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University Hall (UH) 3131
(205) 975-6526

Research and Teaching Interests: Historical ecology, ethnoprimatology, medical anthropology, primate zoonoses, and disaster preparedness with work with indigenous Amazonians (Awá-Guajá), Native Americans (Navajo, Choctaw), Lau Fijians, and US populations

Office Hours: By appointment

Education:

• BS, University of Florida, Nursing
• MA, University of Alabama/University of Alabama at Birmingham, Anthropology
• PhD, Tulane University, Anthropology

I am a cultural anthropologist with research in a wide variety of areas, but all are connected to historical ecology. As a Fulbright scholar, I worked with the Awá-Guajá, a group of Amazonian hunter-gatherers examining their complex relationship with local monkeys – a major food item, but considered quasi-human and incorporated into their kinship and cosmological systems (Kinship with Monkeys 2003). In the area of ethnoprimatology, I’ve also looked at infectious disease, first with host-switching of malaria parasites (The Ten Thousand Year Fever 2011) and later broader host-switching patterns across diseases and primates (Primate Zoonoses: Culture Change and Emerging Disease 2017, with Pauline Jolly).

I have collaborated in several projects with colleagues in the UAB School of Public Health related to disaster research, focusing on radiation events (dirty bombs) to develop effective emergency messaging for diverse populations with funding from the CDC and Homeland Security. From there, I collaborated with a colleague in social work (Lisa Baker) researching best practices for professionals working with vulnerable populations in disasters (Disasters and Vulnerable Populations: Evidence-Based Practice for the Helping Professions 2014). Contributions to teaching include three textbooks and a reader: Introductory Cultural Anthropology: An Interactive Approach (2010, 2011, 2019 with Sharyn Jones), Humankind (2011, with Sharyn Jones), Language and Culture in Everyday Life (forthcoming with Jordan Kiper), and Human Sexuality: Biology, Culture, and Human Rights (forthcoming with Courtney Andrews). In addition, Sharyn Jones and I co-authored a book on evolution, culture, and sexuality (The Domesticated Penis 2015).

While at UAB, I served for a number of years as the tribal anthropologist for the MOWA-Choctaw in the context of assisting them in applying for federal recognition. My work involved ethnohistorical research for documentation required by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and for congressional testimony. Service has also included developing the nonprofit ANTHRO-Teach (with Sharyn Jones) associated with a historical ecology field school in Fiji. When ANTHRO-Teach was active, we trained students to give presentations on topics in anthropology (including Fiji work) in local schools and community groups.

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