Current position: Professor and Subject Leader of Anthropology and Archaeology

Current affiliation: Liverpool John Moores University

Research website: Link

Research description: I am a bioarchaeologist with extensive academic and applied experience in dental anthropology, human osteology, and paleopathology. I also have a strong background in prehistoric archaeology, having been involved in >35 seasons of archaeological and bioarchaeological fieldwork in the U.S., Europe, and Africa. A principal area of research involves a biocultural approach to the Upper Pleistocene through modern peopling of Africa, with a concentration on dental morphometric data to understand population origins, biological affinities, migration, and diachronic adaptation. I have assembled a large database of dental and osseous morphometric variants (313 variables in >6,000 individuals), recorded in North and sub-Saharan African samples from institutions throughout the world. Though concentrating on Upper Pleistocene through recent groups, I also apply this approach to Plio-Pleistocene hominins including, most recently, Australopithecus sediba and the Rising Star Cave hominins (Homo naledi) in conjunction with colleagues from South Africa and the U.S. Because of this and other research I have four co-edited books, three co-authored books, >100 peer-reviewed articles in professional journals, >30 chapters in edited volumes, >90 presentations at regional, national, and international meetings, and various manuscripts under review or in progress.