EDUCATION
2011: PhD in Evolutionary Anthropology
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico
Dissertation: "The Evolutionary Ecology of Human Infancy"
2006: M.S. Anthropology, Human Evolutionary Ecology emphasis (with distinction)
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico
2004: B.S. Anthropology with Biology minor (Summa cum laude)
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico
Senior honors thesis: “Infant Feeding Patterns of the Bolivian Tsimane”
2000: A.S. in Recreation and Wildlife Management
School of Natural Resources, Hocking College
PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT AND AFFILIATIONS
2024-2027: Vice President, Human Biology Association
2023-2024: Program Chair, Human Biology Association
2023-present: Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology, Purdue University
2015-2023: Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology, Purdue University
2022-present: Courtesy Faculty Appointment
Department of Public Health, Purdue University
2015-present: Faculty Associate
Center on Aging and the Lifecourse, Purdue University
2015-present: Executive Committee Member
Ingestive Behavior Research Center, Purdue University
2014-2015: Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College
2012-2014: Lecturer
Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Boston
2011-2012: Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
POSTDOCTORAL FUNDING (≥ 1000)
2023-2024: Center for Families Faculty Fellow, Purdue University ($10,000)
2021: Purdue University Offices of the Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships (EVPRP) COVID-19 Research Disruption Fund ($25,000)
2019: Purdue University Global Synergy Grant ($25,000)
2018: Purdue University Kinley Fellowship ($20,000)
2018: Purdue University Laboratory/University Core Facility Research Equipment Grant ($7800)
2017: ASPIRE Travel Grant, College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University($1500)
2017: Project Development Team Pilot Funding, Indiana: Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI), "Birth in Transition: Implications for Child Growth and Gut Microbiome Maturation." ($10,000)
2017: Study Abroad Intercultural Learning Grant (SAIL), College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University($1100)
2017: Exploratory Research in the Social Sciences (ERSS) Grant, Purdue University, "Biology and Socioecology of Birth and Early Childhood Maturational Processes: A Semi-Longitudinal Study of Yucatec Maya Subsistence Farmers." ($35,000)
2016: ASPIRE Travel Grant, College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University($2500)
2016: Purdue Research Foundation Faculty Summer Grant, "Assessing the Costs and Benefits of the Medicalization of Birth and Increasing Cesarean Birth Rates in Maya Subsistence Farmers." ($8000)
2015: ASPIRE Grant, College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University, "Attachment Behaviors in the Yucatec Maya." ($2500)
2014: Claire Garber Goodman Grant, Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College,
“Changing Birth Dynamics in a Yucatec Maya Community." ($4590)
2013: Postdoctoral Award for Professional Development, Harvard University ($1000)
2012: Harvard University Fellow, Department of Human Evolutionary Biology ($4000)
INVITED LECTURES
2022: How Our Babies Made Us Human. Invited Public Lecture, The Milk Bank, Indianapolis, IN, USA (Aug 30, delivered via Zoom).
2020: Globalization, Human Biology and Indigenous Health: Evolutionary and Biocultural Causes and Consequences of the Cesarean Epidemic in Latin America. Emory University, Department of Anthropology, Atlanta, GA, USA (March 19, delivered via Zoom).
2020: Causes and Consequences of Rising Cesarean Delivery Rates in Latin America. University of Illinois Chicago, Department of Anthropology, Chicago, IL, USA (January 31).
2019: Urbanizacion, Migracion y Salúd Indigena en Mexico y Sudamérica. Universidad Hermilio Valdizan,Huánuco, Peru (July 11).
2019: Urbanizacon, Migracio y Salud Indigena en Peru. Colloquia de Salud Publica, Universidad de San Marcos, Lima, Peru (June 4).
2017: Biological Causes and Consequences of Cesarean Birth. Biology Department Seminar, Wabash College, Crawfordsville IN, USA (Aug 31).
2017: Investigaciones de Salúd Indígena en México y Sudamérica: Contribuciones de la Antropología Biológica (Investigations of Indigenous Health in Mexico and South America: Contributions of Biological Anthropology), Universidad Ricardo Palma, Lima, Perú (Aug 11).
2017: Investigaciones de Salúd Indígena en México y Sudamérica: Contribuciones de la Antropología Biológica). Universidad Nacional Hermilio Valdizan, Huánuco, Perú (Aug 10).
2017: Investigaciones de Salúd Indígena en México y Sudamérica: Contribuciones de la Antropología Biológica. Universidad Nacional de San Cristóbal de Huamanga, Ayachuco, Perú (Aug 7).
2016: Birth in Transition: Implications for Indigenous Health and Demography. Department of Anthropology, Notre Dame University, IN, USA (Sep 20).
2016: Attachment Behaviors in the Yucatec Maya. Children Seen and Heard Across the Globe Workshop, Lorentz Center, Leiden, Netherlands (June 20).
2015: The Dynamic Duo: Global Transitions and the Mother-Infant Dyad. Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, TX, USA (Feb 4).
2014: The Dynamic Duo: Epidemiologic and Life History Perspectives on the Mother- Infant Dyad. Department of Anthropology, Purdue University, IN, USA (Dec 12).
2014: Global Transitions and the Mother-Infant Dyad. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Southern Mississippi, MS, USA (Nov 24).
2014: Epidemiologic Perspectives on Breastfeeding Dynamics in Latin American Indigenous Communities, Guest lecture for a Graduate Seminar on Indigenous Health, Department of Anthropology, Yale University, CT, USA (Oct 15).
2014: Breastfeeding Practices of Indigenous Women. Presentation of data analysis to the study community, Centro de Salud (Health Center), Xculoc, Campeche, Mexico (June 5).
2014: Ecological Dimensions of Early Life Development. Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Child and Family Studies, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA, USA (April 3).
2014: Ecological Dimensions of Infant Health in Indigenous South American Populations. Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Child and Family Studies, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA, USA (April 3).
2014: Biocultural Dimensions of Infant Health in Indigenous Latin American Communities. Department of Anthropology, Ithaca College, NY, USA (Feb 27).
