Sausage Of Science

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Molly Zuckerman, Professor of Biological Anthropology at Mississippi State University, about ethics, care, and responsibility in bioarchaeology. We discuss her recent article, “Exercises in ethically engaged work in biological anthropology,” and explore how human remains can be dehumanized in research and teaching collections, and how approaches such as osteobiographies can help restore personhood. Dr. Zuckerman also reflects on generational tensions in the field, the ethical challenges posed by climate change to archaeological sites, and how early-career scholars can develop thoughtful, context-specific ethical frameworks. ------------------------------ Find the work discussed in this episode: Zuckerman, M. K., Marklein, K. E., Austin, R. M., & Hofman, C. A. (2025). Exercises in ethically engaged work in biological anthropology. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 186(1), e25015. ------------------------------ Contact Dr. Zuckerman: mzuckerman@anthro.msstate.edu -

Dr. Nicola Hawley is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, where she also holds a secondary appointment in Anthropology. She serves as Associate Director for Dissemination and Implementation Science at the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation. Trained as a human biologist, Dr. Hawley is an internationally recognized expert in maternal and child health, with a focus on how early life experiences, from pregnancy through childhood, shape long-term risks for obesity and chronic disease. Her research bridges epidemiology, anthropology, and global health, using community-engaged and culturally grounded approaches to improve health outcomes in under-resourced and Indigenous settings. Much of her work centers in the Pacific, particularly in Sāmoa and American Sāmoa, where she leads NIH- and PCORI-funded studies on gestational and Type 2 diabetes, obesity prevention, and intergenerational health. She’s also deeply committed to mentorship, helping train the next generation of glo

In this fun and “soupy” episode, hosts Cara and Chris chat with Dr. Melanie Beasley about putrefied meat, maggots, stable isotopes, and media attention at the most inconvenient times. Dr. Beasley directs the BioAnth Isotope Ecology Research Laboratory (BIER Lab) at Purdue University. Her work focuses broadly on human-environment interactions throughout the hominin lineage when the environment is influencing our evolutionary history, in the Holocene when humans are influencing the availability of prey resources, and in modern forensic contexts when the environment imprints meaningful geolocation information in biological tissues. She uses stable isotope geochemistry to connect humans and the environment they live in to understand changing climate, resource availability, and life history. The use of stable isotope geochemistry and the big data generated by such an analytical method in anthropology has only scratched the surface of what it can offer to the discipline and its contributions to humanity’s grand cha

Cecilia Padilla Iglesias estudió Ciencias Humanas y de la Evolución en University College de Londres, donde empezó a interesarse por cómo surgió y cambió la diversidad cultural y biológica en nuestra especie. Hizo un máster en Antropología Evolutiva en Cambridge y luego un doctorado en la Universidad de Zúrich sobre cómo los cambios ecológicos y sociales han moldeado la dinámica de las poblaciones humanas. Durante el doctorado pasó varios meses en la República del Congo trabajando con comunidades nómadas de cazadores-recolectores. Hoy trabaja en Cambridge con una beca de investigación, estudiando cómo la vida nómada y la movilidad se reflejan en el genoma de estas poblaciones. La idea central de su trabajo es que la movilidad ha sido clave para la resiliencia de los humanos durante cientos de miles de años, y que fue lo que permitió adaptarse a enormes cambios ecológicos y demográficos en los diferentes ecosistemas que fue habitando. ------------------------------ Encuentra el trabajo comentado en este episo

Lawrence M. Schell is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the College of Integrated Health Sciences at the University at Albany, SUNY, with a joint appointment in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. His research explores the interrelationship between biology and culture, with a particular focus on how contemporary urban environments shape human health and development. Dr. Schell’s early work examined noise as a form of urban stress, investigating its effects on prenatal and postnatal growth. He later expanded his research to include pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and lead, situating these exposures within the broader context of urban adaptation and health disparities. The study of lead exposure in Albany, NY, examined its influence on child physical and cognitive development, with attention to maternal nutrition and other factors that affect the transfer of lead from mother to fetus. In partnership with the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation he has recently

