Milena Romano: Dietary Diversity and Brain Size Across Primates

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This project involved reviewing scholarly articles and research studies analyzing primate diets. Milena focused on compiling and categorizing information on primates, such as dietary intake, species, and brain size, to determine their relationships. Here is what Milena had to say about the experience:

What I Did:

"For my mentored research project, I collected data from previously published research papers regarding primate diets. I categorized the percentages of each food item within each primate's diet, and then further categorized the primates into specialists and generalists. The generalist species ate multiple food items, and did not have one item making up over 50% of their diet, whereas the specialists ate one food item that made up over 50% of their diet. I then used the data to correlate brain size of the primate to its diet, where I found that specialist species tend to have a larger brain size than generalists."

"The accomplishment that I am most proud of is presenting my research project at a primatology conference, because it allowed me to share my work but also develop professional skills for my future. I developed presentation, communication, and computer skills throughout this project that I had not previously had. Overall, this project has allowed me to conduct research which I hope to do in my future academic and professional career. I think other students should get involved in projects like this because it helps you develop skills outside of a classroom and interact with different kinds of people, which allows for personal growth as an academic and professional."

What I Learned:

"Since completing this research project, I've had the opportunity to develop skills in several areas. Upon collecting data for analysis, I became more proficient in searching for and reading published research papers. I developed the ability to use databases such as google scholar and the UB library databases when looking for specific research papers. I also became proficient in using computer softwares such as R, and Microsoft excel. I used these computer programs to organize and categorize data, as well as code data to produce certain graphs, such as box plots and linear regressions. By gaining the ability to use these various research tools and computer programs, I have applied the skills to help me with classwork and hope to continue to use them in the future for my career.

"I also have developed my abilities to communicate with those collaborating and aiding with me on the project. I gained these abilities by setting meetings with my mentor and colleagues, whether it be in person or a Zoom meeting, and using email and What's app as a primary source of electronic communication. These multiple forms of communication allowed my mentor, group and I to stay in frequent communication and share documents, data, and instructions for computer programs. In the future, I hope to apply these skills to any form of teamwork, as it makes completing the project more efficient and limits the amount of errors that may arise, due to others being able to double-check the work done."