Shirley Strum has had an interest in primitive life since she was a child. This interest was furthered in a number of ways. She successfully pursued it at Stanford University where she earned a PhD in anthropology. This brought her to Kenya where she found a group of baboons nicknamed the Pumphouse Gang. She has studied primates for at least 29 years and has focused on a number of different areas of primate behavior.
Professor Strum teaches a course in “Conservation and the Human Predicament” at the University of California at San Diego during the spring semester. Her specialty is physical anthropology, reflecting her professional training and field experiences. However, most of her time is spent in Kenya where she continues to study baboons. She is also the director of the Uaso Ngiro Baboon Project. In addition, she has developed an appreciation for conservation and has worked to support it. Profession Strum’s work will be of interest to scholars concerned with evolutionary theory regarding human beings. What she has found may help explain and account for some of the characteristics of present-day humans.
References:
- Strum, S. C. (1987). Almost human: A journey into the world of baboons. New York: Random House.
- Strum, S. C., & Fedigan, L. M. (Eds.). (2000). Primate encounters: Models of science, gender, and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Strum, S. C., Lindburg, D. G., & Hamburg, D. (Eds.). (1999). The new physical anthropology: Science, humanism, and critical reflection. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
