Her studies of free-ranging primates are focused on how behavioral, demographic , and ecological variables function to influence population structure, with long-term field studies of baboons in two geographical areas: a hybrid zone between olive and hamadryas baboons in Ethiopia (Papio hamadryas, s.l.) and a population of yellow baboons in Tanzania. By trapping and tagging as many individuals as possible, her team examines a broad range of biological features, for study in their ecological and behavioral contexts.