CASHP professor, Dr. Sergio Almécija, aids in discovery of new genus and species of ape

Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Dr. Sergio Almécija,  and a team of researchers from GW have partnered with the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont to publish evidence in Science Magazine of a new genus and species of ape that is an unlikely ancestor of both apes and humans. (source)

According to Science News, the partial skeleton of an 11.6-million-year-old primitive ape, dubbed Pliobates cataloniae and found near Barcelona, Spain, may force scientists to re-imagine the ancestor of all living apes and humans. With a muzzle like a gibbon but a large brain for its body size, the ancient primate has traits that link it to all apes and humans—yet it weighed only 4 kg to 5 kg.

“This is the first small ape in the fossil record that shows clear features present in all living apes,” says Almécija. “Before this discovery, we had assumed that the living small apes, the gibbons and siamangs, had evolved from larger apes of a size similar to that of a chimpanzee,”

Almécija said he was invited to analyze the fossilized remains by IPC back in 2011, when they were discovered during the construction of a landfill near Barcelona. He said he and his teammates were “stunned” to find a number of similarities between the new species and living apes.

“All scholars in the field of anthropology will start paying more attention to the small primates that lived alongside larger fossil apes in the past,” Almécija said. “Some of them could be also small apes. They just look slightly different that what we would expect, that’s why it’s difficult to identify them for what they are.” (source)

"art + evolution" exhibit at GW

On Monday, March 25, an exhibit opened in Smith Hall at GW. The exhibit, entitled “art + evolution: exploring the creative mind,” is the product of collaboration between the Department of Fine Arts and the Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology (CASHP), and was curated by Roxanne Goldberg and CASHP students Kes Schroer and Serena Bianchi. It explores the origins of human creativity through the work of local DC artists, and photographs taken by CASHP members during their travels and laboratory work. Monday night, Anthropology Department professor Alison Brooks inaugurated the program with a lecture on symbolism and human evolution. On Thursday, March 28, the opening reception will be held in Smith Hall (801 22nd St) between 6:00 and 8:00 pm.


The exhibit will remain open April 5.

Publication on Running!

CASHP doctoral candidate Kevin Hatala, alumna Heather Dingwall, and Chair and Professor Brian Richmond, along with James Madison University professor Roshna Wunderlich, published a paper in PLOS One last month. The paper, entitled “Variation in Foot Strike Patterns during Running among Habitually Barefoot Populations,” discusses the strike pattern during running. The researchers carried out the project in northern Kenya with the help of the Daasanach people, who grow up barefoot. Scholars have long hypothesized that populations who grow up wearing shoes move their feet differently during walking and running than peoples who grow up without shoes. The results demonstrate that the Daasanach people strike their heel first during slow running, though they strike with the middle and front of the foot when speed increases. 

The publication is available at: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0052548

The publication was also covered by several news outlets, see the following to see their takes on this article:

23 Jan 13  New York Times, Gretchen Reynolds, "Is There One Right Way to Run?"  (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/is-there-one-right-way-to-run/)

21 Jan 13  Washington Post, Lenny Bernstein, "‘Minimalist’ running style may be undermined by new findings from Kenya."  (http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/minimalist-running-style-may-be-undermined-by-new-findings-from-kenya/2013/01/18/e1f4100c-60d2-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712_story.html)

11 Jan 13  Outside, Joe Spring, Adventure Lab, "Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Barefoot Running Form."  (http://www.outsideonline.com/blog/fitness/challenging-the-conventional-wisdom-on-barefoot-running-form.html)

10 Jan 13  Runner's World, Amby Burfoot, "New Study Reaches Different Conclusion On Kenyan Foot Strikes." (http://www.runnersworld.com/barefoot-running-minimalism/new-study-reaches-different-conclusion-kenyan-foot-strikes)

9 Jan 13  Scientific American, Katherine Harmon, "Some Barefoot Runners Tip Orthodoxy Back on Heels."  (http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2013/01/09/some-barefoot-runners-tip-orthodoxy-back-on-heels/)

9 Jan 13  Yahoo! News, Katherine Harmon, "Some Barefoot Runners Tip Orthodoxy Back on Heels." (http://news.yahoo.com/barefoot-runners-tip-orthodoxy-back-heels-223500291.html)

9 Jan 13  Science Daily, Lee Dye, "Variation Found in Foot Strike Patterns in Predominantly Barefoot Runners." (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130109185856.htm)

CASHP Postdoc Dr. Erin Marie Williams Receives Prestigious Award

We congratulate CASHP post-doctoral scientist Erin Marie Williams (M.A. Anth 2007, Ph.D. HomPal 2011) on winning the 2012 L’Oréal USA Fellowship for Women in Science award. Dr. Williams will be able to study early hominin decision-making through their choice of tool-making materials. She and four other awardees will receive up to $60,000 for their postdoctoral research. This honor is awarded to bring recognition to female scientists working in the U.S. in science and to establish them as role models for young women in science.

