Former Graduate Students and Postdocs

Former PhD Students

Niguss Gitaw Baraki, Ph.D. 2025
Dissertation title: Coevolution of stone tools and hominin hand morphology
Current position: Postdoctoral Scientist, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University

Rachel Nelson, Ph.D. 2025
Dissertation title: Socioecological correlates of water availability and behavioral strategies to lactation in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
Current position: Adjunct Faculty, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University

Kristen Tuosto, Ph.D. 2024
Dissertation title: Impacts of early life adversity on bone growth and maintenance in Amboseli baboons
Current position: Tribal Archaeologist, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians

Jack Richardson, Ph.D. 2024
Dissertation title: The role of social play in the development of wild mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda
Current position: Consultant, IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, ARRC Task Force

Alexis Uluutku, Ph.D. 2024
Dissertation title: The role of character displacement and ecological niche incumbency in hominin evolution
Current position: Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Central Florida

Joanne Umazi Munga, Ph.D. 2024
Dissertation title: Effects of precision during flake production: interaction between knapper skill and raw material properties
Current position:

Victoria Lockwood, Ph.D. 2023
Dissertation title: Variation in arboreal locomotion and hand morphology in modern humans, olive baboons, and chimpanzees
Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, PALEVOPRIM, University of Poitiers, France

Courtney Sexton, Ph.D. 2023
Dissertation title: What is written on a dog's face? Implications of phenotype diversity in human-directed canine communication
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine

Sylvain Nyandwi, Ph.D. 2023
Dissertation title: Female chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) dispersal and grouping behavior in forest fragments in Rwanda
Current position: Tulane National Primate Research Center

Ryan McRae, Ph.D. 2023
Dissertation title: An inventory and assessment of the early African hominin fossil record prior to the emergence of Homo erectus
Current position: Researcher, Human Origins Program, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History

Axelle Kamanzi Shimwa, Ph.D. 2023
Dissertation title: Acquisition of dietary independence in wild Virunga mountain gorillas
Current position:

Kimberly Foecke, Ph.D. 2022
Dissertation title: Deconstructing the δ15N paleodietary proxy: implications of culturally-mediated food behavior for trophic position reconstruction
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, George Mason University

Lawrence Fatica, Ph.D. 2021
Dissertation title: Skeletal phenotypic variation in Gorilla: ecological, phylogenetic, and ontogeneic perspectives
Current position: Lecturer, Department of Physiological Sciences, University of Florida College of Veterinary Sciences

Elizabeth Tapanes, Ph.D. 2021
Dissertation title: The impact of ecology, demography, and genetics on primate pelage
Current position: AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Office of Pesticide Programs Division of Biopesticides & Pollution Prevention

Eve Boyle, Ph.D. 2019
Dissertation title: Testing hypotheses about the relationship between diet and torso morphology in extant primates: Implications for human evolution
Current position: Special Advisor, Maryland Department of Labor; Fellow, STEM Next Opportunity Fund

Sean Lee, Ph.D. 2019
Dissertation title: Female activity budgets and offspring development in wild bonobos and chimpanzees
Current position: Lead Biostatistician, The George Washington University Office of Clinical Research

Enquye Negash, Ph.D. 2019
Dissertation title: Woody cover in modern African ecosystems: Implications for hominin landscape dynamics
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University

Kelly Ostrofsky, Ph.D. 2019
Dissertation title: Using behavioral and kinematic methods to characterize arboreal behavior of Bwindi mountain gorillas
Current position: Assistant Professor of Anatomical Sciences, Rocky Vista University

Jonathan Reeves, Ph.D. 2019
Dissertation title: Movement ecology and hominin behavioral evolution: perspectives from East Turkana
Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany

Laurence Dumouchel, Ph.D. 2018
Dissertation title: A multi proxy analysis of Australopithecus anamensis paleoecology in the Omo Turkana Basin
Current position: Quantitative Usability Expert, LinkedIn

Kate McGrath, Ph.D. 2018
Dissertation title: From the inside out: Understanding stress-related enamel defects in great ape canines
Current position: Outreach & Engagement Specialist, BCS Allegient

Vance Powell, Ph.D. 2018
Dissertation title: Patterns of variation and covariation in anthropoid limb proportions: Implications for interpreting the hominin fossil record
Current position: Instructor of Anatomy, Howard University College of Medicine

Cassandra Turcotte, Ph.D. 2018
Dissertation title: Behavioral reconstruction and the effects of habitual activity on the bone-muscle interface
Current position: Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Calgary, Cumming School of Medicine

Kaitlin Wellens, Ph.D. 2018
Dissertation title: Social behavior in wild male chimpanzees: development and maternal relationships
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Trinity Washington University

Chrisandra Kufeldt, Ph.D. 2017
Dissertation title: Trees from teeth: investigating the potential of dental microstructure for phylogeny reconstruction
Current position: Assistant Professor (Teaching) of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California

Jordan Miller, Ph.D. 2017
Dissertation title: Chimpanzee third party behavior: insights into the evolution of human conflict management
Current position: Vice President of Sales and Marketing, IdeaRoom

Kathryn Ranhorn, Ph.D. 2017
Dissertation title: Cultural transmission and lithic technology in Middle Stone Age Eastern Africa
Current position: Assistant Professor, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University

Laura Reyes, Ph.D. 2017
Dissertation title: Tool-use and the chimpanzee brain: an investigation of gray and white matter, and a focused study of inferior parietal microstructure
Current position: Scientific Program Analyst, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health

