Graduate Students
Lianne Tripp
Email: lianne.tripp@mail.utoronto.ca
Program: Phd. in Anthropology
Research Area: Biological/Medical Anthropology
Supervisor: Prof. Larry Sawchuk
Research Interests:
My research interests includes the study of health differentials in past and current populations using: demographic analysis such as, age and population distribution, fertility, and life table studies; and epidemiological tools, through disease prevalence and mortality analyses.
My dissertation research, takes a historical and contemporary examination of the impact of social factors such as: acculturation, and SES on health status and access to health care of Gibraltarians. A secondary research objective is to assess the possible health differentials of the minority communities (Hindu, Moroccans and Jews). Research methods includes, questionnaires and interviews to elucidate contemporary information, and demographic and mortality statistics to deconstruct health differentials in past communities.
Ornella Bertrand
Email: ornella.bertrand@mail.utoronto.ca
Program: Phd. in Anthropology
Research Area: Evolutionary Anthropology
Supervisor: Prof. Mary Silcox
Research Interests:
My research interests focus on the understanding of what is primitive for Primates in terms of the morphology of the brain. I use Glires (rodents and rabbits) as a comparative group to primates. The goal of my project is to answer the following questions:
- 1) Does Glires exhibit an increase in brain size through time, as seen in Primates?
- 2) Is arboreality (living in the trees) directly linked to the evolution of the brain in primates and in some members of Glires?
- 3) What features of the brain characterized the common ancestor of Glires and Primates?
Publication:
Bertrand O.C., Flynn J.J., Croft D.A., and Wyss A.R. 2012. Two new taxa (Caviomorpha, Rodentia) from the early Oligocene Tinguiririca Fauna (Chile). American Museum Novitates 3750: 1–36.
Adam Long
Email: a.long@utoronto.ca
Program: MSc in Anthropology
Research Area: Evolutionary Anthropology
Supervisor: Prof. Mary Silcox
Research Interests:
My research interests include primate and hominid evolution, specifically in relation to changes in brain morphology that are associated with more complex behaviours. I am also interested in studying palaeoenvironmental changes and their effects on both the extinct and extant members of the Order Primates.
My Masters research project involves using 3-D virtual endocasts of two species of stem primates, Ignacius graybullianus and Microsyops annectens, to further elucidate information regarding the period in evolutionary history that we first see neocorticialisation (the expansion of the neocortex) occurring in the Primate lineage.
Sergi López Torres
Email: sergi.lopeztorres@mail.utoronto.ca
Program: Phd. in Anthropology
Research Area: Evolutionary Anthropology
Supervisor: Prof. Mary Silcox
Research Interests:
My research interests include the study of early stages of primate evolution, particularly morphological analyses of Plesiadapiformes, as well as encephalization in early primates, and the evolutionary origins of the Order.
My doctoral research aims to build a phylogenetic tree of one family of plesiadapiforms, the Paromomyidae, using methods that combine morphological, stratigraphic, and biogeographic information. Another objective of my project is to determine the evolutionary relationships of paromomyid primates to closely related groups, such as the living Euarchonta (flying lemurs and tree shrews).
Publication:
Marigó, J., Minwer-Barakat, R., Moyà-Solà, S., and López-Torres, S. 2012. First record of Plesiadapiformes (Primates, Mammalia) from Spain. Journal of Human Evolution 62: 429-433.
Kristen Prufrock
Email: kristen.prufrock@mail.utoronto.ca
Program: MSc in Anthropology
Research Area: Evolutionary Anthropology
Supervisor: Prof. Mary Silcox
Research Interests:
I am interested in the evolution, ecology, and morphology of stem primates and other euarchontans. In particular, my work involves the use of dental topographic analyses and tooth shape metrics to reconstruct dietary ecology.
My primary research objective is to investigate the cause of plesiadapoid (a group of stem primates) extinction in North America. The Paleocene-Eocene boundary coincided with an episode of mammalian turnover involving a sudden decline in plesiadapoids along with the first appearance and rapid diversification of rodents. It has been suggested that this pattern represents taxonomic displacement as a result of interspecific competition. My current research involves analyzing the dietary ecology of these fossil mammals to understand if food resource overlap can be considered a significant factor in the demise of plesiadapoids.
Monika Sumra
Email: monika.sumra@mail.utoronto.ca
Program: MSc in Anthropology and Collobrative Program
in Women's Health; PhD in Anthropology (start Sept 2013)
Research Area: Medical/Biological Anthropology
Supervisor: Prof. Michael Schillaci
Research Interests:
I am interested in the social construction of female identity and how this intersects with women's everyday lived experiences. Using a multi-method, multidisciplinary approach, my research offers a novel means within which to understand the way(s) in which women express and embody female identity. My research approach involves the examination of the social, psychological and physiological correlates of socially constructed female identities.
My current Masters project examines a commonly popularized archetype of female identity "the superwomen" within the context of multiple-role engagement and the occurrence of psychological and physiological stress.