Research Interests
Human Biology, Health, Subsistence, Subsistence-related Habitual Workloads, Cultural Change in Living and Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers, Pastoralists, Early Agriculturalists, Prehispanic American Southwest, Kenya, Venezuala,
Research Background
My research is prompted by a desire to understand how small-scale human societies develop and evolve both short- and long-term biological and cultural responses to environmental settings that appear to offer limited resources. Thus, I have a strong interest in the relationships between human biology, health, subsistence, subsistence-related habitual workloads, and cultural change in living and prehistoric hunter-gatherers, pastoralists, and the earliest agriculturalists. I have addressed these research interests in the context of studies associated with archaeology in the Prehispanic American Southwest, bio-behavioral fieldwork among Venezuelan hunter-gatherers, extensive analyses of the skeletal remains of Neandertal fossils and prehistoric modern human foragers, collaborative bioarchaeological excavations with northern Kenyan pastoralists, and our recent fieldwork (with Prof. Bilinda Straight, Western Michigan Univ.) investigating health and morbidity among Samburu pastoralists. Our more recent fieldwork is focused on examining the epigenetic effects on children of maternal in utero stress associated with a recent severe drought.
Education
PhD, University of New Mexico
Current Courses
- ANTH 143 – HUMAN EVOL & ADAPT (MWF, 3:35 PM – 4:50 PM)
- ANTH 143 – HUMAN EVOL & ADAPT (MWF, 3:35 PM – 4:50 PM)
- ANTH 298 – BIO ANTH THEORY AND PRACTICE (TTH, 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM)
- ANTH 315 – HUMAN GENETICS (TTH, 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM)