Archaeoprimatology explores how humans and nonhuman primates coexisted in the past. This discipline has profound roots in texts of early scholars. Archaeoprimatological research examines the liminality between humans, apes, monkeys, and prosimians deep in time before the rise of the Anthropocene. By exploring the beginning of the relationship between modern Homo sapiens and primates, which possibly dates to approximately 100,000 BCE, I survey the evidence, ranging from portable objects and 2D surfaces with primatomorphic depictions to primate remains at archaeological sites worldwide. For example, an overview of ancient frescoes and mosaics with primate representations reveals that the vast majority of them were rendered in locations where primates were not part of the local fauna. An extensive review of primates in the zooarchaeological record shows as a global pattern that traded primates were usually young individuals and frugivorous/omnivorous species. Local primates yielded at sites of regions they naturally inhabited were mostly hunted. Thus, examining past patterns of the human–nonhuman primate interface provides insight into major questions about human niche construction and primate conservation today.
Abstract International collaborations show asymmetries and imbalances that influence how countries take part in international relations. In this context, science diplomacy (SD) could offer possibilities towards building partnerships and meaningful engagement between Europe and Latin America. The purpose of this article is to analyse how scientific collaborations between Latin American and European researchers are carried out, observing trends, behaviours, and perceptions. Qualitative methodologies and the analysis of empirical data collected through a survey allow the extraction of relevant experiences from real cases of international joint projects. Findings indicate that addressing the asymmetries in the collaboration between partnering researchers from Europe and Latin America is essential, and SD approaches may facilitate such endeavour. SD may not represent a panacea; however, it seems to facilitate the internationalisation of research in terms of mobility, international scientific collaborations, and knowledge exchange with under-represented actors in traditional international scientific schemes, such as indigenous communities.
Despite the failures to tackle early coordinated responses at national and multinational levels, the global emergence of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic promoted unprecedented actions on the science-policy, science-communication, and science-diplomacy interfaces worldwide. With varying degrees of success, various actions within the realm of science diplomacy have accompanied the creation of knowledge related to COVID-19 through international collaboration. The COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill and also drew attention to the genuine need for science diplomacy. This pandemic highlighted the need of training opportunities in the interface of policy and diplomacy for researchers to be able to get grips on emerging health issues. Moreover, it is necessary to create specific platforms for experts to interact with decision-makers at the national and international levels, especially in the Global South. This crisis inevitably shifted the focus on scientific areas that directly address the pandemic response (epidemiology, public health, virology, immunology, pharmacology, human behavioral research, economics, among others). At the same time, some areas not related to the pandemic response have been slowed down due to inevitable physical and social restrictions that impacted certain aspects of the academic life. This does not only relate to daily access to the lab, scientific collections, or field sites, but also associates with furloughed employees and reduced funding to non-COVID-19-related research. Moreover, during the pandemic, women and (usually young) scientists with children have reduced their research efforts substantially, with future implications still difficult to quantify. While some researchers might have harnessed telecommuting and lockdown periods to focus on data analysis and publication writing, gender bias still exists. The slight increase in publications with pre-acquired data may still be followed by an immediate future impacted by the lack of data acquisition during the pandemic. These issues may create long-term effects due to reduced capacity for generating pre-requisite data for securing new funding, termination of research, reduced networking opportunities, restrictions to international collaborations, collectively having a negative impact on other disciplines. While most established researchers may not be affected hardly by the above-mentioned effects, early career researchers (ECRs), represent a more vulnerable population. ECRs usually refer to PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and scientists who have 10 years or less of experience after the doctoral degree, although there is some flexibility in this definition. Due to their career stage, ECRs often face job precarity, lack of available opportunities, low funding, and job insecurity (e.g., untenured positions and temporary contract employees). These problems are augmented by the COVID-19 pandemic and may be experienced more in countries with a developing scientific system. The impact could be higher for countries that are developing their research environment, are dependent on training their ECRs and conducting experiments abroad through international exchanges programs, which have been stopped due to the pandemic. Given these unprecedented times, it has been observed that international scientific organizations, policy-makers, scientific communities, and private stakeholders have strengthened their collaborations in response to the pandemic. We, as ECRs, strongly believe that science diplomacy can make a difference in addressing the challenges (emanated or amplified by the current pandemic) that ECRs would face inside and outside academia. Here we present such challenges, and discuss how the Global Young Academy (GYA), an independent organization of early to mid-career researchers across all disciplines and countries, has provided a platform for ECRs to practice science diplomacy, science advice, and science communication. The former by serving as a bridge between ECRs and governments, the second by hearing the voices of young researchers when enacting policies, and the latter by informing societies about the benefits of scientific research. Motivated by the described examples, we recommend measures for scientists, funding agencies, and international organizations to foster international collaboration in these unparallel times.
Scientific collaborations among nations to address common problems and to build international partnerships as part of science diplomacy is a well-established notion. The international flow of people and ideas has played an important role in the advancement of the 'Sciences' and the current pandemic scenario has drawn attention towards the genuine need for a stronger role of science diplomacy, science advice and science communication. In dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, visible interactions across science, policy, science communication to the public and diplomacy worldwide have promptly emerged. These interactions have benefited primarily the disciplines of knowledge that are directly informing the pandemic response, while other scientific fields have been relegated. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on scientists of all disciplines and from all world regions are discussed here, with a focus on early-career researchers (ECRs), as a vulnerable population in the research system. Young academies and ECR-driven organisations could suggest ECR-powered solutions and actions that could have the potential to mitigate these effects on ECRs working on disciplines not related to the pandemic response. In relation with governments and other scientific organisations, they can have an impact on strengthening and creating fairer scientific systems for ECRs at the national, regional, and global level.
Scientific collaborations among nations to address common problems and to build international partnerships as part of science diplomacy is a well-established notion. The international flow of people and ideas has played an important role in the advancement of the 'Sciences' and the current pandemic scenario has drawn attention towards the genuine need for a stronger role of science diplomacy, science advice and science communication. In dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, visible interactions across science, policy, science communication to the public and diplomacy worldwide have promptly emerged. These interactions have benefited primarily the disciplines of knowledge that are directly informing the pandemic response, while other scientific fields have been relegated. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on scientists of all disciplines and from all world regions are discussed here, with a focus on early-career researchers (ECRs), as a vulnerable population in the research system. Young academies and ECR-driven organisations could suggest ECR-powered solutions and actions that could have the potential to mitigate these effects on ECRs working on disciplines not related to the pandemic response. In relation with governments and other scientific organisations, they can have an impact on strengthening and creating fairer scientific systems for ECRs at the national, regional, and global level.
