Penn State anthropologist Nina Jablonski, through her research on skin color, is shifting our understanding of race to prove we're more alike than we are different. "I’m hoping this research gives people the appreciation that their bodies are the products of evolution," said Jablonski.
We inherit our skin color from our ancestors, but what brought about such a diversity of human skin colors? And how can the natural history of skin inform questions surrounding societal notions of skin color and our health? These are questions that form the basis for what Penn State anthropologist Nina Jablonski calls an explanatory framework of the evolution of skin pigmentation.
George R. Milner, Penn State distinguished professor of anthropology, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
A new genetics and genealogy curriculum co-developed by Nina Jablonski, Evan Pugh University Professor of Anthropology and director of the Center for Human Evolution and Diversity in the College of the Liberal Arts, will be featured on PBS' "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr." on April 9. The State Theatre in State College will host a local celebration on April 7.
For many people, the start of the new year is an opportunity to live a healthier life. Whether it's being less stressed, eating better or being healthier overall, research by Penn State faculty over the past year may offer some tips to achieving those goals.
Santhosh Girirajan, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and of anthropology at Penn State, has been honored with the 2018 C.I. Noll Award for Excellence in Teaching by the Eberly College of Science Alumni Society.
Somewhere in the American Southwest or northern Mexico, there are probably the ruins of a scarlet macaw breeding operation dating to between 900 and 1200 C.E., according to a team of archaeologists who sequenced the mitochondrial DNA of bird remains found in the Chaco Canyon and Mimbres areas of New Mexico.
A new middle school genetics and genealogy curriculum developed in part by Penn State will be featured during an online showcase that highlights innovation and STEM education. The 2018 STEM for All Video Showcase, funded by the National Science Foundation, will be held from May 14 to 21.
Black and Hispanic U.S. adults are half as likely as whites to drink tap water and more than twice as likely to drink bottled water, according to a recent Penn State analysis. The findings support past research that indicates that minorities and more vulnerable populations have a higher distrust of tap water in America, and that those who instead consume bottled water are at greater risk of health issues and financial burdens.
The Penn State community is mourning the death of Alan Walker, Evan Pugh Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Biology and one the leading anthropologists and evolutionary biologists of his generation, who passed away on Nov. 20.
Jason De León, a 2008 doctoral graduate in anthropology, has recently been named to the list of 2017 MacArthur Fellowship recipients. The MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the “genius grant,” is a prestigious award given to those who display exceptional creativity and significant accomplishments in their respective fields.
Anthropology major Carly Hunter, along with three other students and archaeology professor Kirk French, journeyed to North Carolina this summer to study illicit whiskey production (moonshining) in the Great Smoky Mountains. Hunter learned of the project in her Introduction to Archaeology course and was able to develop her research and presentation skills through this undergraduate research project.
The Penn State Abington faculty member explored roadside archaeological sites and the wreck of a shark fishing boat from the film "Jaws."
Penn State researcher Margaret Winchester served as the guest editor of a special issue of Medicine Anthropology Theory, a new journal at the forefront of medical anthropological theory building.
A study of the DNA in ancient skeletal remains adds to the evidence that indigenous groups living today in southern Alaska and the western coast of British Columbia are descendants of the first humans to make their home in northwest North America more than 10,000 years ago.
