[2] The main subject of her research is the Northern Muriqui, a type of spider monkey found in Brazil.

She went to Harvard University for graduate study in anthropology, earning a master's degree there in 1981 and completing her doctorate in 1986.

Her work focuses on the Northern Muriqui, with the intention of finding cross-species trends in behavior and population viability as individual primate species' territory in the region has come to shrink and overlap.

[5] Her research conducted in the field was some of the first of its kind to focus on New World monkeys, and her 1999 book Primate Behavioral Ecology is still considered the authoritative text on the subject.

[9] She has served a role in making ecological education and preservation a greater priority of Brazil's government and international conservation efforts.