Synopsis
The Human Biology Association is a vibrant nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to supporting and disseminating innovative research and teaching on human biological variation in evolutionary, social, historical, and environmental context worldwide.
Episodes
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SoS 112- Guest Episode from Inking of Immunity Podcast with Aaron Deter-Wolf
01/02/2021 Duration: 40minOn this weeks SoS episode, we bring you a guest episode from Inking of Immunity podcast, brought to you by Chris Lynn, Becci Owens, Mike Smetana, Julia Sponholtz & Patricia Arnett. In this episode, they interview Dr. Aaron Deter-Wolf. Aaron Deter-Wolf is a Prehistoric Archaeologist with the Tennessee Division of Archaeology in Nashville, where his responsibilities include managing ancient Native American sites on State-owned lands and conducting archaeological excavations and research. In addition to his work in Tennessee, for the past decade Aaron has been a leading researcher in developing the archaeological study of tattooing. Those efforts include using contextual analysis and microscopic use-wear signatures to identify tattooing tools in archaeological collections, efforts to systematically document tattoos on mummified human remains, and experiments recreating and testing ancient and historic tattooing implements. In 2009 Aaron organized the first American academic symposium to examine ancient and ea
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SoS 111 - Craving Earth: An Excerpt with Dr. Sera Young
25/01/2021 Duration: 01h07minOur second bonus episode is a reading by Dr. Sera Young, an associate professor in the department of anthropology at Northwestern University. Dr. Young is sharing with us the preface and the first chapter from her book Craving Earth: Understanding Pica, the urge to eat clay, starch, ice & chalk. The reading is followed by a rerun of Chris and Cara's interview with Dr. Young (Episode 34). You can find Craving Earth: Understanding Pica, the urge to eat clay, starch, ice & chalk at http://cup.columbia.edu/book/craving-earth/9780231146098 Learn more about Dr. Young's research at https://anthropology.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/sera-young.html You can contact Dr. Young at via email at sera.young@northwestern.edu and on Twitter @ProfSeraYoung Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association: Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation Website:humbio.org/, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Cara Ocobock, Website: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/, Email:cocobock@nd.edu, Twitter:@CaraOcobock C
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SoS 110- An Excerpt from Lazy, Crazy, and Disgusting with Drs Alex Brewis and Amber Wutich
18/01/2021 Duration: 01h05minIn this week’s episode we bring you an excerpt from “Lazy, Crazy, & Disgusting: Stigma and the Undoing of Global Health” by Drs Brewis and Wutich. Afterwards, you’ll hear their prior interview with Chris and Cara on water pirates, stigma, and the book itself. Drs. Alex Brewis and Amber Wutich are both President’s Professors in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. Drs. Brewis and Wutich discuss their paths to researching water, stigma, and becoming a writing/researching duo. Be sure to check out their AJHB issue: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15206300. Additionally, check out their latest book, "Lazy, Crazy, and Disgusting: Stigma and the Undoing of Global Health" and check out their websites for their upcoming projects: http://amberwutich.org/ and http://alexbrewis.org/about-alex/. To get in touch with Dr. Brewis, send her an email at Alex.Brewis@asu.edu or follow her on twitter @brewis_alex. To get in touch with Dr. Wutich, send her an email at Amber.Wutich@a
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SoS 109 - Dr. Kara Hoover blows our noses and our minds
11/01/2021 Duration: 37minDr. Kara Hoover from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks chats with Chris and Cara about her research on the human sense of smell. She tells us about the development of testing tools needed to understand olfactory ability and how olfactory research can provide insight into human adaptation, the long-term consequences of Covid-19, and the relationship between pollution and cognitive impairment. To learn more about Dr. Hoover's work and the often overlooked, yet incredibly important subject of olfactory research please visit https://smellofevolution.com You can read Dr. Hoover's paper on "Field-testing olfactory ability to understand human olfactory ecology" in the American Journal of Human Biology here: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23411 and contact Dr. Hoover via email at kchoover@alaska.edu or on Twitter at @KaraCHoover Contact the Sausage of Science and Human Biology Association: Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation Website:humbio.org/, Twitter: @Hu
