Assistant Professor of Psychology and Anthropology; Core Assay Facility Director
Ph.D. Washington University
Area: Biopsychology

Contact Information

Email: jbeehner@umich.edu
Psychology Office: 3026 East Hall
Psychology Phone: 734-764-2415

Research and Teaching Interests

My research has centered on the physiology that underlies behavioral stress, aggression, social status, and mate choice in non-human primates. The short-term objectives of my research are to understand the causal connections between social conditions and individual variation in physiology. My long-term research goals are to identify some of the cognitive aspects of hormonal control for non-human primates. For example, what is the role of psychological vs. physical stressors in the lives of these primates? What sorts of cues do individuals use to size up a rival or choose a mate? What role do hormones play in these decisions? Most of my research has been conducted on wild baboons in Ethiopia and Botswana. A field-based approach allows me to observe the interactions of hormones and behavior within the selective environment under which the physiological responses evolved. I combine non-invasive methods of behavioral data collection with fecal hormone extraction from habituated, known individuals. Currently, I am investigating these questions on a group of gelada baboons (Theropithecus gelada) living in the Simiens Mountains National Park of Ethiopia. Gelada baboons are unique among cercopithecine primates because they live in extremely large social groups and have a diverse array of vocal and visual signals that may be mediated by steroid hormones.

 

Representative Publications

• Beehner JC, Onderdonk DA, Alberts SC, Altmann J. (2006) The ecology of conception and pregnancy failure in wild baboons. Behavioral Ecology. 17:741-740.
• Beehner JC, Nguyen N, Wango EO, Alberts SC, Altmann J. (2006) The endocrinology of pregnancy and fetal loss in wild baboons. Hormones and Behavior. 49:688-699.
• Beehner JC, Bergman TJ, Cheney DL, Seyfarth RM, Whitten PL. (2006) Testosterone predicts future dominance rank and mating activity among male chacma baboons, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 59:469-479.
• Beehner JC, Bergman TJ, Cheney DL, Seyfarth RM, Whitten PL. (2005) Effects of male social instability of female glucocorticoid levels in chacma baboons. Animal Behaviour, 69:1211-1221.
• Beehner JC, Phillips-Conroy JE, Whitten PL. (2005) Female testosterone, dominance rank, and aggression in an Ethiopian population of hybrid baboons. American Journal of Primatology, 67:101-119.
• Beehner JC, Whitten PL. (2004) Modifications of a field method for fecal steroid analysis in baboons. Physiology & Behavior, 82:269-277.

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