About me. Jolinde Vlaeyen.
From a young age, I have felt attached to nature and animals, not understanding the disrespect towards the environment. This triggered an interest in animal welfare and conservation, leading to an enhanced curiosity in animal behaviour.
I therefore decided to go into academia with the goal to put animal intelligence in a broader spectrum, so that we as humans, gain more respect for animals.
Through my volunteering and research projects in Kenya, Cape Verde, Australia, and the USA, I have had the joy to combine studies on captive apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos) and wild cetaceans (snubfin dolphins and bottlenose dolphins).
Seeing so many similarities between both taxa, it fostered a particular interest into bridging the gap between primatology and marine mammal science. Particularly, investigating cooperation, social cognition, social learning, and emotions.
As I never grew out of the why phase, continuing in academia only seems logical.
Currently, I am a PhD Candidate under supervison by Dr. Simone Pika at Osnabrück University, studying the communicative turn-taking skills of wild bonobos and wild dolphins.
