Cheryl Knott

Professor, Boston University

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Research
Cheryl D. Knott
Conservation
- Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program
- Save Wild Orangutans Initiative
People
News
- Upcoming Events
Diversity & Inclusion

Research
Cheryl D. Knott
Conservation
- Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program
- Save Wild Orangutans Initiative
People
News
- Upcoming Events
Diversity & Inclusion

People

Meet the Knott Lab and Field Team!

Postdoctoral Associates and Graduate Students

Undergraduate Students

RECENT NEWS

Gunung Palung National Park is currently under threat from forest fires. An article in the Guardian newspaper came out on September 15, 2026 about the threat to the Rangkong Research Station. Please go to this link if you wish to contribute to our Firefighting Fund.
Cheryl Knott has been named a Radcliffe Fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies where she will be based in 2025-2026.
Zoe Albert Miller defended her doctoral dissertation titled The Gut Microbiome as a Potential Modulator of Energetic Stress in Bornean Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) on April 10, 2026. Congratulations Dr. Albert Miller!
Cheryl Knott was an author on a paper by Emily Orlikoff and other colleagues on Terrestrial positional behavior of wild Pongo pygmaeus, published in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology in April 2026.
Faye Harwell along with Erin Kane Wahyu Susanto Cheryl Knott and colleagues published a paper on Sex differences in estimated lean body mass of captive and wild orangutans in the January 2026 issue of the American Journal of Biological Anthropology.
Cheryl Knott was an author on a paper by led by Serge Wich and colleagues on Using deep learning to automate orangutan nest detections on aerial images collected with drones, published in the American Journal of Primatology in December 2025.
Amy Scott, along with Maddie Hurysz, Caitlin O'Connell, Wahyu Susanto and Cheryl Knott published a paper in the September 2025 issue of Ethology on A case of sibling adoption in wild orangutans: Accelerated development of independence following maternal loss.
At the 95th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Los Angeles, CA, in March 2026, current and former lab members presented the following talks and posters:
- Laura Brubaker-Wittman presented a paper with co-authors TW Susanto, T Mitra Setia & CD Knott on Measuring the cost of being watched: Urinary cortisol patterns during the habituation process in Bornean orangutans.
- Amy Scott, along with C O'Connell, TW Susanto, T Mitra Setia and CD Knott presented a paper on Female choice via consortships in Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii).
- Frank Short presented a paper on Listening and learning: comparing passive acoustic and nest survey correlates of Bornean orangutan population density, with co-authors E Barrow, R Kasianus, H Gunawan, E Rahman, E Sulidra, AM Scott, TW Susanto T Mitra Setia and CD Knott.
At the 11th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists (NEEP), in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (November 2025), Undergraduate student and UROP recipient Alexander Pissios presented a paper on Evaluation of the extent of Bornean Bearded Pig population collapse due to African swine flu. Co-authors and mentors were AM Scott, TW Susanto, T Mitra Setia and CD Knott.
Yayasan Palung/GPOCP staff member Robi Kasianus presented a paper on Enhancing Orangutan Habitat Protection Through Patrol and Law Enforcement at the 30th International Primatological Congress in Madagascar along with co-authors Beth Barrow, Hendri Gunawan, Mahendra, Sukrianto, Caitlin O'Connell, Edi Rahman, Wahyu Susanto and Cheryl Knott. Robi also was awarded a pre-congress training program fellowship.
On June 23, 2025, we held a symposium on 40 Years with Nature: Research and Conservation in Harmony in Sukadana, Indonesia, where Cheryl Knott delivered a talk on 30 Years of The Gunung Palung Orangutan Project. The symposium was followed by a site visit for participants.
Laura Brubaker-Wittman defended her doctoral dissertation titled A Mixed Methods Study of the Habituation Process in Wild Bornean Orangutans in West Kalimantan, Indonesia on April 8, 2025. Congratulations Dr. Brubaker-Wittman!
Cheryl Knott was named a Distinguished Professor of Arts & Sciences at Boston University

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