About Michael Reid
Research Interests
Mikes main research interests have to do with studying health and disease in nonhuman primates. He is especially interested in how issues of health and disease influence primate conservation. For his Master's research he studied naturally occurring Plasmodium sp. (the parasite that causes malaria in humans) infections in orphaned orangutans. His group was the first to identify human plasmodia in an orangutan. Mikes PhD. work will continue to investigate issues of health and disease in primates and how these issues can be used to influence conservation decisions.
Research Experience
During late 2004 and early 2005 Mike spent approximately nine months gaining laboratory experience in techniques in molecular biology while analyzing blood samples collected from orangutans housed at the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine. During this time he gained basic training in molecular techniques such as polymerase chain reaction, cloning and bioinformatics. As part his my M.A. research he spent three field seasons in Central Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). His first field season in 2002 was to conduct field recognizance and to gain experience with orangutans. Mikes 2003 field season was when he was collecting and analyzing orangutan blood samples as part of my M.A. research. In 2004 he returned to Indonesia with Dr. Birute Galdikas in order to meet with government officials in an attempt to secure CITES permits to export the orangutan blood samples back to Canada in order to conduct the molecular portion of my thesis work. During this time he was placed in charge of cage enrichment at the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine.
During 2001 he was a participant in a University of Calgary field school at Monkey River, Belize run by Dr. Mary Pavelka. This field school was part of a study on the behavioural ecology of the Belizian black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra). His duties included the collection of behavioural and ecological data on a group of howler monkeys in this research area as well as the collection of forest ecology data as part of a long-term research project.
Mike has also been a research assistant for Dr. Mark Skinner on a 1999 research project studying the intestinal parasites of orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus). As part of this project his duties included library research and liaising with collaborators at the Metro Toronto Zoo. Finally, he was a participant in the 1998 Simon Fraser University field school in Fiji which was co-sponsored by the Fiji National Museum. Mikes duties included aiding in the survey, excavation and recording of archaeological sites in Fiji.
Relevant Activities
Mike has been a teaching assistant seven times during his time as a graduate student. Five of these appointments have been paid and one was voluntary. The courses he has been a teaching assistant for range from introductory physical anthropology, to advanced paleoanthropology, to primate behaviour and instructional design in environmental education. On top of these teaching assistant positions he has also been an invited guest lecturer to many introductory physical anthropology and primate behaviour courses at Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia, Langara College, Capilano College, Douglas College and for various church and adult education groups.
Currently, Mike is the co-chair of the Conservation Committee of the American Society of Primatologists with Dr. Kim Phillips. From 2002-2006 he was a member of this grant issuing committee. His duties included reviewing grant proposals, fund raising and the discussion of primate conservation issues.
Mike was elected chair of the Simon Fraser University Archaeology Graduate Student Caucus for the period from September 2004 to August 2005. He was also the elected president of the Simon Fraser University Archaeology Student Society from January 1999 until my graduation in April 2000. In 2004, Mike was an active participant in the conference on great ape disease in Leipzig, Germany at which the Great Ape Health Monitoring Unit (GAHMU) was established. Mike has also been a peer reviewer for the American Journal of Primatology and for the Special Topics in Primatology book series published by the American Society of Primatologists.