Marietta Dindo Danforth
Great Ape Heart Project
Zoo Atlanta
Project and Database Manager for the GAHP
Dr. Marietta Dindo Danforth graduated from Emory University with a B.S. in Anthropology and received her Ph.D. in Evolutionary Psychology from the University of St. Andrews. Marietta’s previous research primarily focused on social learning and behavior transmission in non-human primates. She worked at the Yerkes National Primate Center and Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park before joining Zoo Atlanta as the Coordinator of the Great Ape Heart Project.
Marietta began working as the Project Coordinator for the Great Ape Heart Project (GAHP) in 2010. As part of Zoo Atlanta’s Planning Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), she planned the project’s 2010 and 2011 meetings, created and maintains the GAHP website, and took over the role as the key facilitator between stakeholder institutions and steering committee members. Soon after, she assumed the position as the Project and Database Manager for the GAHP. Marietta works with professional and support staff at various zoos, National Primate Centers and hospitals to implement clinical reporting procedures and treatments associated with cardiac disease in captive great apes. As a co-recipient of the GAHP’s 2012 National Leadership Grant from IMLS, she maintains the current GAHP’s Cardiac Database and oversees the development of an international, web-based medical system for GAHP records and cardiac reporting.