This week on The Sausage of Science, Chris and Cristina explore pica (the craving and consumption of nonfood items like earth or clay) through the lens of maternal health and nutrition. Our guest, Dr. Leila Larson of the University of South Carolina, shares insights from her study on pica among pregnant women in Malawi, part of the REVAMP iron supplementation trial. She discusses how iron status, infection, and environment influence maternal health, why intravenous iron may be a more effective approach to reducing pica, and what these cravings reveal about nutrition and development worldwide. We also hear about her new U.S.-based study and how she balances a vibrant global research career. ------------------------------ Find the work discussed in this episode: Larson, Leila M., Martin Mwangi, Rebecca Harding, Ernest Moya, Ricardo Ataíde, Glory Mzembe, Ashley Thurber et al. "Effects of ferric carboxymaltose on pica among pregnant women in Malawi: a sub-study to a randomized controlled trial." The Journal of N

Dr. Sofía Pacheco-Fores is a bioarchaeologist whose research focuses on migration in ancient Mexico. Using a range of methods including archaeological biogeochemistry and phenotypic variation in human skeletal and dental morphology, she reconstructs migration patterns to understand the experiences of past migrants and their recipient communities. She examines the role migration played in social and cultural change, including in ancient state formation, the spread of novel material culture complexes, the expression of social inequality, and eruptions of mass violence. She has on-going collaborative research projects in central Mexico, Oaxaca, and northwestern Mexico. In addition to her research, Dr. Pacheco-Fores is involved in science education and outreach activities with the goal of fostering increased inclusion and diversity within anthropology. She is a Senior Editor at Anthro Illustrated, a collaborative project creating illustrations of anthropologists of diverse backgrounds at work. She also encourages

This week on The Sausage of Science, Chris and Cara talk with Dr. Josh Brahinsky, a researcher in the Transcultural Psychiatry Department at McGill University and the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University, whose work sits at the intersection of anthropology, psychology, and neuroscience. Josh explores how contemplative practices like prayer and meditation shape sensory experience, perception, and emotion, focusing especially on the embodied and affective dimensions of charismatic evangelical worship. With a background that bridges the humanities and sciences, a PhD in the History of Consciousness from UCSC, and a postdoctoral fellowship in Anthropology at Stanford, Josh brings a truly interdisciplinary lens to understanding what happens when people reach for the divine, and how those moments transform the body and mind alike. ------------------------------ Find the book discussed in this episode: Tongues of Fire: How Charismatic Prayer Changes Evangelical Brains and Mobilizes Spirit-Filled Ac

Alex got her degree from the University of Notre Dame in 2022 after finishing her dissertation on the variation in brown adipose tissue thermogenesis and its effects on metabolic health markers in adults from Samoa. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Pennington Biomedical Research Center working on the Military Health and Nutrition Examinations Study (MHANES) (PI: Dr. Claire Berryman). In collaboration with the US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, her work with MHANES examines how the interactions between environmental (i.e. temperature, altitude), behavioral (i.e. physical activity, nutrition, sleep), and physiological (i.e. body composition, energy expenditure, metabolic health markers) factors affect health and performance in active-duty service members. She frequently collaborate with colleagues on anthropological research projects focusing on the effects of physiological adaptations/adjustments to the extremes and is passionate about bringing anthropological perspectives to clinic

This week on the Sausage of Science, Cara sits down with two trailblazing scholars shaping the future of paleoanthropology from the African continent outward. Dr. Palesa Madupe, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen’s Globe Institute, shares her pioneering work on enamel proteomics—reconstructing protein sequences from Paranthropus robustus and other South African hominins to unravel questions of taxonomy, sex determination, and sexual dimorphism. Joining her is Professor Becky Ackermann of the University of Cape Town, co-director of the Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI), whose influential research on evolutionary processes, phenotypic variation, and human diversity is reframing our understanding of our evolutionary story. Together, they highlight how African-led research is reshaping the global narrative of human origins, one fossil and one protein at a time. ------------------------------ Find the paper discussed in this episode: Madupe, P. P., Koenig, C., Patramanis, I., Rüther,

