Prime Earth: Latest News

We are finally here! After months of planning, Josh and I touched down in Suvarnabumhi late Thursday night and made our way out of the airport to our hostel for some much needed sleep after a long journey! For the past two days we've been puttering around Bangkok going to the malls and markets to pick up supplies for the rest of our stay in Khao Yai. It's been an interesting two days, I'm absolutely amazed by how many things have changed since I left in such a short time, just over a year and a half ago. Mostly it's just new construction: new renovations to the malls, new sky scrappers, new stores, new streets and roadways. But the people and the atmosphere is still the same: friendly faces, intense heat and lots of traffic noise. We start the trek out to Khao Yai in about two hours, and may not have internet access for a few days to a week, but I will continue to post more updates as frequently as I can. Can't wait to get back and see all my friends again, ...

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...