Biological Anthropology
The
department offers training in primate and human
anatomy and evolution, primate behavior and ecology,
human variation and ecology, and nutritional
anthropology. Faculty research interests
include the following: primate health and disease
ecology, general ecology, and conservation biology
(with research sites in Madagascar
and Vietnam); primate evolution (with research
sites in Wyoming and Vietnam); early hominid
paleoecology (with study areas throughout Africa);
human reproductive and nutritional ecology (with
research sites in Colombia and Brazil); skeletal
biology of Medieval Nubians; and biogeochemical
techniques for studying the diets and habitats
of modern and fossil fauna. Please note
that we do not train students specifically in
forensics.
Additionally, the biological faculty have interests and research strengths that cross sub-disciplinary boundaries and foster collaboration with faculty and graduate students in both archaeology and cultural anthropology. For example, we share an interest in human ecology, the broad integrative area of anthropology that focuses on the interactions of culture, biology and the environment. We also share an interest in the processes of globalization, which are rapidly changing many aspects of the modern world. As biological anthropologists, we are well positioned to analyze the impact of globalization on the interaction between biology and behavior, including changes in fertility and mortality rates, nutritional status and disease prevalence. We are also well positioned to analyze human and primate adaptations to changing environments and declining biodiversity.
Biological Faculty
- Herbert Covert - Conservation and ecology of Southeast Asian colobines; biology of the earliest primates of North America, Europe, North Africa
- Darna Dufour - Biological & behavioral responses of human populations to nutritional problems
- Michelle Sauther - Primate biology and ecology. Primate evolutionary biology, growth and development, life history, bio-behavioral responses to anthropogenic change.
- Matt Sponheimer - Ecology of early human ancestors in Africa
- Dennis Van Gerven - Paleopathology and paleodemography of ancient populations of the Nile Valley