NSF International Research Experience for Students Program
Behavior, Ecology and Conservation Research Opportunity in Argentina
May 26-July 18, 2025
U.S students are encouraged to apply to participate in the NSF International Research Experience for Students (IRES) Program titled “Behavioral Ecology, Demography and Conservation of Primates in the Humid Chaco of Argentina”.
We are seeking six (6) undergrad students to join us in a yearlong program that includes preparatory training during the Spring, field research during 8-weeks (May 26-July 18, 2025) and data analyses and writing up of results during the following fall. Participants in the program will conduct research on animal behavior, ecology, and conservation in Formosa, a province located in northeast Argentina. Our field site is located in Estancia Guaycolec (~25 kms from Formosa city), a 25,000 ha cattle ranch in the Humid Chaco ecoregion. The Humid Chaco is comprised of a mosaic of dense gallery forests, palm savannahs, and wetlands and is home to some of South America’s most charismatic megafauna such as capybaras, tapirs, giant anteaters, howler monkeys, ocelots, pumas, rheas, deer, peccaries, toucans, maned wolves and, of course, owl monkeys.
The student educational research activities will be developed within the Owl Monkey Project of Argentina (OMP), an international multidisciplinary program started in 1996. Owl monkeys are one of the few pair-living and sexually monogamous primates in the world, and one of two primates with the most extreme forms of paternal care among mammals. Nocturnal in most of Central and South America, in Argentina they are active day and night, and the program will focus on studying them during the day. Thus, they have become a model system for the study of the evolution of diurnality/nocturnality and activity patterns, pair bonding and monogamy, and infant care in the scientific literature.
The individual student projects will be expected to answer specific questions about the behavior of one species, comparing the behavior of two different species, or testing an explanatory hypothesis in relation to behavior, physiology or conservation, while focusing on the dynamics of intra- and inter-specific competition and of predation pressure in owl monkeys. Ultimately, this will contribute to advance our understanding of the mechanisms and evolution of monogamy, pair-bonding, and bi-parental care.
In the spring prior to traveling to the field site, IRES participants will attend four 3-hour virtual meetings led by PI Fernandez-Duque and the co-Director of the Owl Monkey Project, Dr. Alba García de la Chica (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina). These meetings will introduce them to key concepts in primate behavior and ecology, prepare them for fieldwork, and enable them to design high-quality feasible research projects.
Participants will conduct their individual research projects under the guidance and mentoring of Fernandez-Duque and García de la Chica and additional collaborators from Argentinean universities. The PIs and foreign collaborators will all be at the field site and will take responsibility for advising IRES participants as they plan their studies and the collect data.
On a day-to-day basis, participants can expect to work closely with one another and undergraduate students from a variety of institutions. They will also have the opportunity to work with, and learn from, graduate students, postdocs, collaborators from the local university in Formosa, and assistants from the US, Argentina, and other countries during their time in the field.
Back in the US, participants will participate in three monthly interactive virtual workshops, during which the PIs will provide guidance for completing final data analyses and interpreting and effectively displaying results.
Participant support
The program will cover domestic and international travel to and from the field site, lodging and transportation (participants will purchase their own groceries). Participants will also receive a $4,000 stipend; a first payment will be provided before the program begins, the remaining payments will be made through the program and when it finishes.
Qualifications
Required
⇒ US Citizenship or Permanent Resident; Freshman/Sophomore/Junior students at time of application.
⇒ Some coursework or experience in primatology, animal behavior, ecology, biology, environmental studies, or biological anthropology and a capacity for working independently.
⇒ Ability to work and live in a remote field site with limited utilities (no internet, bathrooms, or electricity) for up to one full week at a time.
⇒ Good social and cooperation skills and profound sensitivity and respect to foreign cultures and your coworkers.
⇒ Health and Medical Record and Release Form (it will be provided to accepted applicants).
Preferred
⇒ Spanish is not required, but basic knowledge would make your life easier and more fun.
⇒ Students from underrepresented minorities (male students are a minority in primatology, biological anthropology and behavioral ecology).
⇒ Previous research experience.
⇒ Relevant coursework completed Animal Behavior, Ecology, Behavioral Ecology, Evolution, Physiology, and Statistics.
To apply
Interested applicants should apply by completing the Google Form “NSF-IRES Summer 2025, Behavior, Ecology and Conservation Research Opportunity in Argentina” available at: Application Form
As part of the form, the applicant needs to upload the following:
a letter of interest describing your interest in the project and how it pertains to your current academic and career goals.
a CV or résumé that includes a list of any relevant coursework, prior research, or fieldwork experiences, and international travel experiences and names of two references and their contact information (including phone number and email address).
We will review applications on a rolling basis, only applications submitted on time will be considered.