Dr. Charles Nunn, Associate Adjunct Professor

Dr. Charlie Nunn with a giant baobob tree, Madagascar.

Dr. Nunn's research interests include the ecology and evolution of infectious disease in primates and other mammals.

Ecology, Social Systems, & Infectious Disease

Dr. Nunn is studying the ecological factors that influence mammalian mating and social systems. He is specifically researching three major questions: how behavior and ecological factors influence disease risk; what the social and mating systems are that affect the spread of infectious diseases; and how comparative methods can be used to study the evolution of traits in two lineages, such as hosts and parasites.

In addition to addressing these fundamental questions, Dr. Nunn is using his research to conserve biodiversity and improve human health. Dr. Nunn has been conducting field and comparative research to investigate the global distribution of disease risk, behavioral counterstrategies to infectious disease, and emerging infectious diseases. (See map below.)

(Click on map to see a larger view.)
Gap analysis: Distribution of sampling for parasites in primates in relation to primate range and threat status. Hopkins and Nunn

An Integrative Approach

Dr. Nunn applies an integrative approach to his work by using phylogenetic comparative methods, computer simulation and field research. This broad approach not only allows for collabarations with other researchers, but also integrates variation at multiple levels of biological organization.

 

Why did you decide to become a scientist?

I was pulled toward becoming a scientist throughout my life, and I was especially attracted to evolutionary biology and its power to explain organismal diversity. I initially rejected this path for a more practical one by focusing on economics and a career in financial markets. I worked for one year on Wall Street - and I even called graduate programs to request application materials from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange! Luckily I was able to change my career path by joining the PhD program in Biological Anthropology at Duke University. For me, the thrill of discovery - and the opportunity to explore the questions that interest me most - led me to to a scientific career, and I have never regretted that decision.

What led you to the questions you are now investigating in your research?

As a PhD student in the 1990's, I conducted research on primates, focusing in particular on the evolution of behavior in broad phylogenetic context. Many ecological factors influence behavioral variation across primate species, including competition for food and predation risk. I quickly realized that infectious disease was missing from this list. For example, we might expect that infectious disease risk would increase when primates live at higher population density, or if they live closer to the equator.

I therefore worked with epidemiologists and parasitologists to create a comprehensive database on the parasites of primates and other mammalian groups (http://www.mammalparasites.org/ ). I used this database to address a variety of basic questions, including those just listed (by the way, both host density and latitude influence parasite diversity in primates!). And each result led to more questions, including links between sleep and disease risk, the ecology of emerging infectious diseases, and the conservation implications of disease.

What do you enjoy most about your research?

I enjoy many things about research - and one of the things that I most enjoy is that the list of pleasures is constantly shifting! Always high on the list is the thrill of new discoveries - whether this involves analysis of a new data set, seeing a species of animal in the wild for the first time, or traveling to a new, exotic place. I am also surprised by how collaborative and interactive science is, and how enjoyable this can be. Indeed, there are few things more exciting than teaming up with another scientist and making an advance that neither of us could have made on our own.

For more information, see:

Nunn's IB Research Interests Page

Nunn's Research at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

March / April 2008

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