Comparing Human and Gorilla Families
This summer, UA students and researchers will use the McClelland Institute's Lang Lab and its sophisticated video software analysis system to catalogue and review decades of tapes made of mountain gorillas in Rwanda's Virunga Mountain Region.
The research, under the direction of internationally acclaimed primatologists and authors H. Dieter Steklis, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, U.A. South and Adjunct Professor of Psychology, U.A. South, and his wife, Netzin G. Steklis, a lecturer with the department of Anthropology, will focus on the mountain gorilla's family structure and parenting traits. The project is part of our Fathers, Parenting, and Families Initiative research.
According to Dr. Steklis, there are fewer than 400 mountain gorillas left in the wild. "Gorillas are closely related to us, and live in family groups with silverback males attending the young. Most primate males don't (take care of offspring), so they stand out against others and we believe we can learn from them."
The steklises have spent more than 15 years with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International in Rwanda, and return there each year to continue their research. In fact, Steklis says, both their children have accompanied them to Africa during their work.
They were approaced about joing forces with the McClelland Institue by Bruce J. Ellis, Ph.D., the John & Doris Norton Endowed Chair in Fathers, Parenting, and Families." The research by the Steklis team is important because it adds to our understanding of the role of males - fathers - in families," Dr. Ellis says.
"We saw this as an opportunity to get students involved in our 
research," Steklis adds, "and we hope to make it a really meaningful experience for them as we move forward with this (project)."
For additional information about mountain gorillas, click here.