Dr. Stephanie Poindexter is a biological anthropologist at the University of Buffalo specializing in primatology. Doctor Poindexter conducts field, lab, and desk-based research into how primates use and navigate their habitats. More specifically, Doctor Poindexter investigates primate movement, morphology, and cognition. Of particular interest is the slow loris. Dr. Poindexter investigates how the environment, other animals, and their own cognitive and physical capacities influence the nocturnal slow loris's movement.
In this episode, we learn how Dr. Poindexter loved primates as a child, planned for medical school, then rediscovered and fell in love with primatology as an undergrad. We also learn how Dr. Poindexter came to specialize in the slow loris, and how she expands the scope of thinking about evolutionary drivers of movement and cognition.