Jake Aronoff is a human biologist studying immune function and aging from an evolutionary and ecological perspective. During his PhD, he studied how stress and social inequality impacts inflammation and immunosenescence in the Philippines and US. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at ASU studying inflammation and aging with Ben Trumble and the Tsimane Health and Life History Project. These studies focus on the development of chronic inflammation in later life (inflammaging), the links between metabolic and immune function (immunometabolism and meta-inflammation), and the relationship between infections, inflammation, and brain aging. His research also utilizes life history theory and energetic trade-offs to understand complex changes in biological functioning in later life, like the simultaneous occurrence of inflammaging and immunosenescence. ------------------------------ Find the paper discussed in this episode: Aronoff, J. E., Trumble, B. C. (2025). An evolutionary medicine and life history persp

Dr. Luisa María Rivera is a critical biocultural anthropologist whose work examines how social inequality, trauma, and structural violence shape reproductive and maternal–infant health. She integrates ethnographic research with epigenomic and other molecular approaches to trace how stress during development can reverberate across generations and to understand the implications of these findings for health policy. Luisa earned her B.A. from Harvard (2008), an M.P.H. from the University of Minnesota (2015), and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Emory University (2022). She is currently a Neukom Postdoctoral Fellow at Dartmouth College, mentored by Dr. Zaneta Thayer (Anthropology) and Dr. Brock Christensen (Geisel School of Medicine). Her research includes long-term work in post-war communities in Guatemala and with historically marginalized communities in the United States. Luisa previously joined the Sausage of Science “Hackademics” series in Episode 114, Dissertation Research in the Time of COVID-19. --------------

Leela McKinnon is a PhD Candidate in Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Toronto and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Penn State University. Her PhD research examines sleep health in Indigenous Wixárika communities in Jalisco, Mexico, with a particular focus on the effects of rural-to-urban migration on sleep and circadian rhythms. Leela explores the environmental and social factors influencing the sleep health of urban Wixárika migrants. Beyond her dissertation research in Mexico, Leela has also studied sleep in a Guatemalan Maya community, investigating how urbanization and market economy integration shape sleep patterns in rural settings. She is trained in the quantitative analysis of sleep data using accelerometry and is proficient in mixed methodologies, including survey data collection and qualitative interviewing. ------------------------------ Find the paper discussed in this episode: McKinnon, L., Shattuck, E. C., Samson, D. R. (2022). Sound reasons for unsound sleep: Comparat

Chris and Courtney sit down with Dr. Haley Ragsdale to discuss intergenerational signals of matrilineal experience. Haley completed her dissertation in Anthropology at Northwestern University in 2023 under the guidance of Dr. Chris Kuzawa. She is now a postdoctoral researcher in the Anthropology Department at the University of Illinois Chicago, collaborating with Dr. Katie Starkweather on fascinating projects related to maternal and child health among the Shodagor of Bangladesh. Haley’s work is deeply rooted in evolutionary theory and the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) framework, with a focus on human reproductive biology. She explores how energetic experiences shape lifetime metabolic strategies and how reproductive investments are influenced by varying environmental contexts. Currently, she’s diving into the mechanisms behind intergenerational signals of matrilineal experience and predictive adaptive responses in humans. ------------------------------ Find the paper discussed in this ep

La doctora Isaura Cruz es bio-antropóloga y sus intereses de investigación se centran en la amplia contribución del medio ambiente a la salud y el bienestar humanos. Ha examinado el desarrollo de las condiciones cardiovasculares y metabólicas entre los indígenas mexicanos P'urépecha en sus comunidades de origen en Michoacán, México y las comunidades de acogida en Carolina del Norte, EE.UU. Isaura utiliza un enfoque de métodos mixtos que incluye elementos de la nutrición, la salud pública, la genómica, aplicando siempre una lente biocultural. La investigación de que la conversaremos hoy es parte de su trabajo de tesis doctoral, titulada “Migración Internacional y Salud: P’urépecha en EEUU y México”. En particular hablaremos de un estudio binacional que realizaron entre los años 2018 y 2019, sobre la salud cardiometabólica en la comunidad P’urépecha, un pueblo originario del estado de Michoacán, México. El estudio consiste en una comparación de los factores de riesgo de salud cardiometabólica (CHM) entre quiene

