Introducing school pupils to primate studies
- Bob Tolliday
- Mar 31
- 1 min read
UK researchers working on monkey behavioural studies were among the presenters at an EU science event, in Brussels, attended by 5,000 schoolchildren.
The team from Newcastle University and the University of Portsmouth were at Science is Wonderful!, an annual fair where scientists can engage with young audiences, organised by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA).
The interactive display was designed to introduce schoolchildren to the cognitive abilities of primates and highlight the need for conservation.
Visitors to the booth took part in several activities including one run by Francesca De Petrillo, a cognitive primatologist at Newcastle, that introduced visitors to a logic game demonstrating how monkeys, like humans, make decisions based on probabilities.
“I have always deeply enjoyed engaging children with science, especially animal behaviour, and it was truly fantastic to see so many young minds excitedly interacting with science,” she said.
Meanwhile, Jerome Micheletta, from the Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology at Portsmouth, guided students through a game to decipher macaque facial expressions, to help us understand how primates communicate.
Dr Micheletta also showed Ekaterina Zaharieva (both pictured), the EU Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, around the booth.
