PI: Michael Wasserman
I am associate professor of Anthropology and Human Biology at Indiana University Bloomington, as well as P.I. of the Primate Environmental Endocrinology Lab (PEEL).
From 2013-2016, I was assistant professor of Environmental Science and Policy at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. Prior to that, I was a Tomlinson postdoctoral research fellow and instructor in the Department of Anthropology at McGill University from 2011-2013. I received my PhD from the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2011. My undergraduate degrees are in Anthropology (BA) and Zoology (BS) from the University of Florida.
My research interests include primate ecology and evolution, environmental endocrinology, nutritional anthropology, and conservation and sustainability. I am currently examining ecological and evolutionary relationships between wild primates and exogenous chemicals that interact with the endocrine system, including naturally-occurring phytosteroids and anthropogenic pesticides, with relevance to understanding the roles of endocrine disruptors in primate conservation and modern human morbidity, mortality, and reproduction.
PhD Students
Yasmin Lord
ylord@iu.edu
Yasmin Lord is a fifth year Biological Anthropology PhD student. Yasmin started her research career with studying and working with cetaceans in the Gulf Coast, and has worked at the Potawatomi zoo. Her doctoral research focuses on the impact technology use has on captive primate welfare. Her overall goals are to help bridge and work within zoo and field settings, in order to conserve and reintroduce threatened alloprimate species.
Ashlee Webb
webbash@iu.edu
Isabelle Wagoner
Isabelle is a third year Biological Anthropology PhD student. She earned her BS in Zoology and Anthropology from North Carolina State University in 2020. After that, she worked at Emory University as a lab manager for the SOCAP and Lonsdorf Lab. She has worked with non-human primates for 5 years in wild and captive settings. Her PhD research is related to mate choice in large-bodied apes and animal informatics.
Maire O’Malley
Maire O’Malley is a third year Biological Anthropology PhD student and is simultaneously finishing her master’s from Northern Illinois University. She has a BS in Animal Science from the University of Kentucky and worked with zoo-housed primates for five years across the South and Midwest at various AZA-accredited institutions performing animal welfare research. Maire currently conducts her research in Madagascar and is interested in nutritional ecology, ethno-primatology, detoxification, and conservation.
Diganta Mandal
dmandal@iu.edu
Diganta Mandal from Kolkata, India is a third year Biological Anthropology PhD student. His current research focuses on how anthropogenic activities and biogeographical barriers affect the genetic diversity of Himalayan Langur populations (with the Himalayan Langur Project).
Diganta graduated with his MSc in Biotechnology from St. Xavier’s College in 2022. He started his research journey studying how biogeographical barriers and anthropogenic activities impact the genetic diversity in Asian Elephant populations of NE India for his MSc under Aaranyak, Assam.
Madison Brown
Madison has a BSA from the University of Georgia and is now a dual MSES & MPA student in O’Neil and is studying how pollutants affect the gut microbiome of red colobus monkeys across landscapes. Madison wants to work in wildlife conservation in the United States.
Post-Doctoral Scholars
Elizabeth Coggeshall
ecogges@iu.edu
Coggeshall completed her PhD in Biological Anthropology at Indiana University in July 2026. Her research focuses on care, development, aging, and motherhood across primates and long lived species to understand how mothers and their offspring navigate changing ecological and social environments. Her work centers multispecies caregiving systems, the behaviors, relationships, and physiological processes that support development, resilience, and well-being across generations.
Her post-doctoral research focuses on the (1) interactions between the gut microbiome and exogenous chemicals in wild primates, as well as (2) extending her doctoral work on motherhood in long-lived species.
Dissertation:
MOTHER-OFFSPRING DYNAMICS AND THE GUT MICROBIOME IN SEMNOPITHECUS SCHISTACEUS
Project Managers & Research Assistants
Former Lab Members
Former Post-Docs, PhD Students, Masters Students, Technicians, and Undergraduate Students