National Geographic published an article about the award and the five fellows: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/09/15/researchers-examining-critical-world-issues-receive-loreal-fellowships-for-women-in-science/

More information about the award can be found at: http://www.lorealusa.com/_en/_us/index.aspx?direct1=00008&direct2=00008/00001

Department Members Publish on Hominin Evolution

Anthropology post-doc Erin Marie Williams, Professor Brian Richmond, and Dr. Adam Gordon of SUNY Albany published an article in the April issue of the Journal of Human Evolution. In the article, entitled “Hand pressure distribution during Oldowan stone tool production,” they dispute the hypothesis that the modern human thumb evolved in reaction to high pressure experienced during Oldowan stone tool production. The article can be found at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004724841200036X.

Professor Bernard Wood has been featured in the August 8, 2012 International Herald Tribune discussing the three recent fossil finds made by Dr. Meave Leakey and her team in Koobi Fora, Kenya. Their discovery is published in the most recent issue of Nature. Dr. Wood wrote an article to accompany theirs, in which he argues that there were at least two parallel lineages in the evolution of the genus Homo. The full Herald Tribune article is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/science/new-fossils-indicate-offshoots-in-human-family-tree.html, and the entire Nature article at: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v488/n7410/full/488162a.html.

Hom Pal Student Wins SAA Award

We congratulate HomPal student Andrew Zipkin for winning the prestigious R. E. Taylor award for the best student poster at the 2012 Society for American Archaeology conference. The title of Andrew’s poster is “On the formation and distribution of ocherous minerals in northern Malawi.”

News about our recent Alumni!

Helen Alesbury (B.S. Bio Anth & B.A. Arch 2010) is serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Los Cimientos, El Salvador, where she works specifically on health and sanitation issues.

Shweta Bansil (B.A. Anth 2012) is entering the GW Medical School program as the second step in her 7-year B.A./M.D. program.

Carla Blauvelt (M.A. Anth-Intl. Dev. 2009) is working as the Senior Research Program Coordinator for the Department of International Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health (Johns Hopkins University). She is currently in Tanzania studying the care of newborns.

Geoffrey Cain (Intl. Affairs & Anth 2008) is working as a journalist and commentator across the world while also pursuing a Ph.D. in political anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.

Adam Chamy (B.A. Intl. Affairs 2009), a 2008 recipient of the Anthropology Department’s Cotlow award, will attend the University of Maryland’s dual master’s program in city planning and architecture this fall.

Heather Dingwall (B.A. Arch & B.S. Bio Anth 2012) will enter the Anthropology Ph.D. program at Harvard University this fall. Heather plans to continue her work on the evolution of bipedalism.

Andrea Farnan (B.A. Intl. Affairs & Anth 2011) works as a senior leadership consultant for the sorority Alpha Delta Pi.

Christine Foltz (B.A. Intl. Affairs & Anth 2011) is working on her M.S. in forensic anthropology at Boston University.

Jacqueline Hazen (M.A. Anth 2012), Amanda Kemble (B.A. Anth 2012), and Briel Kobak (B.A. Anth 2012) are working with Dr. Joel Kuipers and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History on a project investigating the cultural and communicative patterns made by cell phones.  Amanda has also joined the staff of Anthropological Quarterly, the journal edited by Dr. R. Richard Grinker.

Adrienne Lagman (M.A. Anth-Intl. Devel. 2011) will enter the Ph.D. program in Anthropology at the University of Michigan this fall.  Adrienne is interested in the performance of gender roles within the Chinese legal system and anticipates focusing on women at legal aid centers in China.

Candice Lanius (B.A. Anth 2012) will enter the Ph.D. program in Communication and Rhetoric this fall at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) where she will be studying computer-mediated communication and social analysis.

Cheyenne Lewis (B.A. Arch & B.S Bio Anth 2012) will enter the M.A. program in Biological and Forensic Anthropology at Mercyhurst University this fall. Cheyenne has a particular interest in osteology and the excavation of human remains.

Jillian Mallis (B.S. Geology & B.A. Arch 2011) is working on her Ph.D. in Geology at Stanford University. She was fully funded for her studies.

Daniel Miller (M.A. Anth 2011) is working on a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Previously, he was doing molecular biology research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Hospital.

Huma Mohibullah (M.A. Anth 2011) is working on her Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. She is interested in identity construction and imagined communities, among other subjects.

Lisa Nevell (Ph.D. Hom Paleo 2008) is working as a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant in the lab of Nobel laureate Mario Capecchi at the University of Utah. Lisa designs targeting vectors for cells and mice.

Alicia O’Brien (B.A. Intl. Affairs & Anth 2011) is working as the Staffing and Payroll Coordinator for Facilities and Operations at GW.

Sarah Ray (B.A. Anth 2008) is now working as an administrative assistant in the Office of Communications and External Relations at Columbia University after completing a 26 month stint teaching English in Macedonia.

LaMarie Reid (B.A. Archaeology 2009) is working in the Washington, DC Historic Preservation Office (DC HPO) as the Assistant Archaeologist of the city. LaMarie works with the City Archaeologist, Dr. Ruth Trocolli, to identify, record, and protect archaeological sites in the District of Columbia, as well as conduct Section 106 project reviews. She also works with collections manager Tara Tetrault to preserve the artifact collections.

Sean Reid (M.A. Anth-Int. Dev. 2010) is a research assistant for the Southern African Slave Wrecks and Heritage Route Project under GW’s Anthropology professor Stephen Lubkemann.

Rebecca Roberts (M.A. Anth 2012), along with Sarah K. Schmidt, wrote Images of America: Historic Congressional Cemetery on behalf of the Historic Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC.

Shanyn Ronis (B.A. Anth & Latin American Studies 2009) is working as a political accounts executive at Gumbinner & Davies Communications in Washington, DC.

Tanya Shpigel (B.A. Intl. Affairs & Anth 2011) is working on her M.A. in social science at the University of Chicago.

Taylor Tibbetts (B.A. Anth & English 2011) received a presidential scholarship from GW and is working on her M.A. in Strategic Public Relations while working in GW’s Office of Media Relations.

Kory Trott (B.S. Bio Anth 2011) is working on his M.P.H. at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Kristina Zarenko (B.A. Intl. Affairs & Anth 2011) is working on her M.A. in anthropology with a focus on biological anthropology at the University of California Chico. 

What are our graduates from the olden times doing?

Joanna Brugger (B.A. Anth 2007) is working on the Millennium Cities Initiative at Columbia University’s Earth Institute in New York City. The Millennium Cities Initiative focuses on urban development in various African metropolitan areas.

Zeb Eckert (B.A. Anth & Journalism 2003) is a reporter for Bloomberg Television based in Hong Kong. He has had reporting assignments in Japan, Thailand, South Korea and elsewhere.

Tricia Gabany-Guerrero (M.A. 1988 Anth-Int. Dev.) is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at California State University at Fullerton. She studies the Tarascan Empire in Mexico.

Chris Garces (M.A. Anth 1999) is an assistant professor of Anthropology at Cornell University. He has recently contributed an essay, People’s Mic and ‘Leaderful’ Charisma, to Cultural Anthropology’s “Occupy, Anthropology, and the 2011 Global Uprisings.”

Glenn Geelhoed, M.D. (M.A. Anth 1995) is an alumnus of four different GW schools and a professor in Surgery, International Medical Education, and Microbiology and Tropical Medicine at the GW Medical School. In addition to teaching, he works across the world to provide medical help, train doctors, and establish clinics. One of his current projects involves bringing together the warring peoples in Sudan through marathons. He does this by providing medical equipment and training as a reward.

Rachel Harvey (M.A. Anth 2003) is a doctoral student in Anthropology at the University of Florida, where she studies the impact of cultural tourism in post-apartheid countries. Her research in Cape Town was funded by a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship.

Tracy Nasca (M.A. Anth 2001) is working in corporate accounts for Waterstones, a book retail store, in London, UK.

Diana Santillán (M.A. Anth 2006) is working as a Global Health Fellow at USAID. In her role as Gender Advisor for the Office of Population and Reproductive Health (PRH), she researches gender-related issues, including women’s rights and reproductive health.

Jen Schiller (M.A. Anth 2004) is working at the director of Shelter House’s Katherine K. Hanley Family Shelter in Fairfax, Virginia.

Hope Williams (M.A. 2005) is working on her Ph.D. in Anthropology and Archaeology at Arizona State University. She is working on multiple publications concerning strontium isotopes in various materials.

Matthew Wolfgram (M.A. Anth 1999) is an assistant professor of linguistic anthropology at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Matthew studies Ayurveda medical practices and language in U.S. public schools.

Hom Pal student Kes Schroer wins Amsterdam GTA Award

Hominid Paleobiology Ph.D. candidate Kes (Katherine) Schroer has been selected as one of three winners of the 2012 Philip J. Amsterdam Graduate Teaching Award.

In its announcement, the GW Teaching and Learning Collaborative commented: "Katherine brings initiative, scholarship, and professionalism to her work as a graduate teaching assistant. Students and faculty alike appreciate her ability to combine intellectual excellence and approachability in the classroom. In helping the faculty revise the lab manual for Introduction to Biological Anthropology, Kes took the lead in redesigning lab activities. Her work as a GTA thus has a lasting effect on the GW curriculum. She also reveals a nuanced approach to innovation, blending traditional materials and multimedia in her teaching."

Kes has served as a GTA for the Anthropology Department (Biological Anthropology and Primatology), Anatomy (Gross Anatomy), and the Honors Program (Scientific Reasoning and Discovery). She is the second Anthropology GTA to win an Amsterdam Award; Alice McKeown (M.A. 2002) was honored in 2002, the first year it existed.

The award was established by the late Philip Amsterdam (B.A. Anthropology 1962), who also provided much financial support to the Anthropology Department.

Faculty research: Chimp brains don't shrink as they age, unlike humans

Unlike humans, chimpanzees’ brains don’t shrink as they get older. That means that, so far, people seem to be the only lucky species whose brains wither with age, according a report by Prof. Chet Sherwood and his colleagues in the July 25, 2011 online Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In the new study, Sherwood and his colleagues focused on chimpanzees, which have some of the most developed brains and longest life spans among primates. The researchers wondered if chimps experience brain decline in old age similar to that seen in humans.

The researchers scanned the brains of 99 chimpanzees with ages representing the entire adult life span, from 10 to 51 years. For comparison, the team imaged the brains of 87 humans from 22 to 88 years old. The human scans confirmed what other studies had found: All brain regions measured showed shrinkage with age. But chimp brains didn’t get smaller with age.

Sherwood points out that the results don’t answer a fundamental question for human evolution: “Why would we be built in such a faulty way that leads to this degeneration in our brains?” he asks. Perhaps a long life span is worth the drawback. Big brains and long life spans may free up older members of the population to look after the youngsters, he speculates.

The research by Professor Sherwood and colleagues was highlighted by numerous national and international news organizations, including BBC News, the Wall Street Journal, and CBS News, and featured in Discover magazine and Science blogs.

For more information and the original article, go to http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/07/20/1016709108.abstract

Hom Pal Students Awarded Cosmos Scholar Grants

Congratulations to Hominid Paleobiology students Andrew Zipkin, Amy Bauernfeind, and Katherine Schroer. Each recently received a Cosmos Scholar grant to support research in the upcoming year. Their projects are as follows:

Andrew M. Zipkin: Identification and Characterization of Archaeologically Relevant Malawian Ochre Deposits

Amy L. Bauernfeind: Energetics and Maturation of the Brain in Humans and Macaque Monkeys

Katherine E. Schroer: Geometric morphometric analysis of crown and root integration in molarized primate premolars

The Cosmos Scholar grant program program provides grants to meet specific research needs not covered by other supporting funds, including but not limited to special supplies, travel, and unanticipated expenses that would enhance the research being undertaken. More information can be found here

Habibia Chirchir Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Defense

The Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology and The George Washington University Department of Anthropology present:

"Why do humans have unusually low trabecular density? A comparative and experimental study on the factors influencing trabecular bone density"

Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Defense by:

Habiba Chirchir
Hominid Paleobiology Doctoral Program
January 28, 2011 1:00 PM
2114 G St NW
Room 308

J. Tyler Faith Doctoral Dissertation Defense

The Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology and The George Washington University Department of Anthropology present:

"Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions in southern Africa's Cape Floral Region"

A Doctoral Dissertation Defense by J. Tyler Faith

Friday, January 21, 2:30 PM
2114 G. St. NW
Room 308

Research Summary:

The fossil record of southern Africa's Cape Floral Region documents the extinction of numerous grassland ungulates since the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. There is reason to believe that both human impacts and environmental processes contributed to the losses. This dissertation examines faunal remains from late Quaternary archaeological and paleontological sites to test environmental and anthropogenic extinction mechanisms. Temporal changes in herbivore dietary habits, ungulate community structure, and human predation pressure on terrestrial herbivore populations are explored using zooarchaeological and paleoecological methodologies.

