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Dr. David Braun in the field. Courtesy of Dr. Braun.

Summary

Dr. David Braun of George Washington University’s Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology in the Anthropology Department chats about the cycles of tool use and niche construction. We talk about how one affects the other and vice versa in cycles, plus the interplay of greater environmental and climate change. Dr. Braun also discusses how we can look into the near and deep past to figure out environmental change.

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Dr. Jonathan Marks, Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

Summary

Dr. Jonathan Marks of the University of North Carolina – Charlotte joins the show to talk about his book, Why Are There Still Creationists? Human Evolution and the Ancestors. We chat about one of the toughest conversations everyone who deals with evolution faces: Speaking with creationists. In the episode, Marks talks about theology and the surprising history between scientists and creationists.

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Dr. Bill Schutt standing next to a preserved blue whale heart at the Royal Ontario Museum. Courtesy of Dr. Schutt.

Summary

Dr. Bill Schutt, zoologist and author, joins the show to talk about his latest book, Pump: A Natural History of the Heart. We chat about the evolution of hearts, how people learned about how hearts work, and science writing. 

Check out his book here.

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Dr. Robert Anemone in the field, courtesy of Dr. Anemone

Summary

Dr. Robert Anemone of the University of North Carolina – Greensboro joins the show to talk about how advances in geospatial tech can help paleoanthropologists find productive sites, along with how he’s used it in his real life field work in the Great Divide Basin of Wyoming.

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Summary

Dr. Sarah Kindschuh of the DPAA discusses what it’s like to work for federal government to recover and identify members of the U.S. armed services. We also chatted about advice for undergraduates interested in pursuing work as anthropologists.

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Dr. Christopher Lynn (right) in the field, courtesy of Dr. Lynn

Summary

Dr. Christopher D. Lynn of the University of Alabama joins the show to talk about tattoos and what they can tell us about immune function, health signaling, and cultural meanings. Plus, we talk about sci comm!

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Stine Carlsson, courtesy of Ms. Carlsson

Summary

Stine Carlsson is a PhD candidate at Queens University Belfast in Northern Ireland. We discuss strategies for finding a good grad program, dealing with toxic academic environments, choosing a path, and skeletal stress indicators. 

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Dr. Robert Mann with Gaby Lapera on screen, courtesy of Dr. Mann

Summary

Dr. Robert Mann of the University of Hawaii talks about his winding path in biological anthropology. He spent time in the military, as a consulting forensic anthropologist, and in JPAC/DPAA.

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Associate Professor of Anthropology Elizabeth A. DiGangi leads a discussion on how to identify markings on a variety of animal bones during a graduate course, Anthropology 544: Methods in Forensic Anthropology, in Science I, Thursday, March 25, 2021.

Summary

Dr. DiGangi from SUNY-Binghamton and Dr. Bethard from the University of South Florida joined the show to discuss their position papers on the use of ancestry in forensic sciences and in the justice system.

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Dr. Tara Cepon-Robins processing samples in the field, courtesy of Dr. Cepon-Robins

Summary

Dr. Tara Cepon-Robins of the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs joined me to talk about worms. She talks about humans’ evolutionary arms race with parasites, measuring disgust, and her work among the Shuar people and in the rural southern United States.

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