Cielo De La Rosa Meza

About Cielo De La Rosa Meza

Cielo is a 3rd-year PhD Biological Anthropology student in the Applied Primate Eco-omics Lab, where she is studying the health, physiology, and aging of wild chimpanzees in Uganda. Cielo is originally from California and has a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California Santa Cruz. Before joining the APE lab, Cielo worked on research projects examining the foraging cognition, behavioral welfare, and behavioral ecology of wild and captive primates.

Projects

In the APE lab, Cielo has worked on a project using remote camera trap videos to examine the physical function of the Ngogo chimpanzees. This project revealed that chimpanzees do show signs of physical decline with age and that it can be measured noninvasively through gait speed. Building on this work, she is currently examining the health and physiology of wild chimpanzees through measures of oxidative stress. Using noninvasively collected urine samples, Cielo plans to investigate how oxidative stress may play a role in the aging processes of chimpanzees in the wild. Overall, Cielo aims to explore how health and aging can be measured in wild primate populations, as well as investigate the underlying factors contributing to functional decline.

Publications

Phillips, S., Sime, P., De La Rosa, C. et al. Wild chimpanzee termite mound inspections converge with the onset of rain. Sci Rep 15, 13247 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-90382-9