CICASP | Center for International Collaboration and Advanced Studies in Primatology

Research

My research centers on leaf-eating monkeys called lutungs, or langurs (Trachypithecus spp.). These elusive primates live in forests throughout East and Southeast Asia, and are known for their egalitarian societies and strikingly orange infants. Because of their shy nature and the challenging terrain they call home—limestone karst mountains and dense tropical canopy—much of their lives and minds remain a mystery.

Lutungs are severely threatened with extinction, and we risk losing them before we ever get to know them. To tackle both challenges, I study their social lives and communication. I focus in particular on their interactions with and around infants, whom they communally care for, to know more about the emotions, cognition, and social norms that underlie these interactions.

There is no meaningful science without philosophy. To answer the “why” and “how” of my research, I enjoy reading and thinking about epistemology and ethics. I aim to build interdisciplinary bridges between the sciences and the humanities, to get a more holistic undestanding of primate lives, and, ultimately, to reach a society that thinks and cares beyond the human.

Before my return to academia. I was a ghostwriter and illustrator, and founded a vegan blog and t-shirt company. I now use my art for outreach of my and others’ scholarly work.

Background

2025 – present: PhD student, Wildlife Research Center, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Japan

2023-2025: MA Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA

2013-2014: MSc Primate Conservation (cum laude), Oxford Brookes University, UK

2009-2012: BSc Psychology (Honours, cum laude), University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Selected Publications

De Groot, B., and Nekaris, K.A.I. (2016). Ecology of the Germain’s Langur (Trachypithecus germaini) in a pre-release environment and the implications for its conservation. Asian Primates Journal 6(1), 2-14.

De Groot, B., and Cheyne, S.M. (2016). Does mirror-enrichment improve primate well-being? Animal Welfare 25(2), 163-170. 

De Groot, B., Gorr, N.D., Kret, M.E., Rieffe, C., Tsou, Y.T., & Mendoza Straffon, L. (2023). Development and preliminary validation of a questionnaire to measure parental support for drawing. Journal of Thinking Skills and Creativity, 101228.

Straffon, L. M., de Groot, B., Gorr, N. D., Tsou, Y. T., & Kret, M. E. (2024). Developing drawing skill: Exploring the role of parental support and cultural learning. Cognitive Development, 70, 101444.

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