Elodie Freymann

Primatologist

My name is Elodie Freymann, and I am a New York-born, London-based scientist and natural history storyteller. In 2019, I took a break from the film world, where I worked as an art director and associate producer to begin a Masters in Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxford. I liked it so much I stayed on for a PhD. My research focuses on how wild chimpanzees self-medicate with medicinal plants. This brings together my interests in primatology, botany, social anthropology, filmmaking, scientific illustration, and conservation.

Throughout my research, I have had the opportunity to employ a mix of natural historical approaches and methods. Over the course of nine-months living in Uganda’s Budongo Forest, I worked with two communities of wild chimpanzees – following them each day, recording their behaviors, and learning as much as I could about the ecology of their habitats. I also conducted a series of ethnomedicinal interviews with traditional healers and collected plants for pharmacological testing. I am currently a post-doctoral affiliate at the University of Oxford and Queen Mary University, engaged in the use of art and storytelling to translate and democratize conservation-focused scientific research into accessible formats.