses to spatial and temporal variation in food availability on the feeding ecology of proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Folia Primatologica. DOI: 10.1159/000504362

• Feilen, K.L., Guillen, R., Vega, J., and Savage, A. 2018. Developing successful conservation education programs as a means to engage local communities in protecting cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) in Colombia. Journal of Nature Conservation. 41: 44-50. DOI:10.1016/j.jnc.2017.10.003 

• Clink, D.J., Dillis, C., Feilen, K.L., Beaudrot, L., and Marshall, A.J. 2017. Dietary diversity, feeding selectivity, and responses to fruit scarcity of two sympatric Bornean primates (Hylobates albibarbis and Presbytis rubicunda rubida). PLoS ONE. E 12(3): e0173369. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0173369

• Feilen, K.L., and Marshall, A.J. 2017. Multiple ecological factors influence the sleeping site selection of proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus). International Journal of Primatology. 38(3): 448-465. DOI:10.1007/s10764-017-9953-1

• Savage, A., Thomas, L., Feilen, K.L., Kidney, D., Soto, L.L., Pearson, M.J., Medina, F.S., Emeris, G., and Guillen, R. 2016. An assessment of the population of cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) and their habitat in Colombia. PLoS ONE 11(12): e0168324. DOI:10.1371/journal. pone.0168324 

• Dillis, C., Beaudrot, L., Feilen, K.L., Clink, D.J., Whittmer, H.U., and Marshall, A.J. 2015. Modeling the ecological and phenological predictors of fruit consumption by gibbons (Hylobates albibarbis). Biotropica 47(1): 85-93. DOI:10.1111/btp.12176

• Feilen, K.L., and Marshall, A.J. 2014. Sleeping site selection by proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. American Journal of Primatology. 76: 1127–1139. DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22298.

• Marshall, A.J., Boyko, C.M., Feilen, K.L., Boyko, R.H., and Leighton, M. 2009. Defining fallback foods and considering their importance in primate ecology and evolution. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 140(4): 603-614.

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Courses Taught

• BIO 121 Environmental Biology
• BIO 206 Evolutionary Biology
• BIO 620 Book Discussion with Denver Zoological Foundation
• BIO 631 Conservation Science and Community
• BIO 633 Issues in Biodiversity
• BIO 634 Issues in Evolution
• BIO 636 Science Leadership Media Workshop
• BIO 640 Internship
• BIO 641 Connected Conservation
• BIO 646 Borneo: Primate Conservation
• BIO 656 Environmental Stewardship in My Community
• BIO 667 Conservation Research at Living Collection Institutions
• BIO 675 Inquiry & Action
• BIO 677 Independent Study with the Advanced Inquiry Program
• BIO 696 Primate Behavior and Conservation
• BIO 699 Brazil: Saving Golden Lion Tamarins