Human Adaptation, Ecology, and Evolution

Reflecting the holistic and increasingly multi- and cross-disciplinary nature of anthropology, the departmental emphasis on Human Adaptation, Ecology, and Evolution involves a number of dynamic and interconnecting nodes of research across the main subdisciplines of anthropology, with the various research interests of our faculty complementing each other in a number of ways. Core areas include ecological and environmental anthropology, ethnobiology, evolutionary archaeology, human behavioral ecology, and human variation and evolution.

Cross-cutting links among these foci include research on cooperation and conflict, environmental history, historical ecology, epidemiology, tropical agriculture, evolution of culture and intelligence, and human interactions with plants and animals.

An emerging leader in behavioral evolutionary anthropology (including archaeology) and ecological/environmental anthropology, our department maintains strong interdisciplinary ties with the MU Division of Biological Sciences , the MU Departments of Geography and Psychological Sciences , the MU Research Reactor , and the MU School of Medicine (particularly Pathology and Anatomy ).

We aim to build a strong department focusing on Human Adaptation, Ecology, and Evolution. In the last four years, we have added five new faculty members in cultural and biological anthropology and archaeology, all with active research programs within the departmental focus. In the next several years, we expect to add more faculty with expertise in archaeology, biological anthropology, and cultural anthropology. We will be looking for scholars who complement and enhance our strengths.

In its most recent study (1993), the National Research Council ranked our department in the top 15 programs in the country, using the objective measures of citations and citation density as indicators of our impact within Anthropology (NRC 1995). This rating is an indication of how important our research has been within the scientific community, and we expect to continue this standing in the next NRC study. In addition, we intend to enhance our subjective ranking, by building our reputation as one of the nation's leading anthropology departments in Human Adaptation, Ecology, and Evolution.

National Research Council (1995) Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States : Continuity and Change . Washington , DC : National Academy Press.