Graduate Students
Amelia Barker
I am currently enrolled as an MA student in the Department of Archaeology at SFU. I am interested in cultural transmission processes and the evolutionary analysis of cultural behaviour. I am particularly interested in the evolution of religion and my research is focused on using phylogenetic systematics to test different hypotheses about the development of religious traditions.
Gabrielle Jackson
I am interested in applying evolutionary theory to study all aspects of human evolution, from our genes and physiology to language and technology. Currently I am enrolled as an MA student in the Department of Archaeology with a specialization in palaeoanthropology. For my research project I am investigating the role limb proportions play in modern human throwing ability, and using this information to comment on the throwing ability of two groups of extinct hominins: the Australopiths and Neandertals.
Leanna Mitchell
I am a PhD student in the Economics department at SFU, supervised by Arthur Robson. My research interest is the evolutionary origins of human preferences, about which I am currently writing two papers. The first is about the economic origins of human beauty features. The second is a collaboration with fellow economics phd student Kevin Chen, entitled Co-operation, Competition, and Linguistic Diversity.
Meg Thibodeau
I’m interested in investigating how we became human. I draw on geoarchaeological and microarchaeological methods, such as micromorphology, FTIR spectroscopy and phytolith analysis, to answer questions about early Homo species and their interactions and adaptations to the environment around them. In my research, I am investigating evidence of early use of fire at Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa. I will be using FTIR spectroscopy to find quantitative methods of recognizing and interpreting burnt sediments and ashed material within micromorphological samples.
