ºÚÁÏÉçÇø

Laura Abondano

Education

Ph.D., Biological Anthropology, University of Texas

M.A., Biological Anthropology, University of Texas

B.S., Biology, Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia

Biography

Laura Abondano is a Colombian primatologist and conservationist, researching and advocating for the protection of tropical biodiversity in South America. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. After working for a few years following spider monkeys, she pursued her master's and doctoral degrees in biological anthropology at University of Texas at Austin. Laura currently studies woolly monkeys in Amazonian Ecuador using a combination of field- and laboratory-based methods, such as behavioral observations paired with endocrine and genetic analyses, to understand the underlying factors that influence their reproductive strategies and environmental adaptations. During her time at UT-Austin, she also worked in assessing genetic relatedness of Verreaux’s sifaka in Madagascar. More recently, Laura has been collaborating with Peruvian conservationists in a project that seeks to describe diversity, distribution and habitat use of the mammal community in a montane forest in Cusco. Parallel to her research, Laura works in outreach and education programs aimed at narrowing the gap between scientists and the general public by communicating science in more accessible ways. She has developed bilingual STEM programs for K-12 ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs in Austin. And she has led projects that engage local communities in Colombia and Perú with scientific and conservation efforts to protect biodiversity in the region. In her free time, Laura enjoys being outdoors with her family, biking around Hueston Woods State Park, and putting to practice the techniques she learned recently on a tree climbing course!

Publications

• Abondano, L.A., Webber, A., Valencia, L.M., Gomez-Posada, C., Hending, D., Alfonso-Cortes, and F., Fuentes, N. (2023). Community-based strategies to promote primate conservation in agroecosystems. In M. Rodrigues, S. Waters, and T. McKinney (Eds.), Primates in anthropogenic landscapes: Exploring primate behavioural ecology across human contexts, Springer.  
• Abondano, L.A., Ziegler, T.E., and Di Fiore, A. (2022). Reproductive endocrinology of wild female woolly monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii) during puberty, ovarian cyclicity, and pregnancy. American Journal of Primatology, 84, e23303.  
• Ellis, K., Abondano, L.A., Montes-Rojas, A., Link, A., and Di Fiore, A. (2021). Reproductive seasonality in two sympatric primates (Ateles belzebuth and Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii) from Amazonian Ecuador. American Journal of Primatology, 83(1), e23220.
• Perofsky, A.C., Meyers, L.A., Abondano, L.A., Di Fiore, A., and Lewis, R.J. (2021). Social groups constrain the spatiotemporal dynamics of wild sifaka gut microbiomes. Molecular Ecology, 30, 6759-6775.
• Perofsky, A.C., Lewis, R.J., Abondano, L.A., Di Fiore, A., and Meyers, L.A. (2017). Hierarchical social networks shape gut microbial composition in wild Verreaux’s sifaka. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 284:20172274  
• Alvarez-Solas, S.L., Abondano, L., Di Fiore, A., and Link A. (2016). Deep incursion and use of a mineral lick within a neighboring territory by a group of white-bellied spider monkeys (Ateles belzebuth) in eastern Ecuador. , 23(1):14-18.
• Abondano, L.A. and Link, A. (2012). The Social Behavior of Wild Brown Spider Monkeys (Ateles hybridus) in a Fragmented Forest in Colombia. International Journal of Primatology 33:769–783  

Courses Taught

BIO 121: Environmental Biology

BIO 631: Conservation Science and Community

BIO 634: Issues in Evolution

BIO 656: Environmental Stewardship in My Community

BIO 655: Master Plan in Action

BIO 696: Primate Behavior and Conservation

BIO 675: Inquiry & Action

BIO 681: Galapagos: Islands of Change

ATH 255: Introduction to Biological Anthropology