The Gunung Palung Orangutan Project has conducted research on critically endangered wild Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) since 1994 in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. A major goal of our broad-ranging research on orangutan behavior and ecology is to understand how the unique rainforest environment of Southeast Asia, characterized by dramatic changes in fruit productivity due to unpredictable mast fruiting, impacts orangutan behavior, physiology, and health. Much of our research has been devoted to the development of non-invasive techniques and an integrated biology approach – using hormonal assays, fecal processing, nutritional analysis, genetics, and behavioral ecology – and has led to an increased understanding of the ecological and evolutionary pressures shaping orangutan adaptations. Our results show that the extended life history and very slow reproductive rate of orangutans are adaptations to their environment. Orangutans in the Gunung Palung landscape, as elsewhere across Borneo and Sumatra, also face a series of conservation challenges, including extensive habitat loss and the illegal pet trade. We highlight how our investigations of orangutan health status, ecosystem requirements, and the assessment of orangutan density using ground and drone nest surveys have been applied to conservation efforts. We describe our project's direct conservation interventions of public education and awareness campaigns, sustainable livelihood development, establishment of village-run customary forests, investigation of the illegal pet trade, and active engagement with Indonesian government organizations. These efforts, in concert with the development of local scientific and conservation capacity, provide a strong foundation for further conservation as orangutans face a challenging future.

In the face of legal and social challenges to affirmative action, many schools and programs are withdrawing from their efforts to create or support initiatives that allow racial/ethnic consideration to be given to applicants. This shift may allay fears of bias against majority groups but it also has the potential to disenfranchise some students and programs and leave them without the programs that help create opportunities and diversity at institutions of higher learning. This study examines the use of a software package, Applications Quest, as a possible alternative to aid admissions committees in providing clear, equitable, and reproducible policies in admissions processes. Rather than focus exclusively on race, Applications Quest creates a measure of “holistic diversity” that allows equal weight to many factors that contribute to a more diverse student population. A major research university in the South, Experiment University (EU) was enlisted to see if Applications Quest could produce a pool of applicants with the same academic achievement levels as the EU admissions selection committee while increasing holistic diversity using the requirements set forth by the committee. The results of the study show that Applications Quest was able to recommend a more diverse applicant pool than the EU admissions selection committee while meeting the same academic achievement levels in a fraction of the time using the same academic criteria.

The Internet has become a key factor in today's society for improving lifestyles, from entertainment to obtaining every day life necessities. Despite this, most seniors hesitate to use the Internet. As a result, there is a lower growth rate in Internet usage among seniors compared to those of younger populations. In this research, a web interface using a virtual conversational agent has been designed to address the problems of existing web interfaces; especially e-commerce sites. Data from a comparative study between an avatar design and a traditional design for a web-based retail store has been collected and analyzed. The results support the avatar design over a traditional web design; however, in some cases, the evidence collected showed no statistical significance.

We conducted the first orangutan population census of Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, between April and September 2001. We used a refined line-transect nest-count methodology utilizing transect recounts to survey 69 km at 14 sites within the park and 14.2 km in the buffer zone. We present the first Bornean orangutan density estimate using complete site-specific parameters and long term monitoring of nest decay rates. Average orangutan density was 3.0 individuals/km2, with densities ranging from 2.4 ind/km2 in montane forest to 4.1 ind/km2 in primary peat swamp. In addition, we tested alternative approaches to calculation of the nest-duration parameter. The second count of each transect resulted in 30% higher density estimates overall. We conclude that recounts should be incorporated into standard line-transect methodology. We estimate there to be ≈2500 individual orangutans in Gunung Palung, indicating the importance of this site in plans to conserve a network of viable orangutan populations. While logging may reduce densities, disturbed forest both inside and adjacent to the park has high conservation value as orangutan habitat. Further research into long-term orangutan population persistence in disturbed forest is needed.