We have a motivated group of graduate students, postdocs, and undergrads studying diverse topics within evolutionary anthropology. Current emphases include acculturation and diabetes/cardiovascular disease, role of pathogens and immune function in chronic disease risk, social capital and women's autonomy, reproductive decision-making and fertility transitions, kin investment and the function of post-reproductive lifespan, adaptive logic of infant feeding practices, personality evolution, cooperation and altruism, human-chimpanzee life history comparisons, outgroup psychology and evolution of tolerance, and hormone-behavior interactions.
Group Members
Principal Investigator
behavioral ecology, evolutionary medicine, indigenous health
Postdoctoral Scholars
Graduate Students
Undergraduate Alumni/Honors Research Students
My work explores arterial function, one-carbon metabolism, and other cardiovascular risk factors in their distribution and association with event outcomes. I have focused on developing prevention and management strategies for improving cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health using population-based evidence and epidemiological analysis methods to serve public health and clinical interests. I believe that assessing vascular conditions requires systematic knowledge of the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms in addition to the usual individual risk factors. I’m also interested in understanding vascular health from an evolutionary perspective.
Interested in studying at UCSB?
Email me directly: gurven@anth.ucsb.edu
Ideal candidates:
- have a scientifically curious mind
- have diverse interests within biocultural anthropology and human biology,
- have an active desire to conduct field-based studies in ethical way,
- have quantitative skills and developed logical reasoning,
- are intrinsically motivated
Lab Alumni
population ecology, life history, evolutionary demography
human behavioral ecology, hunter-gatherers, sociality