Rob Walker

Research

Evolutionary anthropology, ethnolinguistic diversity, uncontacted indigenous societies, Amazonia, applied machine learning.

 

Graduate Student Opportunities:
Prospective graduate students are encouraged to contact me by email.

Select Publications

To download, please go to Research Gate

2024  

Walker RS, J Paige. Modeling the social drivers of environmental sustainability among Amazonian indigenous lands using Bayesian networks. PLoS ONE 19:e0297501

2023

Walker RS, MV Flinn, SP Prall, MJ Hamilton. Remote sensing evidence for population growth of isolated indigenous societies in Amazonia. Scientific Reports 13:22448

Walker RS, JR Ferguson, A Olmeda, MJ Hamilton, J Elghammer, B Buchanan. Predicting the geographic distribution of ancient Amazonian archaeological sites with machine learning. PeerJ 11:e15137

2019

Walker RS, MJ Hamilton. Machine learning with remote sensing data to locate uncontacted indigenous villages in Amazonia. PeerJ Computer Science 5:e170

2016

Walker RS, DC Kesler, KR Hill. Are isolated indigenous populations headed toward extinction? PLoS ONE 11:e0150987     

2015

Walker RS, KR Hill. Protecting isolated tribes. Science 348:1061

Walker RS, L Sattenspiel, KR Hill. Mortality from contact-related epidemics among indigenous populations in Greater Amazonia. Scientific Reports 5:14032

Walker RS, C Yvinec, RM Ellsworth, DH Bailey. Co-father relationships among the Suruí (Paiter) of Brazil. PeerJ 3:e899

2014

Walker RS, MJ Hamilton, AA Groth. Remote sensing and conservation of isolated indigenous villages in Amazonia. Royal Society Open Science 1:140246

Walker RS. Amazonian horticulturalists live in larger, more related groups than hunter-gatherers. Evolution & Human Behavior 35:384-388

Walker RS, MJ Hamilton. Amazonian societies on the brink of extinction. American Journal of Human Biology 26:570-572

Walker RS, DH Bailey. Marrying kin in small-scale societies. American Journal of Human Biology 26:384-388

Walker RS, KR Hill. Causes, consequences, and kin bias of human group fissions. Human Nature 25:465-475

2013

Walker RS, S Beckerman, MV Flinn, M Gurven, CR von Rueden, KL Kramer, RD Greaves, L Córdoba, D Villar, EH Hagen, JM Koster, L Sugiyama, TE Hunter, KR Hill. Living with kin in lowland horticultural societies. Current Anthropology 54:96-103

Walker RS, DH Bailey. Body counts in lowland South American violence. Evolution & Human Behavior 34:29-34

2012      

Walker RS, S Wichmann, T Mailund, CJ Atkisson. Cultural phylogenetics of the Tupi language family in lowland South America. PLoS ONE 7:e35025

2011      

Walker RS, KR Hill, MV Flinn, RM Ellsworth. Evolutionary history of hunter-gatherer marriage practices. PLoS ONE 6:e19066

Walker RS, LA Ribeiro. Bayesian phylogeography of the Arawak expansion in lowland South America. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 278:2562-2567

2010      

Walker RS, MV Flinn, KR Hill. Evolutionary history of partible paternity in lowland South America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 107:19195-19200

2006

Walker RS, M Gurven, K Hill, A Migliano, NA Chagnon, R De Souza, G Djurovic, R Hames, AM Hurtado, H Kaplan, K Kramer, WJ Oliver, C Valeggia, T Yamauchi. Growth rates and life histories in twenty-two small-scale societies. American Journal of Human Biology 18:295-311

Walker RS, K Hill, O Burger, AM Hurtado. Life in the slow lane revisited: Ontogenetic separation between chimpanzees and humans. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 129:577-583

2002

Walker RS, KR Hill, H Kaplan, G MacMillan. Age-dependency in hunting ability among the Ache of Eastern Paraguay. Journal of Human Evolution 42:639-657

Office Hours

Tues and Thurs around 10a or after 1230p

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