Developmental Ecology and Human Biology Lab

Christopher Dana Lynn, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Anthropology, is co-director of the lab. Dr. Lynn's research focuses on human behavioral ecology, the biological stress response, signaling theory, and energetics.

The support of graduate students from throughout the Department of Anthropology in their masters or dissertation research is a central component of DEHB's mission. Current graduate students:

• Heath Kinzer. Heath is an MA student interested in child development, food insecurity, and parenting practices. His thesis concerns protective responses by parents to the trauma of the April 27, 2011 tornado outbreak. (Advisor: J. DeCaro)
• Becky Read Wahidi. Becky is a doctoral student whose research interests concern Marianism, and religious moderation of the experience of immigration-related stress. (Advisor: J. DeCaro)
• Martina Thomas. Martina is a doctoral student who did her masters work in Mobile, Alabama concerning body image and obesity among Alabama African American girls and their mothers. She is now developing her PhD proposal with a focus on HIV-related stigma. (Advisor: J. DeCaro)

Whenever possible the lab also involves undergraduate students in its research projects. Contact Dr. DeCaro to learn about current opportunities.

• Catherine Buzney, M.A. Catherine completed her masters thesis on cultural and evolutionary considerations in the effects of stress on the timing of puberty. She is now a medical student at Tufts. (Advisor: J. DeCaro)
• Meredith Jackson, Ph.D. Dr. Jackson's dissertation concerned cultural models, stress, and pregnancy outcomes in Jalisco, Mexico. Here in the lab, she analyzed markers of stress and inflammation in dried blood spots as part of her study. Dr. Jackson is now working in Mexico as an international development advisor for the US Government. (Advisor: K. Oths)
• Sarah Szurek, Ph.D. Dr. Szurek's doctoral research described relations among social networks, food models, and diabetes risk among Mexican immigrants. The lab supported the incorporation into her dissertation of biomarkers for glycemic control and systemic inflammation. Dr. Szurek is now a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Flordia working with the Health Equity Alliance of Tallahassee. (Advisor: K. Oths)