Former Graduate Students and Postdocs
Former Postdoctoral Scientists
- Shara Bailey – Professor, Department of Anthropology, New York University
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Katharine Balolia – Senior Lecturer in Biological Anthropology, Australian National University, Australia
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Nicole Barger - AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow, Division of Environmental Biology, Directorate of Biological Sciences, National Science Foundation
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Sarah Barks – Senior Director, STEM Career Community and Analytics, Grinnell College
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Susana Carvalho – Professor of Palaeoanthropology, School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, UK
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Christine Charvet – Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, Auburn University
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Paul Constantino – Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Saint Michael's College
- Tetyana Duka - Research Laboratory Manager, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology, Georgetown University Medical Center
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Aida Gómez-Robles – Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University College London, UK
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Adam Gordon – Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University at Albany, State University of New York
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Mark Grabowski – Senior Lecturer in Evolutionary Anthropology, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
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Elaine Guevara – Lecturer, Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University
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Ashley Hammond – Associate Curator of Biology Anthropology, Curator-in-Charge of Old World Archaeology, and Division Chair, American Museum of Natural History; Associate Professor, Richard Gilder Graduate School
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Sarah Hlubik - College Fellow, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University
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Aminu Imam - Lecturer, Department of Anatomy, University of Ilorin, Nigeria
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Rachel Jacobs – Wildlife Biologist, Division of Scientific Authority, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
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Fenna Krienen – Assistant Professor, Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University
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Michael Lague – Associate Professor of Biology, School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics, Stockton University
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Sean Lee - Lead Biostatistician, The George Washington University Office of Clinical Research
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A. Catherine Markham – Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University
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Shannon McPherron – Senior Scientist - Research Group Leader, Department of Human Origins, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
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Julio Mercader – Professor, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Canada
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Gerard Muntané Medina – Visiting Associate Professor, Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain
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Enquye Negash - Postdoctoral Researcher, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University
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Rob O'Malley – Public Engagement Associate with pgEd.org, Harvard Medical School
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Melissa Panger – Branch Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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Osbjorn Pearson – Professor and Regents Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico
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Varsha Pilbrow – Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in Archaeology, La Trobe University, Australia
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John Polk – Associate Professor and Director of Human Biology, Department of Anthropology, University at Albany
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Neil Roach – Lecturer, Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
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Paul Sandberg – Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder
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Natalie Schenker-Ahmed – Project Manager, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
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Gary Schwartz – Professor, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University
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Muhammad Spocter – Professor, Department of Anatomy, Des Moines University
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Nicky Staes – Postdoctoral Scientist, Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp & Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, University of Antwerp, Belgium
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Margaret Stanton – Assistant Professor, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of New England
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Dietrich Stout – Professor, Department of Anthropology, Emory University
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David Strait – Professor, Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis
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Christian Tryon – Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut
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Andrey Verendeev – Science Writer, BrainPOP
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Brian Villmoare – Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
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Erin Vogel – Professor, Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University
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Erin Marie Williams-Hatala – Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Chatham University
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Barth Wright – Professor, Department of Surgery, KU Medical Center, The University of Kansas
Former PhD Students
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 Fellow, 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 University
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: Associate Researcher, Human Origins Program, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History
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 Health
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: Senior Policy Advisor, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy & STEMNext Fellow
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 User Experience (UX) Researcher, LinkedIn
Kate McGrath, Ph.D. 2018
Dissertation title: From the inside out: Understanding stress-related enamel defects in great ape canines
Current position: AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow
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: Postdoctoral Teaching Scholar, New York Institute of Technology
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: Associate 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: Analytical Chemist and Materials 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: Assistant 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: Associate Professor, Division of Biological Sciences, Marshall 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, Oncology Division, Stem Cell Biology, 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, Department of Basic Medical 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: Associate Professor, 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: Executive Director of Research & 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: Professor of Biological Anthropology, University of Kent, UK
Alexandra de Sousa, Ph.D. 2008
Dissertation title: Hominoid brain organization: histometric and morphometric comparisons of visual brain structures
Current position: Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Bath Spa University, UK
Paul Constantino, Ph.D. 2007
Dissertation title: Primate masticatory adaptations to fracture-resistant foods
Current position: Associate Professor, 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: Associate Member of Staff, The Forsyth Institute
Former Master's Students
Hailee Bilmoria, M.S. 2023
Thesis title: Evaluating Trends in Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) Respiratory Illness Susceptibility: A Machine Learning Approach
Colleen Buckley, M.S. 2023
Thesis title: Left-Hemispheric Brain Lateralization and Sex Differences in the Processing of Familiar Human Speech by Domestic Dogs
Maddy Hillegas, M.S. 2023
Thesis title: Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff–Examining Dental Evidence of Stress in a Gombe Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii)
Veronika Kulik, M.S. 2023
Thesis title: Age-related pathology and microglial activation in felid brains
Claire Lavergne, M.S. 2023
Thesis title: Molecular Evolution of Social Behavior-Related Candidate Genes (DRD4 and GRIN1) in Apes
Alyssa McGrath, M.S. 2023
Thesis title: An Ancestral State Reconstruction of Sexual Dimorphism in Hominins
Sims Patton, M.S. 2023
Thesis title: Unaffected Survivorship as a Result of Early Life Ecological Stress in Wild Chimpanzees at Gombe National Park
Esther Stoppani, M.S. 2023
Thesis title: Investigating primate protein evolution for two genes (NTRK1 and GRI4) with implications for pain and anxiety chronification
Katherine Auerswald, M.S. 2022
Thesis title: Sleeping around: social and ecological determinants of wild chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) sleeping site selection at Gombe National Park, Tanzania
Giovana Delia, M.S. 2022
Thesis title: Animal coloration as an illustrative model of selection
Sarah Mangelsdorf Grimm, M.S. 2022
Thesis title: Bird-brained: convergent evolution of cognition between birds and modern humans
Hannah Jacobson, M.S. 2022
Thesis title: Big brain energy: the metabolic contributions of the gut microbiome and its implications for encephalization in early Homo
Suzanne Kunitz, M.S. 2022
Thesis title: An ethnoarchaeological comparison of bone surface modifications to the butchery of the Dobe !Kung San
Nina Lopergolo, M.S. 2022
Thesis title: The serotonin receptor HTR1A is generally conserved across primates and within a primate species (Sapajus apella)
Gwyneth McNiff, M.S. 2022
Thesis title: Characterization of the relationship between executive functioning scores in preschoolers and performance on various imitation tasks
Alexander Průcha, M.S. 2022
Thesis title: Reconstructing anthropoid facial skeletal evolution, and predicting the facial skeletal morphology of the last common ancestors of apes and humans
Kailie Batsche, M.S. 2021
Thesis title: Ontogenetic variability in collagen fiber orientation at the midshaft femur of Virunga mountain gorillas
Annelise Beer, M.S. 2021
Thesis title: How have STEM courses ‘adapted’ to online learning during a pandemic?
Monica Cheung, M.S. 2021
Thesis title: Behavioral thermoregulation: assessing the influence of temperature on chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) ranging behavior at Gombe National Park, Tanzania
Audrey Tjahjadi, M.S. 2021
Thesis title: A phylogenetic analysis of two intestinal disaccharidases in primates
Warrenkevin Hendersen, M.S. 2021
Thesis title: Examining convergence in equids and ursids to understand potential hominin adaptiveness to the cold
Kristin Carline, M.S. 2021
Thesis title: A reexamination of the Oldowan's origin using hominin diversity and environmental variability in Eastern Africa
Molly Karl, M.S. 2021
Thesis title: Electron microscopy analysis of interspecific variation in mitochondria and synapses in the cerebral cortex across 18 mammalian species
Nicholas Burns, M.S. 2020
Thesis title: Is there evidence of competitive exclusion in eastern African later Miocene mammalian communities?
Leanne Chambers, M.S. 2019
Thesis title: Follow the leader: correlates of juvenile leadership in wild chimpanzees
Louis Gorgone, M.S. 2019
Thesis title: Ecological divergence in the medial cuneiform and talus of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei)
Ayla Riley-Horst, M.S. 2019
Thesis title: Testing techniques for sexing the subadult pelvic remains of modern humans from the African Diaspora
Courtney Sexton, M.S. 2019
Thesis title: Face to face: impacts of expressive communication and domestication on eye muscle morphology in canids
Samantha Lubrano, M.S. 2018
Thesis title: Is there sexual dimorphism in canine crown shape among extant hylobatids?
Angela Peña, M.S. 2018
Thesis title: Patterns of integration and modularity in the hominoid wrist
Daniel Wawrznyiak, M.S. 2018
Thesis title: Evolution of body size in the diverse lesser apes
Christyna Solhan, M.S. 2011
Thesis title: Hallucial tarsometatarsal joint morphology and function: a three-dimensional analysis of medial cuneiforms in extant and fossil hominids
Balazs Horvath, M.S. 2006
Thesis title: Beyond absolute brain size? The allure of allometry and the encephalization quotient