Dr Michael Huffman

Dr Michael A. Huffman is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Social Behavior, and current director of the Center for Collaborative Research and Advanced Studies in Primatology at the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University, Japan.  Huffman received tenure at the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University in 2001, where he remains today.  A native of Denver Colorado, he started his career in primatology as an undergraduate in 1979 with a field study on wild Japanese macaque behavioral ecology of Arashiyama (Kyoto) in the Department of Zoology, Kyoto University. This research became the foundation for his later field studies towards an MSc (1985) and DSc (1989) degrees in the Laboratory of Human Evolution Studies, Kyoto University. 

In addition to investigations on free-ranging and captive Japanese macaques spanning over 40 years, he has intensively studied the behavioral ecology of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania and Uganda between 1985 and 2004, with a focus on primate host parasite ecology, primate self-medication and ethnopharmacology (with an emphasis on traditional medicines acquired from observations of wild animals).  Since 2006 he has been conducting fieldwork in Sri Lanka, Taiwan, India, and Vietnam, with collaborations in over 35 countries on all continents.

Huffman has published extensively in the fields of cultural primatology, animal self-medication, ethnobotany, pharmacology, primate host-parasite ecology, reproductive behavior and physiology, behavioral endocrinology, phylogeography, and historical primatology; including 10 books, over 160 refereed journal articles, 38 book chapters, 59 review articles, review book chapters and other miscellaneous articles.  His research is cited in textbooks in ethology, parasitology, ethnobotany, botany and general science. With his students and international collaborators, he has published on over 15 primate species from apes to lemurs, and other mammal species in Japan, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam, China, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Uganda, Guinea, South Africa, and Brazil.  He is deeply committed to building bridges through inter-disciplinary collaborations and mentoring.