Dr Aliza le Roux
Photo: Johan Roux

Dr Aliza’s research is not monkey business



Dr Aliza le Roux introduction: video

Dr Aliza le Roux focuses on monkeys, among other things, but her research is no monkey business. The recognition she has earned nationally and internationally is proof of that.

She has received the NRF Thuthuka grant, and a rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF). Previously, she received grants from the Roche Research Foundation as well as several teaching awards at the UFS, including  the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching in 2013.

Dr Le Roux of the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the UFS Qwaqwa Campus is a behavioural ecologist, focusing on the cognitive ecology of wild mammals. She has two primary projects: investigating paternal care in bat-eared foxes in the Kalahari, and studying risk and cognition in samango monkeys in Hogsback.

Her long-term research study on gelada monkeys in Ethiopia has received extensive coverage in the popular press. The study found that, not only do they cheat on their partners, but also they try to find devious ways of covering up what they are doing.

She has published in one of the top-four interdisciplinary journals in the world: Nature Communications. She continues to publish in high impact-factor journals. “Our latest research is showing how previous experience with humans can affect the risks that wild monkeys take, and highlights the intelligence of wild carnivores,” she said.

Dr Le Roux is part of the executive committee of SAYAS (South African Young Academy of Science).  While working at the University of Michigan, she served as chapter treasurer for the Association for Women in Science.