Alex Pritchard (he/him)
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pritcharda.bsky.social
Alex Pritchard (he/him)
@pritcharda.bsky.social
Postdoctoral Scholar @ UCDavis.

SNA | decision making | uncertainty | sociality | interdisciplinary | individual differences | experiments | multi-methods
Development is lots of 'figuring things out'!

But, how do we understand relationships as infants transition away from play🙃? Is play a precursor to other social behaviors, or is proximity or contact🤗 more reflective of partner choice?

Read our new work!
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Delineating connectivity and quality of peer–peer pre-pubescent rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) relationships, by examining coupled social behaviours | Royal Society Open Science
Infant experiences have lifetime implications for individuals’ social competence. Therefore, lifelong trajectories can be informed by a nuanced understanding of who developing individuals connect with...
royalsocietypublishing.org
October 27, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Alex Pritchard (he/him)
🚨 New paper! 🚨

🐒 White-faced capuchins experience high rates of infanticide.

🐒 Infanticide is costly to female reproduction.

🐒 Do females exhibit the Bruce effect (termination of pregnancy) to reduce these costs?

🐒 Spoiler: Nope!

Read more ▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
September 24, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Combining multiple behavioral measures of social relationships can reveal stronger associations with biomarkers of health! From @vanditto.bsky.social and the McCowan-Vandeleest lab.
March 25, 2025 at 7:18 PM
New paper from Nalina Aiempichitkijkarn, who recently graduated from the McCowan-Vandeleest laboratory. She is now a postdoc @ California State University, Long Beach!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Assessing the Sociodemographic Factors Associated With Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex Infection Among Free‐Ranging Long‐Tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in Thailand
This study combines behavioral observations with noninvasive biological sample collection, using freshly defecated feces and rope-baited oral cells, to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
March 21, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Excited to share the outcomes of our new paper introducing predictability to group management practices. A challenging endeavor, because management practices often share unreliable cues.

Really happy with how this turned out, possible through lots of support!

authors.elsevier.com/a/1khW2cF2Ow...
authors.elsevier.com
March 3, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Reposted by Alex Pritchard (he/him)
NSF APPEX invites Seed Ideas for new Working Groups to tackle pandemic risk & response. Have a bold idea to study pandemic expansion? We want to work with you! Learn more: appex.org/seed/
January 24, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Personality has been one of my favorite topics to research. I was thrilled at the opportunity to publish on personality ratings from three species of wild macaques!

Multisite field studies, like this one, are a rarity.
NSF-Funded
Out Now! doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Personality trait structures across three species of Macaca, using survey ratings of responses to conspecifics and humans
Comparative studies reliant on single personality surveys to rate wild primates are scarce yet remain critical for developing a holistic comparative understanding of personality. Differences in survey...
doi.org
October 31, 2024 at 9:07 PM
Are you a primate researcher? Please consider contributing to our research survey! Add your knowledge of direct, indirect, or absent human-primate interactions at sites you have visited.

Just 15 minutes of your time!
Human-Nonhuman Primate Interactions
This survey has been designed to collect information on the diversity of emergent and shared histories of human-nonhuman primate (NHP) interactions, at sites that responding primate researchers freque...
bit.ly
November 20, 2023 at 5:31 PM