The purpose of the thesis defense is to determine a student's preparedness for conducting a year-long research project that has a clear focus and will benefit the selected field of study.  Below is the document that I submitted for my thesis defense.

Thesis:

The addition of two adolescent male chimpanzees, Jack and Louie, to the existing community at The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore will alter the dominance structure and association patterns of the chimpanzees that are currently in the troop, with the current adolescent male, Kasoje, being affected by the alterations to a greater degree than the eight female chimpanzees.

Independent Variable:

The presence of two additional adolescent male chimpanzees in the chimpanzee community at The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.

Dependent Variable:

Changes in social structure, especially in association and dominance patterns.

Control Group:

Data collected through observation of the chimpanzees will be compared to data collected by the student during the 2009-2010 academic year to determine how the addition of chimpanzees affects the social structure of the group.  At that time, the community only contained one adolescent male, Kasoje. 

Why It Matters:

Among the goals of zoos is the challenge of creating an appropriate environment for all of the animals housed at the Zoo.  Although animal care staff members learn about the chimpanzees through daily observations, they rarely are allotted time to collect data on the chimpanzees over long periods of time.  The student will provide more information to the animal care staff that may help them to become aware of patterns of behavior or situations that may need to be resolved.

The two male chimpanzees that will be introduced were involved in the entertainment business.  Due to their extensive interactions with humans and lack of experiences with their own species that would teach them about chimpanzee etiquette, chimpanzees with these backgrounds generally do not acclimate well to existing groups of captive chimpanzees.  If The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore can successfully incorporate Jack and Louie into the existing chimpanzee community, it will be a major accomplishment that will benefit the chimpanzees involved, other chimpanzees that may be given the same opportunity in the future, and other facilities that house primates.  The student’s data will contribute to an understanding of how the two additional chimpanzees change the structure of the community.

Project Intention:

If the hypothesis can be supported or not supported by data collected through observation, the project will be considered successful.