Adventures with Red Leaf Monkeys in Borneo

CMC grad pursues a passion for primates around the globe

Kara Norby at a Dayak ceremony in Borneo

Colorado Mountain College graduate Kara Norby has gathered many stamps on her passport since graduating with an Associates of Arts degree from Colorado Mountain College in 2007:  Cameroon, Borneo, Hong Kong, the Philippines.  The passion behind her travels? A fascination with the behavior of primates, from orangutans to red leaf monkeys.

Norby spent two years pursuing her associate’s degree at Colorado Mountain College in Steamboat before transferring into the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a minor in biology.  Her degree combination, combined with a life-long interest in primates, led Norby to pursue an opportunity to work on a research project in Borneo that was started by professors from USC and the University Wisconsin at Oshkosh.

In elementary school Norby was an avid reader of books on primates, devouring books by Jane Goodall, Diane Fossey, Birute Galidkas and other women that pioneered primate field research.  Her experiences in Borneo mirrored those women’s journeys in many ways. She traveled alone to a research site and lived with young men from the local Dayak tribe who patrol the protected forest. She was the only Westerner, woman, and English speaker on site.

The Colorado Mountain College graduate successfully habituated a group of red leaf monkeys as part of her research project, and also was tasked with observing wild orangutans. Though she only saw four orangutans on two different encounters during her five month stay, “The encounters happened less than a week apart, and were one of the top experiences of my life!” exclaims Norby.  Though the work was physically challenging due to the rough terrain and the ever-present fear of encountering a poisonous snake, Norby recalls the biggest challenge as being the food.  “We ate white rice and Ramen noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day, with the occasional eggs and vegetables as a side if a trip to town had been made recently.”

Norby befriended many of the locals she hired as assistants, expanding her cultural awareness as well.  She didn’t speak any Indonesian when she arrived, and the locals ” didn’t know more than a few lines in English. We got by with a lot of made-up sign language and pointing until I was able to pick up enough Indonesian to communicate. I still keep touch with some of them via Facebook,” explains Norby.

The world traveling CMC grad plans to return to school to pursue a masters degree in the next few years.  Though her passion remains primates, she plans to enter a broader topic of study in conservation or wildlife ecology in order to expand her future options.  She’s also contemplated a future following in the footsteps of her professors. “Another thought that has crossed my mind is to go into teaching, where I could then use my summers to either to conduct my own research or to work at other primate research sites.” In the meantime, the Colorado Mountain College grad yearns to return to the mountains – “I’m trying to move back West!” exclaims Norby, who is also an avid skier, having raced on Steamboat’s Alpine team, and is on the search for positions in education in Colorado or Wyoming.