Assistant Professor Director, Primate Behavioral Ecology Lab My research goals are to understand proximate and ultimate mechanisms underlying primate communication, cognition, and sociality, and to advance primate conservation. My current work on animal communication aims to advance our understanding of how dominance style relates to vocal usage and evolution. I focus on constraints and flexibility in structure and function of vocal signals, the selective forces that shape them and the cognitive abilities behind their use by assessing the function of other gorilla vocalizations and by exploring the flexibility of gorilla vocal behavior in the context of interspecies communication at the Zoo Atlanta. In collaboration with other researchers, our work in Sri Lanka analyzes mixed species associations and presents the first observational data supporting natural hybridization between critically endangered and threatened primate species. Further collaborative research efforts in Brazil highlights the importance of conservation of land features to the survival of threatened primate species. Research Research Interests: Ape communication Bioacoustics Heterospecific vocal recognition Hybridization Interspecies associations Forest fragmentation Primate conservation Primate traditions Ethnoprimatology Spatial and social cognition Ecotourism Primate behavioral ecology Labs: Primate Behavioral Ecology Lab Selected Publications Selected Publications: Salmi, R., Rahman, U., & Doran-Sheehy, D. M. (2016). Hand preference for a novel bimanual coordinated task during termite feeding in wild western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, 37(2), 200-212. doi: 10.1007/s10764-016-9894-0 Salmi, R., & Doran-Sheehy, D. M. (2014). The Function of Loud Calls (Hoot Series) in Wild Western Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 155(3), 379-391. doi:10.1002/ajpa.22575 Salmi, R., Hammerschmidt, K., & Doran-Sheehy, D. M. (2013). Western Gorilla Vocal Repertoire and Contextual Use of Vocalizations. ETHOLOGY, 119(10), 831-847. doi:10.1111/eth.12122 Education Education: PhD, Anthropology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 2013
