About

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. My research focuses on the evolution of body form in humans and our close relatives. In particular, I am interested in the ways in which adaptation to different environments has influenced the shape of the torso.

I completed my PhD in Biological Anthropology at New York University. My dissertation research focused on investigating ecogeographic influences on trunk modularity in recent humans in order to study the evolution of body form in hominins. Specifically, my research aimed to understand the pattern of covariation among the ribcage, vertebral column, and pelvis and to investigate how that pattern differs in populations of modern humans from varied geographical locales. I incorporated both two-dimensional and three-dimensional morphological data as well as climatic and genetic data in my research.

As a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences at the University of Missouri, I worked with Dr. Carol Ward on several projects related to torso morphology in humans, apes, and monkeys. 

My other past projects have ranged from tracking woolly monkeys in the Ecuadorian rainforest in order to study the acquisition of locomotor behavior in juveniles to studying histological cross-sections of bone to look at osteon size variability.