Researcher in philosophy and history of sciences (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris).

Interested in primatology, history of primatology and relationship between humans and great apes (bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans).

Fieldworks in Europe, United States, Canada and Africa, in several great apes sanctuaries and zoos.

Photographer and contemporary artist. Her portraits of great apes were exhibited several times and were published by Odile Jacob.

Lives and works between Brussels, Paris and Naples (Florida).

Fieldworks

Africa (South Africa, Congo-Brazzaville, Mauritius Island, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo)
Canada (Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan, Mingan Islands, Québec)
United States (Annapolis, Atlanta, Bahamas, Baltimore, New York, Tampa, Wauchula, Fresno, Fort Pierce, Jacksonville, Louisville, Miami, Pass-A-Grille, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Tampa, Washington D.C.)
Europe (Amsterdam, Assise, Anvers, Apeldoorn, Arezzo, Bâle, Cologne, Lille, Madrid, Monterchi, Paris, Planckendael, Plobsheim, Poitiers, Rotterdam, Sansepolcro, Stuttgart, Ile de Veli Losinj (Croatie), Venise, Zürich).
Asia (Népal - Bardia National Park)

	Madonna Anthropology of religion Madonnas, devotion items, church furnishings Annapolis, Arezzo, Assise, Lille, Madrid, Monterchi, New York, Paris, Pass-A-Grille, Plobsheim, Poitiers, Sansepolcro, Tampa, Venise 2009/2010

	Zoos Fieldworks Observation and experimentation on captive great apes Interviews of zookeepers, scientists, visitors and zoos authorities Photographic Series Amsterdam, Anvers, Apeldoorn, Atlanta, Basel, Baltimore, Cologne, Paris, Planckendael, New York, Tampa, Wauchula, Fresno, Jacksonville, Louisville, Miami, Philadelphia, Rotterdam, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Stuttgart, Washington D.C., Zürich 1996/2016

	Naturalia Inquiry carried out with Jean-Pierre Gérard (taxidermist in Liège) and Jack Thiney (former taxidermist at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris) Surveys in the collections of natural history and interviews of some curators of mammals Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris American Museum of Natural History, New-York Institut Royal Belge des Sciences Naturelles, Brussels Musée Royal d’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren 2003/2008

	Maasais Fieldwork carried out with Dominique Lestel (Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris), several Maasai Kisonko Communities and some of their warriors Works on the ethological knowledge of the Maasai Kisonko Noomayianat (Kajiado District), Sud Kenya Laboratory of Eco-Anthropology and Ethnobiology (Hommes, Natures, Sociétés - Serge Bahuchet), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris 2006

	Whales Participatory observation. Photo identification of the whales of the St. Lawrence Natural Reserve of Mingan Islands Archipelago (Québec) Mingan Island Cetacean Study (MICS) Richard Sears Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan 2006

	Bonobos Fieldwork Sanctuary of Lola ya Bonobo Claudine André Petites Chutes de la Lukaya (Kimwenza) Mont Ngafula Democratic Republic of Congo 2006

	Chimpanzees FIeldwork Tchimpounga Animal Sanctuary Jane Goodall Institute Republic of Congo 2005

	Knots Enquiry on the great apes' ability of knots-tying Experimentation with the orangutan Wattana Mailing Inquiry Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle Paris 2003/2004

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Education

Master Degree in History of Sciences and Technics (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris)
Master Degree in Philosophy (Université Paris 10, Nanterre)
Bachelor in Philosophy of Sciences (Université Libre de Bruxelles)
Degree in Psychoeducation (Haute Ecole Francisco Ferrer, Bruxelles)

In Progress

Thesis in philosophy and history of sciences, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales - Histoire et Civilisations (Paris)

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Awards

Book « Petite histoire des grands singes », Éditions du Seuil, Paris – Literary Prize François Sommer | Foundation F. Sommer, Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris
Exhibition « Chapels » (Land Art), 3rd Prize of the national competition Eghezée' 95, Eghezée, Belgium

