Education:

• 2002 Ph.D. in Anthropology, University of California at Berkeley
  Dissertation title: “Social development of wild white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) in Costa Rica: An examination of social interactions between immatures and adult males.”
  Dissertation advisor: Dr. Phyllis Dolhinow

• 1995 M.A. in Anthropology, University of Alberta
  Thesis title: "Age differences in foraging patterns and spatial associations of the white-faced capuchin monkey (Cebus capucinus) in Costa Rica."
  Thesis advisor: Dr. Linda Fedigan

• 1990 B.A. in Anthropology (High Honors), University of California at Berkeley

Academic Positions:

• 2002-present Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice, Saint Louis University.
• 2003-present Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Center for International Studies, Saint Louis University.
• 2001-2002 Visiting Lecturer, Department of Anthropology & Linguistics, Sonoma State University
• 2001 Visiting Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, College of Marin
• 1994-2001 Graduate Student Instructor at the University of California at Berkeley

Field School Teaching Experience:

• 2004 Primate Behavior and Ecology Field School, Instructor. Summer session #2 (4 weeks). Ometepe Biological Field Station, Nicaragua.
• 2000 Primate Ecology Field School, Instructor. Two summer sessions (4 weeks each). Bocas del Toro field station, Panama. Institute of Tropical Ecology and Conservation (ITEC).
• 1999 Primate Ecology Field School, Teaching Assistant. July session (4 weeks), Bocas del Toro field station, Panama. Institute of Tropical Ecology and Conservation (ITEC).

Courses Taught:

• Introduction to Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology Lab
• Sex and the Life Cycle
• Primate Social Behavior
• Anthropology of Conservation in Latin America
• Primate Behavior & Ecology Field Courses

Research Interests:

• Primate social behavior & behavioral ecology                      
• Growth and development: infant and juvenile life history stages        
• Individual variation in ontogeny of social behavior
• Nonhuman primate and human evolution
• Primate conservation in Latin America
• Conservation efforts and local human communities
• Challenging reductionist explanations of behavior
• Complexity in social systems

Specific research projects include:

• Behavior and ecology of brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) in Suriname.
• Infant and juvenile social behavior and development in white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) in Costa Rica.
• Social interactions between infants/juveniles and adult male primates.
• Age-class differences in foraging and social behaviors in white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) and brown capuchins (Cebus apella).
• Examination of reductionist paradigms in the field of primatology, and specifically, of reductionist views of human behavior based on nonhuman primate data.

Fieldwork Experience:

• 2006 Behavioral ecology data collection on several species of primates at Brownsberg Nature Park, Suriname. Species: Cebus apella, Pithecia pithecia, Ateles paniscus, Saguinus midas, Alouatta seniculus. Additional study on social behavior of brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). 4 weeks: June.
• 2005 Population surveys and behavioral ecology data collection on several species of primates at Brownsberg Nature Park, Suriname. Species: Cebus apella, Cebus olivaceus, Pithecia pithecia, Chiropotes satanus, Saguinus midas, Alouatta seniculus. Pilot study on social behavior in a brown capuchin monkey group (Cebus apella). 6 weeks: June-July.
• 2004 Population surveys and behavioral ecology data collection on several species of primates at Brownsberg Nature Park, Suriname. Species: Cebus apella, Cebus olivaceus, Pithecia pithecia, Chiropotes satanus, Saguinus midas, Alouatta seniculus. 2 weeks: July-August.
• 2004 Behavioral observations of mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) and white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus). Ometepe Biological Field Station, Nicaragua. 5 weeks: June-July.
• 2000 Population surveys and behavioral observations of mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) and white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus). Bocas del Toro field station, Panama. 9 weeks: June-August.
• 1999 Population surveys and behavioral observations of mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) and white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus). Bocas del Toro field station, Panama. 5 weeks: June-July.
• 1998 Fieldwork on the social behavior of two social groups of white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus). Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. 11 months: January to December.
• 1996 Population surveys and behavioral data collection on squirrel monkeys (Saimiri oerstedi) and capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella and Cebus olivaceus). Raleighvallen-Volzburg National Reserve, Suriname. 2 months: June and July.
• 1993 Fieldwork on the behavior of three social groups of white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus). Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. 4 months: January- April.
• 1992 Fieldwork on the behavior of three social groups of white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus). Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. 5 months: May-September.
• 1989 Observational behavioral sampling on a captive group of North Indian langur monkeys (Semnopithecus entellus). Field Station for Behavioral Research, U.C. Berkeley. Anthropology 107L: Primate Social Behavior. 4 months: January-May.
• 1989 U.C. Berkeley Archaeological Field School. Fort Ross State Historic Park, Sonoma Co., California. 6 weeks: May-June.