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SoS 108- Your Story Doesn’t Quit: The 5-8 childhood transition with Dr. Benjamin Campbell
04/01/2021 Duration: 33minDr. Benjamin Campbell is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee specializing in the evolution of human life course. He focuses on the way steroid hormones form a critical link between energetics and the timing of important life events, including childhood growth, pubertal maturation, and senescence. His recent work is on the role of DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) and DHEAS (dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate) in human development, and he has a recent publication in Frontiers of Endocrinology called “DHEAS and Human Development: An Evolutionary Perspective” that we’re talking about today. You can email him at campbelb@uwm.edu and his website: https://uwm.edu/anthropology/people/campbell-benjamin/, the Sausage of Science and Human Biology Association: Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation Website:humbio.org/, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Cara Ocobock, Website:sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/,Email:cocobock@nd.edu, Twitter:@CaraOcobock Chris Lynn, HBA Public Relations C
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SoS 107 - From watching Bones to publishing research papers with Carlye Chaney
28/12/2020 Duration: 28minCarlye Chaney is a PhD candidate in anthropology at Yale University and the HBA student rep. She chats with us about her undergraduate work on the association between exercise and immune function, the importance of including midterm exams as confounding variables, and the HBA student member Happy Hour. You can read Carlye's paper "Salivary secretory immunoglobulin A variation between female varsity athletes and nonathletes" in the American Journal of Human Biology at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajhb.23405?casa_token=lQrUw7uRORkAAAAA%3AXSNU0a-ESPyZgGg4_mktA10lCsKDMdeLobOmFt5IhNibc2L_LANZRnFDCjwZdtLg7dQsK2p6ussb Find out more about Carlye's research at https://carlyechaney.netlify.app You can contact her at carlye.chaney@yale.edu and follow her on Twitter at @CarlyeChaney Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association: Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation Website:humbio.org/, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Cara Ocobock, Website: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobo
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SoS 106 – Emergent Warfare, Side Quests, and Effective Pedagogy with Dr. Marc Kissel
21/12/2020 Duration: 50minCara and Chris chat with Dr. Marc Kissel, an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Appalachian State University. Dr. Kissel is broadly interested in the processes by which we became human, and he uses methods grounded in paleoanthropology, genetics, and semiotics to address this question. In this interview he discusses is work on human warfare, including his recent book (written with Nam Kim) titled “Emergent Warfare in Our Evolutionary Past”. He also shares some ideas for best practices to engage students of all backgrounds and help them succeed. Learn more about Dr. Kissel’s work here: https://marckissel.netlify.app/ You can also email him at marc.kissel@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @MarcKissel Contact the Sausage of Science and Human Biology Association: Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation Website:humbio.org/, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Cara Ocobock, Website: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/, Email:cocobock@nd.edu, Twitter:@CaraOcobock Chris Lynn, HBA Public Relatio
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SoS 105 - Aha Moments and Middle Childhood Research with Dr. Courtney Helfrecht
14/12/2020 Duration: 29minOur guest this week is Dr. Courtney Helfrecht, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alabama. Dr. Helfrecht chats with us about her path to bicultural anthropology and her work on adrenarche and alloparenting in sub-Saharan populations. She tells us about the importance of cooperation and what doing fieldwork far from home may teach us about ourselves. Find out more about Dr. Helfrecht's work at https://chelfrecht.people.ua.edu Read her paper "Life History and Socioecology of Infancy" here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ajpa.24145 Find her article in the AJHB "Sibling effects on nutritional status: Intersections of cooperation and competition across development" here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajhb.22763 You can contact Dr. Helfrecht at chelfrecht@ua.edu Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association: Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation Website:humbio.org/, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Cara
