Auditorium Theatre 2019-2020 Adventures Among Orangutans

2 | ADVENTURES AMONG ORANGUTANS | MARCH 10, 2020 ABOUT CHERYL KNOTT AND TIM LAMAN Cheryl Knott is an associate professor of anthropology at Boston University, where she integrates scientific research about orangutan biology and ecology with conservation programs aimed at the preservation of orangutans and their habitats. Knott pioneered innovative techniques to measure hormones, calories, and physiology in wild orangutans while earning her PhD at Harvard University. In 2000, Knott co-founded the Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program, which works to protect the orangutan population and its rainforest habitat in the Gunung Palung National Park on the island of Borneo, one of only a handful of places in the world where orangutans can be studied in the wild. Knott was named as a member of the inaugural class of National Geographic Emerging Explorer in 2004. She has been the recipient of numerous research and conservation grants from the National Geographic Society and has published over 50 scientific articles. Tim Laman is a field biologist, photographer, and filmmaker. Since earning his PhD in biology from Harvard University, his cameras have become his main tools for telling the stories of rare and endangered wildlife, revealing some of the planet’s wildest places. Laman has received 10 grants from the National Geographic Society for his scientific expeditions to remote parts of Borneo, Australia, and New Guinea, and has published more than 20 stories in National Geographic. He continues his long-term exploration of birds-of-paradise in collaboration with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. He has been making forrays into wildlife cinematography, shooting for the BBC’s Planet Earth II and other projects. Laman has received many top photography awards and was named the Wildlife Photographer of the Year by the National History Museum in London in 2016. Husband-and-wife duo Cheryl Knott and Tim Laman have been observing and researching orangutans for over 25 years. TIM LAMAN TIM LAMAN