Research

The most powerful insights that I have acquired during my studies on human variation derive from evolutionary developmental biology. In the spirit of Dobzhansky, all aspects of human variation and evolution, from the fact that we get hiccups to the shape of our feet, make infinitely more sense in light of a comparative evolutionary and developmental context. 

My research interests have progressed throughout my career from an initial interest in past human variation and skeletal biomechanics to evolutionary developmental biology. My long-term goal is to explore the evolutionary and developmental processes that shaped human evolution, by integrating evidence from life-history theory, phenotypic plasticity, and evolutionary developmental biology. 

I have most recently become intrigued with the role that climbing may have played during our evolution. Arboreality is an essential component of the niche of nearly every living primate and yet humans rarely ever climb trees. What about our hominin ancestors? My work is currently aimed at understanding the role that climbing played in the lives of our fossil hominin relatives. 

Check out my main research themes to find out how I approach such questions:

1. Evolution and development

2. Bone functional adaptation

3. Virtual Anthropology