Alan Walker has organized a two-day Discussion meeting to
take place at the Royal Society in London on October 19th and
20th this year . The topic is The First Four Million
Years of Human Evolution - a period after our split from chimpanzees and
before the origin of the genus Homo. Among the participants: Chris
Stringer (Natural History Museum London), Michel Brunet (College de France,
Paris), Tim White (U.C. Berkeley), Yohannes Haile-Selassie (Cleveland Museum of
Natural History), Robin Crompton (University of Liverpool), Owen Lovejoy (Kent
State University), Peter Ungar (University of Arkansas), Carol Ward (University
of Missouri), Bill Kimbel (Arizona State University), Chris Dean (University
College London), Fred Spoor (University College London), Bill McGrew (Cambridge
University), Phil Reno (Stanford University), Julia Lee-Thorp (Bradford
University), and Sudhir Kumar (Arizona State University). The proceedings will
be published in a special issue of The Philosophical Transactions of
the Royal Society in 2010. A visit to Charles Darwin's home of Down House
where the participants will continue the discussion is planned after the
meeting.
August 2009 Archives
Logan Kistler is the recipient of a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Read the full story on Live: http://live.psu.edu/story/41153/nw4
Jennifer Wagner had an abstract accepted for the Human Genome Organization
(HUGO) International Symposium on Genomics, Ethics, Law and Society in Geneva,
Switzerland. The title of her work is "The search for a 'reasonable' expectation
of genomic privacy."
Wagner_Abstract.doc
Wagner_Abstract.doc
Nina Jablonski was recently quoted in the New York Times about tanning and in the August issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine about skin. The piece in the New York Times is in the Fashion and Style section, both online and in print. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/fashion/13SKIN.html?_r=1 The Martha Stewart article "Getting Under the Surface of Your Skin" can be found online at: http://www.wholeliving.com/article/getting-under-the-surface-of-your-skin?autonomy_kw=nina%20jablonski
Pat Johnson and Jim Wood are conducting research on the Northern Islands of Orkney, Scotland during the Fall 2009 semester. This research is part of an ongoing NSF-funded project that investigates changes in population, settlement, land use, and migration flows from c. 1735 to the present. They will present a paper titled "Dissolution of extended-family households in Northern Orkney, Scotland, 1851-1901" at the 2009 meetings of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) in Marrakech, Morocco.
Graduate student Jennie Jin and Professor Pat Shipman have just
published their first paper together in Quaternary International (2009,
vol. xxx, p. 1-12). The study is the first ever large-scale survey of
natural damage to 347 antlers of white-tailed deer of known history. The
project provides the necessary statistical information that can be used
to evaluate purported antler tools in the archaeological record.
Virtually the entire sample showed high polish on the tips of the tines
-- even tines that were still covered with velvet showed polish after
the velvet was removed. This finding casts serious doubt on claims that
polished tines indicate use-wear. Seventy-two percent had random
scratches overlying polish and 39% had deformations due to injuries
during life. Ten percent of the antlers had broken, beveled and rounded
tines, which is often taken as evidence of use on soft substances like
hide.
published their first paper together in Quaternary International (2009,
vol. xxx, p. 1-12). The study is the first ever large-scale survey of
natural damage to 347 antlers of white-tailed deer of known history. The
project provides the necessary statistical information that can be used
to evaluate purported antler tools in the archaeological record.
Virtually the entire sample showed high polish on the tips of the tines
-- even tines that were still covered with velvet showed polish after
the velvet was removed. This finding casts serious doubt on claims that
polished tines indicate use-wear. Seventy-two percent had random
scratches overlying polish and 39% had deformations due to injuries
during life. Ten percent of the antlers had broken, beveled and rounded
tines, which is often taken as evidence of use on soft substances like
hide.
John Starbuck recently traveled to Sacramento, CA (July 30 - Aug 2) to
attend a National Down Syndrome Congress meeting and set up a research exhibit
for the purpose of data collection. Using Mark Shriver's 3dMD facial
imaging system he collected 3D facial images of individuals with Downs syndrome
and their biological siblings for his dissertation research project.
Ania Swiatoniowski gave a talk entitled, "The Increasing importance of vitamin D to well-being: An evolutionary and public health perspective" at the International Scientific-Training Conference in Lublin, Poland this past June. A review paper of Ania's talk was also published in Wellness and Prosperity in Different Phases of Life - one of the conference proceedings.
Sue Rutherford Siegel, research associate in Anthropology, has had her abstract titled "Searching for a gene on chromosome 18q influencing systolic
blood pressure in Mexican Americans" accepted for poster presentation at the
59th meeting of the American Society for Human Genetics in Honolulu, Hawaii on
Thursday, Oct 22nd.
In May 2009, Stephen Beckerman, Pamela Erickson, James Yost, Jhanira Regalado, Lilia Jamamillo, Corey Sparks, Moises Ironmenga, and Kathryn Long published a paper "Life histories, blood revenge, and reproductive success among the Waorani of Ecuador"
Leila Rodriguez received her doctoral degree at the Graduate School ceremony on August 15, 2009. Leila will immediately begin a tenure-track assistant professor position in the Anthropology Department at the University of Cincinnati.
Nathan Craig was awarded a Digital Innovation Fellowship by the American Council
of Learned Societies (ACLS). With the support of this fellowship, Craig will
develop three dimensional models of archaeological sites using close range
digital photogrammetry. These models will be converted to SketchUp format and
placed in Google Earth. From these models, Craig will implement space syntax
analysis to examine architectural themes for integration and segregation
Ken Weiss is on sabbatical leave
this year, to work on projects and approaches to the genetics,development,and
evolution of complex traits, including cranofacial morphology. He will be
concentrating on computer simulation and bioinformatics, as well as trying to
develop new molecular approaches.