Selected Publications:

• Primates in Perspective. (2007). C. J. Campbell, A. Fuentes, K. C. MacKinnon, M. A. Panger and S. K. Bearder (eds), Oxford University Press.
• MacKinnon, K. C. (2007). Social beginnings: The tapestry of infant and adult interactions. In: C. J. Campbell, A. Fuentes, K. C. MacKinnon, M. A. Panger and S. K. Bearder (eds), Primates in Perspective. Oxford University Press, pp. 571-591.
• MacKinnon, K. C. (2006). Food choice by juvenile capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) in a tropical dry forest. In: A. Estrada, M. Pavelka, P. Garber and L. Luecke (eds), New Perspectives In The Study Of Mesoamerican Primates:  Distribution, Ecology, Behavior, And Conservation. New York: Kluwer Press, pp. 349-366.
• MacKinnon, K. C. and Fuentes, A. (2005). Reassessing male aggression and dominance: The evidence from primatology. In: S. McKinnon and S. Silverman (eds.), Complexities: Beyond Nature and Nurture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 83-105.
• Behind Many Masks: Gerald Berreman and Berkeley Anthropology, 1959-2001, K. C. MacKinnon, Guest Editor. (2003). Special edition of The Kroeber Anthropological Society Papers, vol. 89/90. University of California, Berkeley.
• Rose, L.M., Perry, S., Panger, M., Jack, K., Manson, J., Gros-Louis, J., MacKinnon, K.C., and Vogel, E. (2003). Interspecific Interactions between Cebus capucinus and other species at three Costa Rican sites. International Journal of Primatology, vol. 24(4): 759-796.
• Perry, S., Baker, M. Fedigan, L. M. Gros-Louis, J., Jack, K., MacKinnon, K. C., Manson, J. H., Panger, M., Pyle, K., and Rose, L. M. (2003). Social conventions in wild white-faced capuchins: Evidence for traditions in a Neotropical primate. Current Anthropology 44(2):241-268.
• Perry, S., Panger, M., Rose, L., Baker, M., Gros-Louis, J., Jack, K., MacKinnon, K. C., Manson, J. H., Fedigan, and Pyle, K. (2003). Traditions in wild white-faced capuchin monkeys. In: Fragaszy, D. M., and Perry, S. (eds.), The Biology of Traditions: Models and Evidence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 391-425.
• Panger, M., Perry, S., Rose, L.M., Gros-Louis, J., Vogel, E., MacKinnon, K.C., Baker, M. (2002). Cross-site differences in the foraging behavior of white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus). American Journal of Physical Anthropology 119:52-66.

Professional Papers Presented:

• 2006  " Ethics in Field Primatology: Participants and pluralities.” Invited presentation, part of the international interdisciplinary conference, Fieldwork: Examining Its Practice by Biological Anthropologists and Primatologists, held May 5-6, 2006, Oxford Brookes University and University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
• 2006 "Niche construction, complexity and cooperation: Modeling human evolutionary responses," with A. Fuentes and M. Wyczalkowski (presented by A. Fuentes); part of the symposium: Man the Hunted: The Origin and Nature of Human Sociality, at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, February 16-20, St. Louis, MO.
• 2005 Chair of the AAA Executive Program Committee Invited Session: Updating Human Evolution: Bringing Anthropological and Public Conceptions Into Contemporary Perspective, at the 74th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Nov. 30-Dec. 4, Washington, D.C.
• 2005 “Community-wide feeding strategies in a Guianan forest: Results of the 2004 and 2005 field seasons at Brownsberg Naturpark, Suriname.” (M.A. Norconk, A. Colavita, B.P.E. De Dijn, T.M. Gleason, L.T. Gregory, R. Lopez, K.C. MacKinnon, J. Malukiewicz, J. D. Mikels, C. Thompson, A. Vreedzaam). Presented at the 2nd Annual Meeting of the Midwest Primate Interest Group, October 7-8, Washington University in St. Louis, MO.
• 2005 “The emphasis on aggression at the expense of affiliation in primate studies.”  Presented at the 2nd Annual Meeting of the Midwest Primate Interest Group, October 7-8, Washington University in St. Louis, MO.
• 2005 “A frog in the throat: The  ‘gargle’ vocalization of immature white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) in Costa Rica.”  Presented at the 28th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists, August 17-20, Portland, OR.
• 2004 “Got Caterpillars? The transition to solid foods in wild infant white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus).” Presented at the 1st Annual Meeting of the Midwest Primate Interest Group, October 7-9, University of Illinois-Urbana Champagne, IL.
• 2004 "Individual variation in the appearance of social behaviors in infant capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) in Costa Rica.” Presented at the XXth Congress of the International Primatological Society 22-28 August 2004, Torino, Italy.         
• 2004 "Infant-carrying by non-mothers in wild white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus): Do infants have preferential transportation partners?” Presented at the 27th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists June 8-12, 2004, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI.
• 2004 "Play patterns in small juvenile white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) in Costa Rica." Presented at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists April, 2004, Tampa, FL.
• 2003 "The Context of an Observed Infant-Killing Event in Cebus capucinus at Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica." Presented at the 26th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists, July 30-August 2, 2003, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
• 2003 "Behavioral interactions between small juvenile and adult male white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) in Costa Rica." Presented at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, April 23-26, 2003, Tempe, AZ.
• 2000 " Demons, rapists and mathematicians: popular conceptions and the ‘scientific’ construction of being male," with A. Fuentes and E. Ray. Presented as part of an invited Presidential Symposium: Consuming Anthropology: Pop Culture and Anthropology (a tempestuous love affair), at the 69th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Anthropologists: November 15-19, 2000, San Francisco, CA.
• 2000 "Social interactions between wild immature and adult male white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus)." Presented at the 69th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, April 12-15, 2000, San Antonio, TX.
• 1997 "Controlling processes at work: Paradigm shifts in the field of primatology". Presented at the 50th Anniversary Meeting of the Northwest Anthropological Conference, April 16th-19th, 1997, Central Washington Univ., Ellensburg, WA.
• 1996 "Age-class spatial association patterns of the white faced capuchin monkey (Cebus capucinus) at Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica." Research presented at the XVIth Congress of the International Primatological Society, 11-16 August 1996, Madison, Wisconsin.
• 1995 "Foraging behavior of the white faced capuchin monkey (Cebus capucinus)." Research presented at the 64th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, March 28-April 1, 1995, Oakland, CA.
• 1994 "Age-class differences in foraging behavior of the white faced capuchin monkey (Cebus capucinus)." Research presented at the XVth Congress of the International Primatological Society, 3-8 August 1994, Kuta-Bali, Indonesia.

Grants and Awards:

• The Robert A. Johnston, S.J. Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Social Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences, Saint Louis University (2006)
• Robert H. Lowie Graduate Fellowship, Dept. of Anthropology, U.C. Berkeley (1999)
• National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant (1998)
• U.C. Berkeley Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant (1997)
• Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, U.C. Berkeley (1996)
• Robert H. Lowie Graduate Fellowship, Dept. of Anthropology, U.C. Berkeley (1996)

Professional Associations:

• American Anthropological Association
• American Association of Physical Anthropology
• American Society of Primatologists
• International Primatological Society
• Midwest Primate Interest Group
• Animal Behavior Society
• Association of Women in Science

Additional Information:

• Program Committee, American Society of Primatologists (2004 to present)
• Ethics Committee, Biological Anthropology Seat (elected), American Anthropological Association (2005-2008)
• Wilderness First Aid Certified through the Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI).