Dr. Marina Davila-Ross, Reader in Comparative Psychology, University of Portsmouth This talk will be presented via Zoom. Laughter and Smiles: Towards understanding the Complexity and Phylogenetic Continuity of Positive Communication in Hominids Abstract: Laughter and smiles are arguably the strongest behavioural indicators of positive emotional states in humans and they also represent pervasive tools of […]

Dr Amanda Lea, Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University http://lea-lab.org/index.html Title: Lifestyle change and health in the Turkana of northwest Kenya Abstract: The environments experienced by individuals living “modern”, “urban”, or “Western” lifestyles are deeply diverged from the ancestral selection pressures that have shaped human genomes through evolutionary time. Consequently, many have hypothesized that this […]

Dr. Asher Rosinger Department of Biobehavioral Health, Penn State https://hhd.psu.edu/contact/asher-rosinger This talk will be presented via Zoom. Abstract: Dr. Asher Rosinger will discuss one of humanity's oldest and increasingly important questions, how do populations meet their water needs in areas with water problems and how do these strategies affect health and well-being. This talk will discuss how […]

Dr. Sriram Sankararaman UCLA Departments of Computer Science, Human Genetics, and Computational Medicine http://web.cs.ucla.edu/~sriram/ This talk will be in person as well as being accessible via Zoom. Title: The role of archaic admixture in human evolution                                        […]

Dr. Tina Lasisi, Quantitative and Computational Biology, USC https://anth.la.psu.edu/research/research-labs/jablonski-lab/dr-tina-lasisi/ Dr. Lasisi will present in person, as well as via Zoom. Title: Hair, skin, and the racialization of human variation. Abstract: After decades of broadcasting the message that race is a social construct, we find uncritical taxonomic groupings of humans creep back into discussions across disciplines. […]

Dr. Ainash Childebayeva Dept of Biological Anthropology, University of Kansas We are hoping that this talk will be both in person and via Zoom. Title: Population Genetics and Signatures of Selection in Early Neolithic European Farmers Abstract: Throughout our evolutionary history, humans have encountered different environmental and cultural changes that left a mark in our […]

Dr. Sean Prall Dept. of Anthropology, University of Missouri https://sprall.github.io/ Title: Perceptions that matter: using peer evaluations and dyadic data to explore behavior in rural Namibia Abstract: Reputation and social status are central to research on mating, social learning, and cooperation. However, evolutionary social scientists face significant methodological difficulties in accurately measuring people’s perceptions of […]

Dr. Tom Kraft Dept. of Anthropology, University of Utah https://thomaskraft.weebly.com/ Title: Modeling the dynamics of infectious disease transmission in a small-scale subsistence population Abstract:​​​ Infectious disease dynamics are governed by patterns of contact that vary by geography, social organization, mobility, network structure, and cultural factors. Based on speculation about these parameters in contemporary subsistence populations, […]

Dr. Richard McElreath, Director of the Department of Human Behavior, Ecology, and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Title: The Problem with Cultural Evolution https://www.eva.mpg.de/ecology/index/ Abstract: The field of cultural evolution, like any rapidly growing field, has some pruning to do. In this talk I will outline some problems with the field and suggest […]

Kristine Chua, Postdoctoral Scholar, Integrative Anthropological  Sciences, UCSB ttps://boddylab.com/people/ Title: Using evolutionary and biocultural perspectives in the study of human pregnancy in diverse communities Abstract: Models of the social determinants of health have proliferated in recent years across multiple disciplines. Yet, this surge in the literature within a small timeframe has led to ambiguities. Particularly unclear […]