Prime Earth: Latest News

We're into the final countdown, only 4 DAYS left! Help make it happen for the Jackie Prime Project with our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. Contribute today: http:// igg.me/p/278625/twtr Tweet Follow @primejm Tweet to @primejm

Help make it happen for the Jackie Prime Project! Only 15 days left!! Please contribute to our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign: http://igg.me/p/278625 Tweet Follow @primejm Tweet to @primejm

Three years ago I landed in Bangkok, tired from a really long flight from Canada, worried about how I was going to get out of the airport with all my baggage/field equipment, and feeling very aware of the fact that I was completely alone on the other side of the world. Armed with some research equipment, a video camera, and a solid pair of hiking boots, I had arrived in Thailand to begin my PhD research and was moving into the jungle to study primates at UNESCO World Heritage Site, Khao Yai National Park. It was the start of my biggest adventure to date. The for next two years I would live with Thai locals as the only foreign researcher in one of Thailand’s largest, and most celebrated, protected rainforests. And relying only on the kindness of strangers, I had to learn the local language fast and figure out how things worked to make new friends in order to survive so far away from home. I documented my journey in this blog for my friends and family to read, but soon the blog g...

We're raising money to start-up our programs! The Jackie Prime Project is run entirely by volunteers and we need a little extra support to help get things going. So t his weekend we launched our very first fundraising campaign for the Jackie Prime Project!! I t's a global crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo.com, which means anyone can contribute by claiming perks to help us get started as an organisation. You can read the full campaign (and contribute) here: http://igg.me/p/278625   Our goal is to raise $5000.00 and the campaign will run for 47 days.   We are trying to raise start-up funds to help us apply for charity registration, buy some new camera equipment, cover some expenses for our first activities (printing education posters about monkeys & gibbons for Khao Yai, and buying new uniforms for kids in Khao Yai to have for school), and cover travel expenses for a staff trip to Thailand with our student volunteers (3 people will go). ...

Many people ask me how I got into studying gibbons for a living, and quite honestly there is no direct answer to that question, because it wasn’t a direct route. When I was growing up in Burlington, I wanted to be many things: first on the list (so I’m told by my parents) was a “ballerina hockey player” but that’s too far back for me to even remember saying, and I don’t really dance or skate these days so that was probably a bit of a stretch. One clear target that I do know from as far back as I can remember is that I always wanted to get my PhD. By the time I was about 4 or 5 years old, I had firmly established in my mind that I wanted to be called “Dr. Prime” when I grew up because that’s my Dad’s name (he has a PhD in chemistry), and I wanted to be like my Dad. So from the moment I first started school until this very day, that destination has always firmly held the course, and thus likely guided the navigation parameters since then. The rest of the story follows with many sente...

In honour of Jane Goodall's talk in my hometown of Burlington, ON, tonight, I am reposting a piece I wrote about my experience volunteering at the Chimpanzee Human Communication Institute prior to starting grad school titled: "Appearances Can Be Deceiving" Enjoy :) --- One day when I was volunteering at the Chimpanzee Human Communication Institute in Ellensburg, Washington, where Washoe (the famous chimpanzee trained in American Sign Language) and her family live, an argument broke out between the chimps. At the time there were 4 chimps living in the facility, in order of dominance rank: Washoe, her adopted son Loulis, Tatu, and Dar. I was in the observation area recording their independent, seemingly peaceful, behaviour for a paper project conducted by Dr. Mary Lee Jensvold when the tension broke out and chaos ensued. The chimps were screaming loudly, jumping from platforms to the ground, and swinging on fire hoses and tires hung around the enclosure for e...

School is starting once again and for me this is a momentous occasion because it marks the beginning of the last year I’ll ever be in school…as a student. I started school when I was 4 years old and I’ll be ending this epic three decade journey with a new title, a few extra letters around my name, a certified piece of paper in a frame, and a brain so stuffed with information that it mostly just seems like a jumbled muddle of words. I’ve been in Graduate School longer than most of my Thai friends have EVER been in school. And that’s tough to think about. Not because grad school takes forever in Anthropology, but because school is so valuable, yet totally taken for granted in our North American lives that it hurts to stop and consider it in a humanitarian perspective. Most people are impressed when they hear that you’re working on your doctorate in any field of study. Some disciplines have more clout to astonish then others. Anthropology usually gets looks of pleased confusion ( What...

One summer about 15 or so years ago, I was at the cottage making lunch between swimming and soaking up the sun. The local news was on tv reporting about sporting events around the Muskoka area. I wasn’t paying much attention, but I was aware the tv was on, and they were talking about this (relatively unknown at the time) sport called triathlon …still not paying much attention. Apparently there was a big event going on in Muskoka …still not paying attention. And they were talking about this young “up and comer” guy who was this hopeful 'big deal' athlete... or he was already somewhat of a big deal, not totally sure, ‘cause I still wasn’t paying much attention…. But I got that his name was Simon. And when they interviewed him (though to be honest, I can’t fully remember if he said it on tv or I read it in the local paper the next day), he told a story about throwing up on one of the drink stations in the middle of the run, feeling better, and going on to finish the race... an...

One day when I was volunteering at the Chimpanzee Human Communication Institute in Ellensburg, Washington, where Washoe (the famous chimpanzee trained in American Sign Language) and her family live, an argument broke out between the chimps. At the time there were 4 chimps living in the facility, in order of dominance rank: Washoe, her adopted son Loulis, Tatu, and Dar. I was in the observation area recording their independent, seemingly peaceful, behaviour for a paper project conducted by Dr. Mary Lee Jensvold when the tension broke out and chaos ensued. The chimps were screaming loudly, jumping from platforms to the ground, and swinging on fire hoses and tires hung around the enclosure for enrichment; toys and magazines (other enrichment items) were being thrown around as they chased each other around their enclosure. It was an intense moment and all of us humans just observed in awkward silence. I remember everyone stopped what they were doing. A few volunteers and staff we...

When I moved into my field house in Thailand to begin my dissertation research, I wasn’t exactly moving into 5-star lodging for a spectacular vacation. The previous resident had left in a rush and didn’t tidy up before leaving. And the current residents… the rats… hadn’t really kept the place up to pristine sanitation standards, nor were they intent on moving out anytime soon. Field stations are notorious for NOT being the ideal, most comfortable living quarters; oftentimes set up in remote, relatively inaccessible places with no electricity, and sometimes even without access to clean water. My house in Thailand by many standards, relative to other primate field stations my peers and colleagues reside in, actually DOES seem like extraordinary accommodation with 24hr electricity, an outdoor hose with running water (not drinkable, but safe enough to use for cleaning), an indoor toilet in the Thai-style bathroom, and the hot water shower (I installed the second day I arrived). But ...

Script from an actual conversation I recently had (inadvertently) with a few friends. Friend 1: "So, what are you going to do?" Friend 2: "I'll have to do something different... I want it to be.. be... more like... I have to start thinking out-of-the-box like Jackie" Jackie: "What box?" ;) Source: http://www.fromupnorth.com/2011/03/various-quotations-222/ Finishing your PhD is hard work; you spend a great deal of time swimming around in your head, trying not to drown in your thoughts. I’m not sure how successful I have been with this lately. But what’s for certain is that I’m not blogging about it, cause it's been a while since we last chatted, eh. :) I love what I do. I love gibbons. LOVE.THEM. But not every part of doing what you love is that wonderful. Sometimes it can be grueling getting from point A (blissful life in the forest) to point B (back to blissful life in the forest). As many of you know, I haven’t always been a fan o...