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SoS 102 - Shaping how you grow older with Katie Sayre
23/11/2020 Duration: 27minThis week's guest is Katie Sayre, a PhD student at the University of Southern California. Katie's work focuses on aging across different populations and lifestyles. She chats with Chris and Cara about her work with the Hadza of Tanzania and what it takes to stay healthy while growing old. Find Katie's publication on physical function and aging here: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2019.0608?casa_token=3KYS1MLaungAAAAA%3AwwMSkPgHi6aC7HSwABUWdn1PoxdudyINZ4PO4KuPMfF6hHEIbC-3k_6UtZ_VzMQ6XeXds3jWc0WU You can contact Katie at mksayre@usc.edu Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association: Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation Website:humbio.org/, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Cara Ocobock, Website: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/, Email:cocobock@nd.edu, Twitter:@CaraOcobock Chris Lynn, HBA Public Relations Committee Chair, Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, Email: cdlynn@ua.edu, Twitter:@Chris_Ly Theresa Gildner, Website: bonesandbehavior.org/theresa_gildner,
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SoS 101- Zombification: Being at the edge of what’s known and unknown with Dr. Athena Aktipis
16/11/2020 Duration: 52minAthena Aktipis is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University and is the co-director of the Human Generosity Project. She is also the chair of the Zombie Apocalypse Medicine Meeting: http://www.zombiemed.org/ and host of the podcast Zombified: https://www.zombified.org/ on Channel Zed: https://www.channelzed.org/. Today Chris and Cara talk to her about science communication, how zombification is everywhere, and her new book The Cheating Cell: How evolution helps us understand and treat cancer, which you can find here: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691163840/the-cheating-cell as well as on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Cheating-Cell-Audiobook/0691205094, You can find out more about Dr. Aktipis on her website: http://www.athenaaktipis.org/ and on Twitter: @AthenaAktipis the Sausage of Science and Human Biology Association: Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation Website:humbio.org/, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Cara Ocobock, Website:sites.nd.edu/car
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SoS 100 - A Gloriously Complicated Problem with Alex Niclou
09/11/2020 Duration: 51minIn this special 100th SoS episode, Chris and Cara chat with our very own podcast producer Alexandra Niclou. A PhD candidate at the University of Notre Dame, Alex studies the many facets of human energetics and physiological adaptations. In particular, her work focuses on brown fat activity variation in adults under different climatic and energetic conditions, exploring the metabolic cost of brown fat and how physical exercise influences its activity. Her dissertation work in Samoa is funded by NSF and the Wenner-Gren Foundation. Email Alex at aniclou@nd.edu and follower her on Twitter @fiat_Luxandra Contact the Sausage of Science and Human Biology Association: Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation Website:humbio.org/, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Cara Ocobock, Website: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/, Email:cocobock@nd.edu, Twitter:@CaraOcobock Chris Lynn, HBA Public Relations Committee Chair, Website:cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, Email:cdlynn@ua.edu, Twitter:@Chris_Ly Theresa Gildner, Website: bonesa
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SoS 99 - Getting Hooked on Parasite Infection Research and Podcasting with Dr. Theresa Gildner
02/11/2020 Duration: 45minThis is the first of a series of episodes highlighting the work and interests of the Sausage of Science team. First up is our associate producer, Dr. Theresa Gildner. Theresa is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Dartmouth College and will be starting a new position as an Assistant Professor in the Anthropology Department at Washington University in St, Louis in January. She chats with Cara and Chris about her work with the Shuar Health and Life History Project and about her recent paper on the potential roles of parasite infections in mitigating the effects of COVID. Read Dr. Gildner's paper on "Market Integration and soil-transmitted helminth infection among the Shuar of Amazonian Ecuador here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/comments?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0236924 and her fresh-off-the-press paper "Old Friends Meet a new Foe - A potential for immune-printing parasites in mitigating COVID-19 morbidity and mortality" here: https://academic.oup.com/emph/advance-article/doi/10.1093/emph/eoaa037/59
