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Dr. Nieves-Colón (R) and Jaime Zolik (L) in Peru. Image courtesy of Dr. Nieves-Colón.

Summary

Dr. Maria Nieves-Cólon and Jamie Zolik join the show to discuss their ancient DNA research in San Luis de Cañete and what it can reveal about the historical population of the town specifically and the African diaspora in South America generally. They share some of the exciting ways they’ve forged a partnership with the community in order to carry out the work as ethically as possible.

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Dr. Shattuck, photo courtesy of Dr. Shattuck

Summary

Dr. Eric Shattuck of Florida State University joins the show to discuss his research on sickness behavior. He wants to know how humans tend to act when they get sick and why they act that way.

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Dr. Erin Blankeship-Sefczek, all images courtesy of Dr. Blankenship-Sefczek.
Examples of accessory cusps
How inhibitory zones affect placement of accessory cusps

Summary

Dr. Erin Blankenship-Sefczek of Creighton University joins the show to discuss her research examining the connection between developmental stress and accessory cusps in teeth. Her work focuses on the placement and appearance of extra cusps that occur with greater frequency among individuals who have suffered stress during key developmental periods in their lives.

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Dr. Yaussy in the JMU BioAnth lab. Photo courtesy of Dr. Yaussy.

Summary

Dr. Samantha Yaussy of James Madison University joins the show to discuss her research on the how sex, socioeconomic status, and developmental stress and the intersectionality therein might interact to affect health outcomes in the past via the lens of frailty in skeletal remains primarily from medieval London.

In this episode, we talked about the skeletal markers of frailty in human remains, understanding bias in research and samples, and intersectionality. As part of this, Dr. Yaussy highlighted the morbidity-mortality paradox — women in modern contexts typically have worse health but longer lifespans than men. However, this doesn’t seem to hold true in the populations she studies, which means the past may hold clues for improving health today.

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Summary

Dr. Habiba Chirchir of the Ohio State University joins the show to discuss her research into the skeletal gracilization of modern humans. She’s trying to understand when and why our skeletons became less robust, and whether self-domestication may have played a role.

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Note: Apparently I got Dmitry Belyayev confused with Nikolai Vavilov. Both geneticists worked in the Soviet Union, but Dr. Belyayev wasn’t persecuted to the same extent as Vavilov.

Vavilov, who based his work on Mendelian genetics, ultimately died in prison for daring to go against Stalin’s favored genetic model created by Trofim Lysenko and based on Lamarckism.

Also worth noting: The contributions of Lyudmila Trut who worked with Dr. Belyayev and continued running the study after his death.

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Summary

Dr. David Orton of the University of York joins the show to discuss how he uses zooarchaeology (the study of animal remains in archaeological contexts) to understand the how rat and human populations interacted and affected each other over time in Europe. He gets into the spread of rats, the plague, using ancient DNA and isotopic analysis to analyze rats, and what rats can tell us about historic events.

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Summary

Dr. Henry Erlich, Researcher Emeritus at Benioff UCSF Children’s Hospital, joins the show to discuss his book, Genetic Reconstruction of the Past: DNA Analysis in Forensics and Human Evolution. We chatted about what it was like to pioneer PCR tests along with how PCR testing works, its applications (including medicine, understanding human evolution, and forensics), and some of the ethical dilemmas around DNA testing more generally.

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Summary

Dr. Christopher Schmitt of Boston University joins the show to talk about how he uses life history theory and epigenetics as a lens for his work with vervets and woolly monkeys. We also chatted about the highs of fieldwork, along with understanding how identity can affect an individual’s experience of the field.

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Book cover with the title "Period: The Real Story of Menstruation." The author's name is Kate Clancy
Image courtesy of Dr. Kate Clancy

Summary

Dr. Kate Clancy of Indiana State University Urbana-Champaign joins the show to talk about her book, Period: The Real Story of Menstruation. We touch on what periods are, why humans might menstruate, factors that affect menstruation, the study of women’s health in general, and a few things to keep in when doing research.

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Dr. Rebecca Gilmour at work in her lab. Photo courtesy of Dr. Gilmour.

Summary

Dr. Rebecca Gilmour of Mount Royal University talks about bones, their mechanics, and how we can use both to understand humans’ lives in the past — especially around her main focus of disability and care in ancient Rome.

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