In this episode, Chris and Cristina talk with Anamika Nanda, a PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences and a Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) Fellow at the University of Southern California. Anamika’s research, conducted under the guidance of Dr. David Raichlen, examines how physical activity affects neurological health across various genotypes. Before beginning her doctoral work, Anamika earned her Bachelor's degree in Medical Anthropology and Global Health from the University of Washington. Her award-winning honors thesis examined the relationship between motivation, physical activity, and psychosocial stress, and its impact on telomere length in collegiate swimmers and non-collegiate athletes. We discuss her path into science, her interdisciplinary approach to understanding brain health, and how her work connects athletics, stress, and aging. Anamika’s research has been recognized with an NSF-GRFP Honorable Mention, the UW Anthropology Department’s Best Honors Thesis Award, and a Mary G

Emily is a PhD student and biological anthropologist at Northwestern University and a Student Representative for the Human Biology Association. She studies brain development from an evolutionary perspective, focusing on how early life stress shapes cognitive, behavioral, social, and physiological development. Her dissertation examines how early adversity and parenting influence executive function, learning, and memory, exploring potential adaptive outcomes of early stress. Emily is also pursuing research on brain energetics during development in early childhood and developing field-friendly methods to study brain energetics for anthropologists. She’s passionate about bringing ideas and methods from neuroscience into the field of anthropology to better understand what shapes human behavior and biology. Contact Emily Barron: emilybarron2026@u.northwestern.edu Twitter: @emilyhbarron ------------------------------ Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association: Facebook: facebook.com/group

Chris and Cristina sit down with anthropologist and clinical speech-language pathologist Seth Dornisch, whose work bridges evolutionary theory, biocultural analysis, and clinical practice. Seth's dissertation research examines how to improve the quality of life and well-being for individuals experiencing neurological decline, with a focus on reducing suffering and promoting meaningful, positive experiences throughout the human lifespan. He recently completed his PhD in Medical Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Disorders at SUNY New Paltz. ------------------------------ Find the Papers discussed in this episode: Dornisch, S., Sievert, L., Sharmeen, T., Begum, K., Muttukrishna, S., Chowdhury, O., & Bentley, G. (2024). Religious minority identity associates with stress and psychological health among Muslim and Hindu women in Bangladesh and London. American Journal of Human Biology, 36(12), e24057. ------------------------

Chris and Cristina interview Dr. Pablo Nepomnaschy, a professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar. Originally from Argentina, Dr. Nepomnaschy began his academic journey with a degree in Biology from the University of Patagonia. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology and Ecology from the University of Michigan, where he also trained in reproductive sciences and social research. He completed his postdoctoral work at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and is an alum of the renowned LIFE Program at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin. Dr. Nepomnaschy’s research explores how social, ecological, and biological factors interact to shape human reproductive biology and health across the life course. ------------------------------ Find the Papers discussed in this episode: Rowlands, A., Juergensen, E. C., Prescivalli, A. P., Salvante, K. G., & Nepomnaschy, P. A. (2021). Social and Biological Trans

Christopher Bae is taking us on a journey to meet the hominids of Asia's past. Dr. Bae is a distinguished paleoanthropologist from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa whose research focuses on human evolution in East Asia. Born in Korea and adopted by an American family, his unique personal journey sparked an early interest in race, human variation, and the deep history of our species. What began as a search for his own roots led him to a career dedicated to reconstructing the past—much like paleoanthropologists do when piecing together humanity’s evolutionary story. Dr. Bae has conducted extensive field and laboratory research across Korea, Japan, and China, collaborating on projects that span hominin fossils, vertebrate taphonomy, and lithic analysis. His work bridges disciplines in the social and natural sciences, providing a comprehensive perspective on Pleistocene hominin morphological and behavioral variation, particularly in Homo erectus and both archaic and modern Homo sapiens. With approximately 150 p