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SoS 98- At the Nexus of Resistance and Resilience with Dr. Ruby Fried
27/10/2020 Duration: 50minRuby Fried is an Assistant Professor of Health Sciences at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. She is currently researching traditional food security and its effects on physical and mental health on St Paul Island with the Aleut community. Additionally, she is working on research investigating the widespread effects of COVID-19 in rural Alaska among Alaska Native peoples. In this episode, Chris and Cara talk to her about her work with Alaska Native women and children, subsistence food access as a nexus of resistance and resilience, and much more! You can find more information about Dr. Ruby Fried and about her research here: https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/academics/college-of-health/departments/institute-for-circumpolar-health-studies/staff.cshtml the Sausage of Science and Human Biology Association: Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation Website:humbio.org/, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Cara Ocobock, Website:sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/,Email:cocobock@nd.edu, Twitter:@CaraOcobock Chris Lynn, HBA Public
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SoS 97 - Taking an active rest with Dr. David Raichlen
19/10/2020 Duration: 41minThis week Cara and our assistant producer Alex chat with Dr. David Raichlen, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Southern California. We discuss his work on physical (in)activity in the Hadza people and why “how” we rest matters. We also delve into how applying evolutionary perspectives may help us slow down brain aging and why no one has thought of installing squatting racks in rodent cages. Read Dr. Raichlen’s paper on “Sitting, squatting, and the evolutionary biology of human activity” here: https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/21129/Raichlen%202020%20PNAS_Inactivity.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y and his Scientific American article on “Why your brain needs exercise” here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-your-brain-needs-exercise/ Email Dr. Raichlen at draichle@usc.edu And learn more about his work at https://dornsife.usc.edu/ebel/ Contact the the Sausage of Science and Human Biology Association: Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassoci
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SoS 96 - Remembering Dr. Frank Johnston with Drs. Babette Zemel and Larry Schell
12/10/2020 Duration: 35minDr. Frank Johnston, a Professor Emeritus of biological anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, passed away on August 20, 2020. Dr. Johnston was known for his work in child development, especially the impact of lifestyle variation on nutritional status and growth. He received many honors throughout his prolific career and held several notable positions, including president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, as well as Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology and the American Journal of Human Biology (which he helped establish). Dr. Johnston was also a strong advocate for applying anthropological knowledge to actively engage with communities. In this memorial episode, Chris and Cara discuss his many contributions to the field with his former doctoral students Drs. Larry Schell and Babette Zemel. The memoriam piece co-written by Dr. Schell with Drs. Penny Gordon-Larsen and Linda A. Valleroy can be found here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/a
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SoS 95 - Leaving a Legacy Now, Black in Bioanth & Research in Croatia with Tisa Loewen
05/10/2020 Duration: 34minTisa Loewen is a bioarcheologist and Ph.D. student at Arizona State University. Her current work studies the Romanized peoples that once lived-in modern-day Croatia and the Eastern Adriatic. She uses quantitative genetics of dental nonmetric traits to understand regional biological relationships and to provide a biohistorical perspective on relational identities. Tisa is also a contributor to Black in Bioanthropology and involved in AnthroIllustrated. In this episode, Cara & Chris talk to Tisa about her journey as an anthropologist and the service commitments she has contributed to. You can find more information about Tisa on Twitter: @AnthropologisTL and her website: https://sites.google.com/asu.edu/tloewen Black in Bioanth: https://twitter.com/BlackinBioAnth And AnthroIllustrated: https://anthroillustrated.com/ the Sausage of Science and Human Biology Association: Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation Website:humbio.org/, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Cara Ocobock, Website:sites.nd.edu/cara-oc