Felicia Gomez (Hom Pal) Wins 2010 AAA Minority Dissertation Fellowship

Congratulations to Hominid Paleobiology doctoral student Felicia Gomez who recently was awarded the 2010-2011 American Anthropological Association Minority Dissertation Fellowship. Gomez, who is currently conducting research at the University of Pennsylvania, will use the fellowship to complete her dissertation on the evolutionary history of malaria-related genes. Her research includes examining genes that may have been affected by natural selection and identifying gene mutations that may be beneficial by making people less vulnerable to Malaria.

The Minority Dissertation Fellowship is awarded to one doctoral student annually and is intended to encourage members of ethnic minorities to complete doctoral degrees in anthropology, thereby increasing diversity in the discipline and/or promoting research on issues of concern among minority populations.

Click for more information

Derek Wildman of Wayne States speaks March 31 on evolutionary genomic perspectives on human evolution

Derek E. Wildman of the Wayne State University School of Medicine speaks on "Evolutionary Genomic Perspectives on Human Evolution" in an event sponsored by the Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology and the GW Anthropology Society. Dr. Wildman's laboratory has two main areas of research focus: the evolutionary history of birth and labor and the evolution of primates in general. Regarding humans, it investigates "the evolution of phenotypic features such as the emergence of the greatly expanded anthropoid primate neocortex, the evolution of labor and birth, and the evolution of aerobic energy metabolism."

Dr. Wildman has appointments in the Wayne State Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. For more on him and his research, click here.

Department researchers show how some ape teeth are made for the toughest times

The teeth of some apes are formed primarily to handle the most stressful times when food is scarce, according to new research performed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The findings, published in December's American Journal of Physical Anthropology, imply that if humanity is serious about protecting its close evolutionary cousins, the food apes eat during these tough periods – and where they find it – must be included in conservation efforts.

The interdisciplinary team, which brought together anthropologists from George Washington University (GW) and fracture mechanics experts from NIST, has provided the first evidence that natural selection in three ape species has favored individuals whose teeth can most easily handle the “fallback foods” they choose when their preferred fare is less available.

Lead authors of the article were research scientist Paul Constantino (PhD Hominid Paleobiology 2007) and Prof. Peter Lucas.

For the GW News article, click here.

For the AJPA article, click here.

Erin Marie Williams (Hom Pal) receives inaugural Bouchet Society Fellowship

Erin Marie Williams, a Ph.D. candidate in Hominid Paleobiology who has a 2005 Anthropology M.A. from GW, has received the inaugural fellowship for the GW chapter of the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society. The society is named after the first African American to receive a doctoral degree. Erin Marie, who is completing a dissertation on stone technology and the evolution of modern humans, applied for the Bouchet Fellowship because she wanted to have the opportunity to interact with other African American Ph.D. students and find African American academic mentors.

For more: Click here

Hom Pal student Tyler Faith published in "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences"

J. Tyler Faith (Hominid Paleobiology doctoral candidate) co-wrote an article in the November 23 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences exploring the mass mammalian extinction of the late Pleistocene. He and Todd Surovell, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Wyoming, examined "Synchronous extinction of North America's Pleistocene mammals" explores the mass extinction during the late Pleistocene. Faith and Surovell's findings indicate the mass extinction took place between 13.8 and 11.4 thousand years ago, a geological instant. Furthermore, the findings support the idea that human overkill, comet impact, or other rapid events caused this massive extinction, instead of a slow attrition.

Graduate Student Erin Marie Williams featured on NPR

Hominid Paleobiology Ph.D candidate Erin Marie Williams was featured on NPR for her work as part of a team of researchers exhuming the remains of gorillas in Rwanda descended from those studied by Diane Fossey. Williams sent a series of dispatches during her work in the field, the full texts of which can be read in the NPR article "Why Dig Up Mountain Gorillas?"

Although her focus is mainly on the evolution of the human hand and wrist, Erin Marie has now turned her attention to tracking and recording the history of these Rwandan mountain gorillas.

Before entering the Hominid Paleobiology program, Erin Marie received a GW M.A. in Anthropology (2005).

Nicole Griffin (PhD 2009) to work as research associate at Duke

Congratulations to recent graduate Nicole Griffin (PhD Hominid Paleobiology 2009) on her new post-doctoral position with Duke University.

She will be working in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology beginning August 1, 2009.

Nicole co-authored a paper with Professor Richmond entitled "Joint Orientation and Function in Great Ape and Human Proximal Pedal Phalanges" and served as a teaching assistant during her GW career.