Amelia Villaseñor, Ph.D. 2017
Dissertation title: Diversity in the Middle Pliocene: a multi-proxy analysis of climate's effect on vegetation and mammalian community structure with implications for human evolution
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas

Andrew Du, Ph.D. 2016
Dissertation title: The role of scale and ecological inference: implications for interpreting hominin paleoecology
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University

David Patterson, Ph.D. 2016
Dissertation title: Ecosystem evolution and hominin ecology between 2.0 and 1.4 Ma at East Turkana, northern Kenya
Current position: Professor, Department of Biology, University of North Georgia

Jennifer Baker, Ph.D. 2015
Dissertation title: From comparative genomics to synthetic biology: using ancestral gene reconstruction approaches to test hypotheses regarding proximate mechanisms in our evolutionary history
Current position: Program Manager, Illuminating the Druggable Genome, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH

Serena Bianchi, Ph.D. 2015
Dissertation title: Neuroanatomical correlates of attention-getting sounds in captive chimpanzees: towards understanding the evolution of flexible, learned, vocal communication
Current position: Science Communicator in-Residence, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Canada

Elizabeth Renner, Ph.D. 2015
Dissertation title: Social and asocial learning in humans and orangutans
Current position: Lecturer, Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, UK

Andrew Zipkin, Ph.D. 2015
Dissertation title: Material symbolism and ochre exploitation in middle stone age east-central Africa
Current position: Senior Scientist, Eurofins EAG Laboratories

Amy Bauernfeind, Ph.D. 2014
Dissertation title: Comparative protein expression of human and chimpanzee brains
Current position: Associate Professor of Anatomy in Neuroscience & Vice Chair of Education, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine

Kevin Hatala, Ph.D. 2014
Dissertation title: Fossil hominin footprints and the dynamics of footprint formation
Current position: Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Chatham University

Habiba Chirchir, Ph.D. 2013
Dissertation title: When and why did low trabecular bone density evolve in humans? A comparative and experimental study of trabecular density
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University

Kes Schroer, Ph.D. 2013
Dissertation title: The role of extant primate models for interpreting premolar crown variation in fossil hominins
Current position: Senior Consultant, Deloitte

Felicia Gomez, Ph.D. 2012
Dissertation title: Genetic variation at ICAM-1 and CD36: a study of malaria resistance candidate loci in diverse global human populations
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Nicolaas Fourie, Ph.D. 2012
Dissertation title: Hair cortisol in wild and captive primates: environmental effects and behavioral phenotypes
Deceased

Janine Chalk-Wilayto, Ph.D. 2011
Dissertation title: The effects of feeding strategies and food mechanics on the ontogeny of masticatory function in the Cebus libidinosus cranium
Current position: Associate Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Mercer University School of Medicine

Erin Marie Williams-Hatala, Ph.D. 2011
Dissertation title: Biomechanical strategies during Oldowan and Acheulean stone tool production
Current position: Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Chatham University

Rui Diogo, Ph.D. 2011
Dissertation title: Origin, homologies and evolution of primate head, neck, pectoral and upper limb muscles and the use of myological characters to investigate the phylogenetic relationships within the primate clade
Current position: Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, Howard University College of Medicine

J. Tyler Faith, Ph.D. 2011
Dissertation title: Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions in Southern Africa’s Cape Floral region
Current position: Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, The University of Utah

David Green, Ph.D. 2010
Dissertation title: Shoulder functional anatomy and development: implications for interpreting early hominin evolution
Current position: Professor and Chair, Department of Anatomy, Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine

Amanda Henry, Ph.D. 2010
Dissertation title: Plant foods and the dietary ecology of Neandertals and modern humans
Current position: Associate Professor, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Netherlands

Catherine Haradon, Ph.D. 2010
Dissertation title: The ecological context of the Achulean to Middle Stone Age transition in Africa
Current position: Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, California State University, Northridge

Nicole Griffin, Ph.D. 2009
Dissertation title: Comparative forefoot kinematics and bone architecture in extant hominids
Current position: Professor, Department of Biomedical Education and Data Science, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University

Lisa Nevell, Ph.D. 2009
Dissertation title: Hominin cranial base evolution and genes implicated in basioccipital development: role of Pax7, Fgfr3 and Disp1 in basioccipital development and integration
Current position: Research Fellow, University of Florida

Robin Teague, Ph.D. 2009
Dissertation title: The ecological context of the Early Pleistocene hominin dispersal to Asia
Current position: Olde Ipswitch Tours

Matthew Skinner, Ph.D. 2008
Dissertation title: Enamel-dentine junction morphology in extant hominoid and fossil hominin lower molars
Current position: Group leader, Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany

Alexandra de Sousa, Ph.D. 2008
Dissertation title: Hominoid brain organization: histometric and morphometric comparisons of visual brain structures
Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine

Paul Constantino, Ph.D. 2007
Dissertation title: Primate masticatory adaptations to fracture-resistant foods
Current position: Professor and Chair, Department of Biology, Saint Michael's College

Robert McCarthy, Ph.D. 2004
Dissertation title: Constraints on primate craniofacial growth and architecture
Current position: Associate Professor of Biology, College of Science, Benedictine University

Felicitas Bidlack, Ph.D. 2003
Dissertation title: The temporal resolution of oxygen stable isotope analyses in dental enamel
Current position: Senior Director of Research Affairs, The Forsyth Institute