Hey there, friends, and welcome to episode 228 of Just the Zoo of Us.

This week, I am joined by a special guest who brings us first-hand insight straight from her time spent in the forests of Tanzania,

studying our very own wild cousins, chimpanzees.

On top of fascinating topics like the primate family tree, toe thumbs, termite popsicles, and fear grimaces, our guest shares some really unique experiences like naming chimpanzees, getting punched by one, and having the opportunity to watch them grow and learn in their very own home.

Just the Zoo of Us presents chimpanzees with Shannon Royvis. Hello, everybody. This is Ellen Weatherford with Just the Zoo of Us, your favorite animal review

podcast this week. I am so excited to bring you a brand new friend with an amazing animal to talk about.

This is Shannon Royvis. Say hi, Shannon. Hello. And Shannon, what are your pronouns real

quick? I use she, her pronouns. Thank you so much. I am so excited to talk to you for our friends

listening. Let's get to know you a little bit. What got you into the work that you do with these

really cool animals? Yeah. So I work with chimpanzees, wild chimpanzees in Tanzania,

and all of this really started. I wasn't necessarily an animal kid growing up, but I was a science

kid. I loved biology. And I was always really interested in this relationship between environmental

influences and animals, particularly large

animals. Sorry to all the microbiologists out there, but big respect for what they do. But I always

loved big charismatic animals. And I always really liked the idea of evolution and change over time

and the way that environment shapes species. So I went into my

undergrad degree expecting, you know what, I'm going to try to be a medical doctor. And I'm not here

talking to you about people's health. So shockingly enough, that's not where I ended up. But I went

to Duke University for undergrad and I picked it because of

the Lemur Center there, which I know, as you mentioned, has been featured on the pod before,

great people talking about the lemurs there.

Love Duke Leamer Center.

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