Lectures

« Humans and Apes. A Long Story », Royal Institute of Natural Sciences of Belgiun, Brussels, 2017
« Interspecific Adoptions and Shared Intelligences. Five Chimpanzees at Home », Summer University "Human and animal", Château de la Bourbansais, Pleugueneuc, Bretagne (France), 2017
« Animals and Humans Are Poets since the Prehistory », with G. Chapouthier, M. Otte, F. Richter & C. Cachelou, Filigranes, Brussels, 2015
« Wattana, an orangutan in Paris », Dialogue with the philosopher and historian of art Thierry Lenain (U.L.B.), Bookshop La Licorne, Brussels, 2012
« Short Story of the Great Apes », Dialogue avec la philosophe Anne-Marie Roviello (U.L.B.), Bookshop La Licorne, Brussels, 2012
« Relationship between Humans and Great Apes », SECAS, Mairie de Saint-Mandé, Saint-Mandé, 2011
« The Domestication of Primates », Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris – April 12th 2011
« Funktionslust », Institut National Supérieure des Arts du Spectacle et des Techniques de Diffusion (INSAS), Brussels – May 11th 2010
Dialogue with filmmaker Nicolas Philibert, for the release of the movie "Nénette", Café des images/Relais d'Sciences, Caen – March 23th 2010
« The Domestication of Primates », Conference : « Le sens de l’animal » (The Animal Meaning), Espace Mendès-France, Poitiers – February 3th 2010
« Who Apes Who ? », 5th Festival Francophone de Philosophie, Saint-Maurice (Switzerland) – September 25th 2009
« When Great Apes Get Involved : Sexe, Gender and Primatology », Biosex Seminar, Université Paris 1, Tolbiac – May 14th 2009
« Funktionslust », Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux – April 27th 2009
« Humans and Great Apes », Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux – April 27th 2009
« When Great Apes Start Tying Knots », Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Bruxelles – April 9th 2009
« Encountering Great Apes », Collège Garcia Lorca, Saint-Denis, Fondation 93 (Sciences Workshop), Passeport Découverte 2008-2009, Evolution – March 9th 2009
« Great Apes Knots Tyers. The Case of Wattana, Orangutan », Laboratoire d’Ethologie et de Cognitions Comparées (LECC), Université Paris 10-Nanterre – November 12th 2008
« Attention and distraction with Great Apes », Conference : Régimes d’attention. Studies on Anthropologic Implications of Distraction (A. Piette, D. Vidal, E. Grimaud), ARTMAP/GDRI, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris – October 15, 16 & 17th 2008
« Encounter with the Maasais and their ethological knowledge on Southern Kenya's Wildlife », Collège Théodore Monod, Gagny, Fondation 93 (Sciences Workshop), Passeport Découverte 2007-2008, Evolution – May 30th 2008
« The War of the Bonobo. A Controversy between Primatologist Frans de Waal and Journalist Ian Parker (The New Yorker) », Seminar of Ethology and Philosophy (D. Lestel), Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris – February 21th 2008
« The Animal We Observe. The Transformation of Animals in Contact with Humans », Exhibition Animals and Humans, Grande Halle de la Villette, Colloque – October 2007
« Savants and Great Apes. The Importance of Natural History's Collections in the Making of the 20th Century's Primatologists' Ethos » (Colloque : « Specimens and Zoological Collections Status and Functions ») – Groupe d’histoire et d’épistémologie des sciences de la vie. Cultures épistémologiques, Université Paris 7, Denis Diderot (REHSEIS Recherches Epistémologiques et Historiques sur les Sciences Exactes et les Institutions Scientifiques) – April 2007
« Maasais Knowledge of the Bush Wildlife », Collège du Clos Saint Vincent, Fondation 93 (Sciences Workshop), Passeport Découverte 2006-2007, Evolution – April 25 2007
« Photo-Identification of the Whales of Saint-Laurent (Quebec) : Family Portraits or Data Bank ? » – Seminar of the Laboratory of Eco-anthropology & Ethnobiologie (UMR 5145), Department « Hommes, Natures, Sociétés » (Men, Natures, Societies), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle – February 2007
« The Invention of the Bonobo », Colloque : « Perspectives historiques et philosophiques sur les études en primatologie dans la seconde moitié du XXe siècle » - Groupe d’histoire et d’épistémologie des sciences de la vie et de la terre (Université Paris 7, Denis Diderot – REHSEIS Recherches Epistémologiques et Historiques sur les Sciences Exactes et les Institutions Scientifiques – janvier 2006)
« The Invention of the Bonobo », Ecole Normale Supérieure (rue d’Ulm) – Seminar of the Laboratory of Eco-anthropology & Ethnobiology (UMR 5145), Department « Hommes, Natures, Sociétés » (Men, Natures, Societies), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle – January 2006
« Can Great Apes Tie Knots ? », Educational Department, Chaffee Zoo, Fresno, California – May 2004
« Relation between Men and Animals : Not Without Emotions », with Vinciane Despret, Galerie Art’Mony, Liège – January 2004
« Keepers and Great Apes », Lecture : « Evolution, Patrimoine Naturel et Sociétés », axe : « Environnement : milieux, techniques et sociétés », Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris – 2004
« Primates Talk to Primates », Seminar of the Laboratory of Eco-anthropology & Ethnobiology (UMR 5145), Department « Hommes, Natures, Sociétés » (Men, Natures, Societies), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle – 2003
« Animals And Humans », Bibliothèques philosophiques (organisation inter-universitaire), with Lucienne Strivay, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Université Catholique de Louvain, Université de Liège – 2000

Exhibitions