Faculty Affiliate Dr. Rebecca Lewis

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Dr. Rebecca Lewis is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at UT Austin. She is the founder and Director of the Ankoatsifaka Research Station in the Kirindy Mité National Park, part of the UNESCO Belo-sur-Mer – Kirindy Mité Biosphere, and founder and Director of the Sifaka Research Project, a long-term research project examining the behavior, demography, ecology, morphology, physiology, genetics, and conservation of Verreaux’s sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) in the tropical dry forest in Kirindy Mité National Park. She studies the biodiversity in western Madagascar (focusing primarily on the mammals and flora). Her research includes the effects of climate change and anthropogenic disturbance on tropical forests and lemur populations. She has published on the impact of cyclones on ecology and is currently studying how cyclonic activity influences fire ecology. She has helped assess conservation status and develop conservation strategies for lemurs for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Her work as been published in a range of journals including Biotropica, Journal of Tropical Ecology, Quarterly Review of Biology, American Journal of Primatology, International Journal of Primatology, and American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

Selected publications:
  • Markolf M, Kappeler P, Lewis R, Jacky IAY (2013) Site-Based Action Plan: KirindyAmbadira (Central Menabe). In C Schwitzer, R Mittermeier, N Davies, S Johnson, J Ratsimbazafy, J Razafindramanana, EE Louis Jr, S Rajaobelina (eds): Lemurs of Madagascar: A Strategy for Their Conservation 2013-2016. IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, Bristol Conservation and Science Foundation, Conservation International: Bristol, UK.
  • Lewis RJ, Bannar-Martin KH (2012) The Impact of Cyclone Fanele on a Tropical Dry Forest in Madagascar. Biotropica 44(2):135-140.
  • Lewis RJ, Rakotondranaivo F (2011) The Impact of Cyclone Fanele on sifaka body condition and reproductions in the tropical dry forest of western Madagascar. Journal of Tropical Ecology 27:429–432.   
  • Carnes LM, Nunn CL, Lewis RJ (2011) Effects of the Distribution of Female Primates on the Number of Males. PLoS ONE 6(5):e19853. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0019853   
  • Veilleux CC, Lewis RJ (2011) Effects of Habitat Light Intensity on Mammalian Eye Shape. Anatomical Record 294:905-914.   
  • Lewis RJ, Kappeler PM (2005) Seasonality, Body Condition, and the Timing of Reproduction in Propithecus verreauxi verreauxi. American Journal of Primatology 67(3):347-364.  
  • Lewis RJ (2002) Beyond Dominance: The Importance of Leverage. The Quarterly Review of Biology 77(2): 149-164.  
  • Nunn CL, Lewis RJ (2001) Cooperation and collective benefits: applying economic models of collective action to animal behavior. In R Noë, J. A.R.A.M. van Hooff, and P Hammerstein (eds.): Economics in Nature; Social Dilemmas, Mate Choice and Biological Markets, pp.42-66. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dr. Lewis teaches classes in the Anthropology Department, including Comparative Primate Ecology (ANT 346M) and Introduction to Graduate Feminist Anthropology (ANT 392S).

​See Dr. Lewis’s website, Ankoatsifaka Research Station website, and her CV. 
Email: ​rjlewis@austin.utexas.edu