The Department of Anthropology is encouraging a new philosophy in anthropology. We believe that the distinction between basic and applied research and development should be abandoned. Therefore, graduate students will receive solid theoretical and methodological training but in the context of ongoing, on-the-ground interdisciplinary projects which address real-life problems. Our faculty are strongly committed to the value of systematic fieldwork and methodological, intellectual, and academic rigor in the pursuit of Anthropology. They are engaged in active projects through-out the world, including Mexico, the Pacific Islands, throughout South and Central America, South-East Asia, Nepal, East Africa, Western Europe as well as right here in Georgia. Biological Anthropology Laboratory Complex The Biological Anthropology Laboratory Complex is home to the Health and Human Biology Laboratory, and the Bioarchaeology and Biochemistry Laboratory. Laboratory of Health and Human Biology The Laboratory of Health and Human Biology provides a research workspace for anthropologists interested in the interactions between the environment and human biological variation. We focus on examining how people maintain health and avoid disease in stressful environments and how human biology is shaped by diverse social, cultural, and ecological factors. Central lines of research are diet, nutrition, growth, and the anthropology of infectious disease. The lab encourages research that merges cultural, ecological, and evolutionary approaches to investigate variation in health in both the US and international locations. Current equipment supports research on infant feeding and child growth, ecological immunity, and body composition. We aim to provide opportunities for graduate and advanced undergraduate students to receive training and conduct research in biological and medical anthropology, including coursework in Human Adaptation (Anth 4790/6790), Ecology and Evolution of Human Disease (4590/6590), and Medical Anthropology (4540/6540), in addition to graduate seminars. Students have access to office space adjoining the lab, computers, regular lab meetings, and a collaborative and collegial laboratory environment. As part of the Biological Anthropology Lab Complex, students and faculty work within the space in reading groups, seminars, and research. As a unit, our research strengths focus on anthropological approaches to diet, nutrition, stress, and health in the past and today. Bioarchaeology and Biochemistry Laboratory The central focus of this lab is to explore the biological nature of human and non-human primate interactions with the environment using special techniques in biological anthropology. Studying diet and physiological stress in both the past and the present are primary research interests in the lab. The lab houses all the necessary equipment for preparing samples for stable carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotope analysis using carbonates and organic materials, including soft tissues. Lab equipment includes a liquid nitrogen freezer mill, a freeze dryer system, oven, and microbalance. The lab also houses a collection of primate and other vertebrate bones and high-quality casts of fossil hominids. These specimens are part of a comparative osteological collection in the Department of Anthropology at UGA, and are used extensively in classes such as Introduction to Biological Anthropology (ANTH 3040/4910), Human Osteology (ANTH 4730/6730), Forensic Anthropology (TBA), Bioarchaeology (TBA) and Primate Ecology and Evolution (ANTH 4740/6740). Students in these classes make use of the lab to learn about the human skeleton and to compare human bones with those of other primates. Graduate students have access to two office spaces adjoining the lab. The Bioarchaeology and Biochemistry Laboratory is part of the Biological Anthropology Laboratory Complex, which also includes the Laboratory of Health and Human Biology. Students and faculty work between these two spaces in research, reading groups and seminars. The Bioarchaeology and Biochemistry Laboratory also works closely with the Archaeology Laboratory to study the bioarchaeology of past humans, particularly in the Eastern United States. LAB WEB SITE ->
