Keywords:
- Biocultural medical anthropology
- Impact of cultural/physical stressors on biomarker patterning and developmental trajectories
- Socio-cultural and evolutionary determinants of childhood health and growth
- Evolution of human childhood
- Sub-Saharan Africa: Ethiopia (Sidama agropastoralists) and Central African Republic (Aka foragers and Ngandu horticulturalists)
I am a biocultural anthropologist, broadly investigating how ecocultural contexts affect child development and health.
My work in Ethiopia centers on stressors from the physical and social environments and the ways it impacts nutritional status, biomarkers (cortisol and DHEAS), and sociocultural development among Sidama agropastoralist children.
In Alabama, my research is oriented around out-of-school activities, including athletics (with Dr. Jess Wallace) and performing arts (with Dr. Stephanie McClure, Dr. Alexis Davis-Hazell, and Mr. Alvon Reed), and the impacts of participation on holistic measures of child health and well-being.
Subject Areas:
- Biocultural Medical Anthropology: life course health and development, global health, maternal/child health, nutritional anthropology, culture and health
- Human Biology: human behavioral ecology, human evolutionary biology
- Identities and Inequalities: race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality
- Education, Outreach, and Community Engagement: evolution education
- Decolonization.
