My name is Arianna De Marco and I am a primatologist.

My passion for primates began in my childhood; for many years now, my parents have been running an animal rescue centre called the Parco Faunistico di Piano dell’Abatino, which houses many native and exotic animals. I was therefore around monkeys every day from a very young age.

Fascinated by the richness of their behavioural repertoire, I decided to focus my studies, and then my work, on the field of primatology. In 2004 I graduated from La Sapienza University of Rome with honours in Natural Sciences for my dissertation on facial displays in tufted capuchins. I obtained my PhD in Ethology and Animal Ecology from La Specola University of Florence with a thesis on social interactions in Tonkean macaques. I am currently a researcher at the Fondazione Ethoikos, where I carry out research projects on primate behaviour.

I have always been passionate about drawing and photography and am convinced that is very useful to combine ethological knowledge with artistic expressions. Indeed, my pictures allow me to enrich scientific articles, whilst my knowledge of ethology helps me to decide what to photograph, and how.