For prospective students
If you think you might be interested in joining us, please read the following and get in touch. I am able to take students through the Evolutionary Anthropology Department, the Duke University Program in Genetics & Genomics, and the Duke University Program in Ecology.
Work in the Tung lab focuses on the intersection between behavior, social structure, genetics, and evolution, primarily in nonhuman primates. Our work draws on multiple kinds of data sets, including long-term behavioral observations, life history and demographic data, and social environmental manipulations in captive animals. However, almost every project we pursue involves the collection and analysis of genetic/genomic data. Thus, students in the lab will almost certainly spend a substantial amount of time both at the bench and at the computer (with field work a potential possibility, depending on the project). I am therefore particularly interested in students who have a strong quantitative background and/or are committed to developing skills in statistics, data analysis, and basic programming.
If this sounds like fun to you, read through some of our recent publications, think about what kinds of projects you might generally want to pursue (see our current research interests), and drop me a line. Please send a current CV and give me a sense of why you are interested in graduate school and what you hope to study.
Thanks for your interest!