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CURRENT

Maddie Thall
Class of 2022

Maddie with her dog, Maisey

Hi! My name is Maddie, and I graduated as a psychology major with the class of 2022. My favorite thing about working in the lab has been getting to know our monkeys on an individual level. When I started working here during my sophomore year, I didn't think I would ever be able to tell them apart. Now, it's a no-brainer. Encore and Forté are twins, and although it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish them when watching over the cameras, it is still so obvious to me who is who - Forté will always be the one climbing upside down on the ceiling. It's knowing these little quirks that brings me so much joy. I have grown so much as a person, scientist, and researcher during my time here. For my senior thesis project, I conducted a study with the tamarins exploring resilience and its behavioral indicators. This research experience has given me the foundation and confidence to pursue primate research as I make my way to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. There, I will transition from the lab to the field as I earn my PhD in anthropology (biological). Working in our lab has been one of the most pivotal and rewarding experiences of my life, and I am grateful every day to come into work, knowing that I am doing what I love. 

PAST

Chris Leppink-Shands

Class of 2019
My name is Chris Leppink-Shands. I graduated from Carleton in 2019 with a major in Psychology and minors in both Cognitive Science and Neuroscience. I worked in the primate cognition lab as a student during both my junior and senior years of college as well as 2 additional years after I graduated. I had the pleasure of working with 9 different monkeys during my time there and I am confident in my ability to identify each of them by photo alone if I had to. Working with the monkeys and Julie and all of my other lab mates was a life changing opportunity. I loved always feeling like I was doing something valuable and unique. The thing I enjoyed most about the lab was learning each of the monkeys personalities and quirks. I also treasure Julie's leadership and the connections I was able to make with all of the other students in the lab. I left the lab after 4 years to pursue a career in college admissions and now I work as an Admissions Officer for Carleton. I still love to talk about the monkey lab with prospective students, especially those interested in engaging with Carleton's research opportunities.

Ana Knighten

anaknightenphoto.jpeg
Class of 2020
My name is Ana Knighten. I graduated from Carleton in 2020 with a major in Cognitive Science and a minor in Arabic. My experiences at Carleton and especially in the Primate lab taught me how to conduct research and allowed me to explore my interests in cognition and behavior. I started working in the primate lab during my sophomore year and came back after graduation for another year. For my senior thesis, I studied the tamarin’s abilities to make inferences about the location of hidden rewards. After graduation, I joined AmeriCorps and worked as a reading tutor for Minnesota Reading Corps for two years. In the fall of 2022, I enrolled in the Master of Arts in Psychological Sciences Clinical-Counseling program at the University of Minnesota Duluth. I’m glad I had the opportunity to work in the Primate lab, because the skills I learned there prepared me for my current path.
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