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SoS 94 - The Theatrics and Quantitative Genetics of Dental Anthropology with Leslea Hlusko
28/09/2020 Duration: 33minDr. Leslea Hlusko is currently the Vice President of the American Association of Physical Anthropology and a professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley. She will soon be joining Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, CENIEH, in Burgos, Spain as a research professor. In this episode Cara and Chris interview Leslea about her recent paper “A genotype: phenotype approach testing taxonomic hypotheses in hominids” and her broader work on the genetic and developmental basis of mammalian skeletal variation. -You can learn more about Dr. Hlusko’s work here:https://www.lesleahlusko.org/Contact the Sausage of Science and Human Biology Association:Facebook:www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociationWebsite:humbio.org/, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Cara Ocobock, Website:sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/,Email:cocobock@nd.edu, Twitter:@CaraOcobock Chris Lynn, HBA Public Relations Committee Chair,Website:cdlynn.people.ua.edu/,Email:cdlynn@ua.edu, Twitter:@Chris_Ly Theresa Gildner, Website:bonesandbehavior.or
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SoS 93 - Remembering Dr. Alan Walker with Drs. Peter Ungar and Leslea Hlusko
21/09/2020 Duration: 25minDr. Alan Walked passed away on November 20, 2017. A paleoanthropologist known for his work in early human evolution, Dr. Walker was the Evan Pugh Professor of Biological Anthropology and Biology at the Pennsylvania State University and was also a research scientist at the National Museum of Kenya. During his impressive career Dr. Walker discovered the “Black Skull” and was also on the research team that discovered Turkana Boy. He received many awards throughout his life, including a MacArthur Fellowship "genius grant". In this episode, Chris and Cara honor and remember his many contributions to the field with his former PhD student Dr. Leslea Hlusko and his former postdoc Dr. Peter Ungar. You can find their memorial piece here: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.2019.0017 To learn more about Dr. Ungar, you can visit his website: https://ungarlab.uark.edu/ You can learn more about Dr. Hlusko’s work here: https://www.lesleahlusko.org/ Contact the Sausage of Science and Human Biology Associat
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SoS 92 – The Wisdom of Teeth with Dr. Peter Ungar
14/09/2020 Duration: 33minThis week Chris and Cara chat with the “guru of dental microwear”, Dr. Peter Ungar. Dr. Ungar is a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arkansas. His research focuses on the use of teeth to reconstruct the diets of extinct species, especially hominins. In this interview, Dr. Ungar discusses the important contributions of dental microwear analyses to paleoanthropology, as well as his work to advance microwear analysis technology to better understand the impact of environmental change on past life, with implications for current climate change. Email Dr. Ungar at pungar@uark.edu And learn more about his work at: https://ungarlab.uark.edu/ You can also check out his book “Evolution’s Bite” at: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691160535/evolutions-bite Contact the Sausage of Science and Human Biology Association: Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation Website:humbio.org/, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Cara Ocobock, Website: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/, Email:co
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SoS 91 – How the Outside gets Inside with Drs. Tom Leatherman and Alan Goodman
05/09/2020 Duration: 51minIn this episode Chris and Cara talk with Dr. Tom Leatherman (Professor of Anthropology at UMass Amherst) and Dr. Alan Goodman (Professor of Anthropology at Hampshire College). Drs. Leatherman and Goodman discuss their revolutionary work advocating for biocultural collaborations within anthropology, focusing especially on concepts of embodiment, political economy, and structural racism. The conversation explores advances in biocultural work, from the publication of their groundbreaking book “Building a New Biocultural Synthesis” to the state of the field today. Email Dr. Leatherman at: tleatherman@anthro.umass.edu Email Dr. Goodman at: agoodman@hampshire.edu Check out the AJHB article “Building on the biocultural syntheses: 20 years and still expanding” referenced in the episode here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajhb.23360 You can find the rest of the AJHB Special Issue articles here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/15206300/2020/32/4 Contact the Sausage of Science and Human Biology A