Dr. Rebecca Stumpf
Dr. Stumpf is the co-director of the Laboratory of Evolutionary Endocrinology and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois. She is a primatologist who specializes in female reproductive strategies of the great apes.
Dr. Stumpf's Department of Anthropology Profile
Google Scholar page
Dr. Kathryn Clancy
Dr. Clancy is the co-director of the Laboratory for Evolutionary Endocrinology and Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois. She is a human reproductive ecologist who specializes in women's health, endometrial function and evolutionary medicine.
Dr. Clancy's Department of Anthropology Profile
Dr. Clancy's blog and website
Google Scholar page
Trainees and staff
Postdoctoral associates
Michelle Rodrigues, PhD. I am a biological anthropologist/primatologist interested in
the evolution of female social relationships and endocrinology in comparative
perspective. I received my PhD from The Ohio State University, where I studied
female spider monkeys to test the “tend and befriend” hypothesis, which posits
that female friendship in humans evolved as a primate-wide coping mechanism to
mediate stress. I followed this research with a project examining female
affiliative behavior and comparative social relationships in chimpanzees and
bonobos. My postdoctoral research will examine how female friendships and
support networks mediate stressors experienced by adolescent girls and female
scientists.
Dr. Rodrigues's Website
Dr. Rodrigues's Blog
Google Scholar.
Graduate students
Katie Lee, PhD candidate. I am interested in bone health in women of reproductive age. I focus on how physical activity and estrogen interact to affect bone in healthy adult women. I measure both bone density (which changes slowly) and biological markers of bone turnover. Bone is broken down and rebuilt all the time in order to keep it healthy, and the bone turnover markers allow me to see how much building and dissolving is happening at the present time in women. Overall, my goal is to understand how normal women maintain their bones during their entire life.
Google Scholar
Merri Wilson, PhD student. I am a biological anthropologist interested in how life experiences affect the health of gender minorities in America, specifically how life experiences (both positive and negative) impact biomarkers related to health outcomes, such as sex steroid hormones and inflammation. My past research includes studying the effects of acculturation on mental healt
h outcomes and the effects of maternal stress on offspring hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis function.
Rodolfo Martinez-Mota, PhD candidate. Picture and bio coming soon.
Google Scholar
Undergraduates
Kristina Allen
Velimira Asenova
Hayley Ban
Priya Bhatt
Sara Gay
Fatima Godfrey
Denise Herrera
Ansley Jones
Hildegard Luijten
Ohm Shukla
Lab Alums
Mary Rogers, Ph.D. 2018
. I am biological anthropologist specializing in anthropological epigenetics and reproductive ecology. I conduct research on the connections between lived experiences and biological outcomes by investigating relationships between 1) historical trauma and gene methylation, 2) childhood stressors, epigenetic traits, and reproductive hormone variation, and 3) childhood social support and life history trait timing. I work in partnership with Alaska Native Peoples, Polish and Polish American women, and American adolescents in order to achieve these research goals. I have training in community-based research methods and aims for my research studies to benefit partner and scientific communities. I am currently a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. You can learn more about my research and teaching at:
Google Scholar and
my website.
Talia Melber, Ph.D. 2018. I am interested in sexual selection, mate choice, the relationship between hormones and behavior, and cognitive processes. My previous research has included investigating patterns of tool-use acquisition in great apes and studying potential behavioral cues used by female callitrichines to assess male mate quality. In the future I plan to utilize hormonal analyses to provide insight into various aspects of behavior and reproduction in primates.
Krista Milich, Ph.D. 2012. I am studying the impact of habitat degradation on female red colobus monkey reproductive function in Kibale National Park, Uganda. I am interested in examining how anthropogenic changes to forests influence female reproductive physiologies, behaviors, and hormone concentrations. This project combines my main interests: primates, reproduction, endocrinology, and conservation. I love doing field work in Uganda and hope to continue working in Africa for many more years.
Summer Sanford, M.S. 2017 Picture and bio coming soon.
Zarin Sultana.
Rachel Mitchell.
Rachel Ogden.
Dana Ahern. Anthropology and Gender & Women's Studies BA 2013.
Sophia Bodnar. Anthropology BA 2013. Medical school.
Antoine DeJong. Psychology BA 2013. PhD student.
Raia Hamad. Anthropology BA 2016. PhD student, Bioengineering, Illinois Institute of Technology.
Paige Jamieson, Anthropology BA 2015.
Laura Klein. Integrative Biology Honors, Chemistry Minor BA 2011
. PhD student, Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard.
Megan Ladd. Anthropology and Integrative Biology BA 2016.
Emily Marzolph. Anthropology BA 2012.
Catherine Mesyef. Anthropology BA 2014.
Katherine Tribble. Molecular and Cellular Biology Honors 2012. Medical student, Loyola.
Ashley Voigt. Chemistry 2012
. Pharmacy School.
