In this episode, hosts Courtney and Mecca talk with Dr. Sara Juengst about her bioarchaeological work in coastal Ecuador among the very early and early Gangala, including differing ideas of what it means to be a “body”, the sociocultural and subsistence roles of the ocean, and the benefits of combining paleopathological, mortuary, and stable isotopic analyses.

Dr. Juengst is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, NC, USA. As an anthropological bioarchaeologist, her research integrates social theory and skeletal evidence to address lived experiences of disease, diet, migration, and violence in the past and present. Her research primarily focuses on South America (Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru), but she does consulting work on projects in North Carolina, Kenya, and Nigeria. In all of her work, she explores how people navigated changing social and environmental climates and highlights how skeletons embody power and community. She earned her BA in Anthropology from Vanderbilt University in 2008 and her PhD in Anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2015.

------------------------------

Find the paper discussed in this episode:

Juengst, S.L., Lunnis, R., Cruz, Y.Z., Cobb, E.M., Bythell, A. (2024). An Investigation of Identity and Ontology at Salango, Ecuador (BCE 100–300 CE)

Combining Paleopathological, Mortuary, and Stable Isotopic Analyses. Bioarchaeology, 8(1-2). https://doi.org/10.5744/bi.2023.0010

------------------------------

Contact Dr. Juengst at [email protected] and follow her work at https://www.sarajuengst.com/

------------------------------

Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and the Human Biology Association:

Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org

Courtney Manthey, Co-Host

Website: holylaetoli.com/ E-mail: [email protected], Twitter: @HolyLaetoli

Mecca Howe, SoS Producer, HBA Fellow

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mecca-howe/, Email: [email protected]

In this episode, Cara and Chris sit down with Dr. Ben Auerbach, a Professor in the Departments of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His research examines variation and evolution through the skeletons of primates and other mammals, applying quantitative genetics and functional anatomy to understand how traits evolve, especially in primates and Australian marsupials. He also studies variation in global human samples from archaeological and medical contexts, as well as the history and ethics of the biological and social sciences.

The conversation centers on his 2023 paper in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology advocating a “whole organism imperative.” Rather than analyzing traits one at a time, he argues that evolutionary questions require multi-trait quantitative genetic approaches that account for covariance among features. We discuss why trait-by-trait adaptationist stories can be misleading, how to distinguish genetic drift from selection, and what this framework reveals about human limb evolution and ecogeographic patterns.

------------------------------

Find the work discussed in this episode:

Auerbach, B. M., Savell, K. R., & Agosto, E. R. (2023). Morphology, evolution, and the whole organism imperative: Why evolutionary questions need multi‐trait evolutionary quantitative genetics. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 181, 180-211.

------------------------------

Contact Dr. Auerbach: [email protected]

------------------------------

Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association:

Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc

Chris Lynn, Host

Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: [email protected], Twitter:@Chris_Ly

Cara Ocobock, Host

Website: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/, Email:[email protected], Twitter:@CaraOcobock

Cristina Gildee, SoS Co-Producer, HBA Junior Fellow

Website: cristinagildee.com, E-mail: [email protected]

En este episodio, Anahí y Mecca conversan con la Dra. Sofía Olmedo sobre su nuevo proyecto sobre diabetes tipo 2 en la comunidad Qom de Argentina y los beneficios de utilizar la investigación acción participativa.

Dra. Sofía Olmedo es Licenciada en Nutrición por la Universidad Cuenca del Plata de Formosa y Doctora en Ciencias de la Salud (FCM-UNC). Actualmente es Investigadora asistente de CONICET y Profesora adjunta en la Universidad Nacional de Formosa. Trabaja en estudios sobre nutrición y alimentación desde la perspectiva de la salud colectiva. Aborda temas relacionados con salud intercultural, el medio ambiente, soberanía alimentaria, seguridad alimentaria e hídrica en contextos de diversidad cultural. Sus investigaciones se originan en el marco del Programa de Ecología Reproductiva del Chaco Oriental (PERCHA), dentro del cual se realizan estudios relacionados con la fertilidad, crecimiento infantil, y salud general de las comunidades originarias de la región del Gran Chaco. Su investigación doctoral titulada “Determinación social de la alimentación y estado nutricional de preescolares qom de Formosa” fue realizada en una comunidad qom periurbana (Namqom) de la ciudad de Formosa Capital. Actualmente, está trabajando en el proyecto de investigación acción participativa “Repensando la Diabetes: una estrategia intercultural liderada por iniciativa comunitaria de salud en una comunidad indígena de Argentina” junto con tres miembros de la comunidad qom de Formosa.

------------------------------

Contact Dr. Olmedo at [email protected] o [email protected]

------------------------------

Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and the Human Biology Association:

Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc

Anahi Ruderman, SoS Co-Producer, HBA Junior Fellow

E-mail: [email protected], Twitter: @ani_ruderman

Mecca Howe, SoS Co-Producer, HBA Fellow

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mecca-howe/, Email: [email protected]

Join us for a conversation about decolonizing research, rethinking education, and building institutions that actually serve the communities at their center.

Chris sits down with Dr. Alyssa Crittenden, who returns to the show, this time as Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate College at UNLV. Since we last talked about community-based participatory research with the Hadza, her work has expanded across research, leadership, and institutional change. We discuss how she balances administration with fieldwork and what it means to advocate for ethical, community-driven science from within the academy.

Drawing on recent publications in Nature Human Behaviour and Nature Microbiology, Alyssa unpacks Indigenous child socialization, the structural violence embedded in many schooling systems, and how education can provide access to literacy and credentials without erasing local knowledge. We also explore the difference between “community-inclusive” and true community-based participatory research, the pitfalls of the word traditional, the value of tiered informed consent, and what equitable international collaboration looks like in practice.

------------------------------

Find the work discussed in this episode:

Hays, J., Dounias, E., Ninkova, V. et al. Sustainable education should include Indigenous knowledge. Nat Hum Behav (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02288-1

Mangola, S.M., Lund, J.R., Schnorr, S.L. et al. Ethical microbiome research with Indigenous communities. Nat Microbiol 7, 749–756 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-022-01116-w

------------------------------

Contact Dr. Crittenden: [email protected]

------------------------------

Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association:

Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc

Chris Lynn, Host

Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: [email protected], Twitter:@Chris_Ly

Cristina Gildee, SoS Co-Producer, HBA Junior Fellow

Website: cristinagildee.com, E-mail: [email protected],

We’re long overdue for this conversation. In this episode, Chris and Courtney sit down with Dr. Inês Varela-Silva, Reader in Biocultural Studies and Community Health at Loughborough University, to talk about methods and why evidence synthesis matters for equity in science. We trace her path into anthropology and human biology before diving into the SCRIBE (SystematiC Reviews In Biocultural rEsearch) toolkit, recently published in the American Journal of Human Biology. We explore why biocultural research has historically underused systematic reviews and how excluding biocultural factors can bias evidence against Indigenous, minority, and small-scale populations. We also discuss SCRIBE’s six-step framework and the value of tools like Notion and Trello, alongside reflections on The Maya Project.

------------------------------

Find the work discussed in this episode:

Varela-Silva, M. I., N. Rush, and N. Pearson. 2025. “ Conducting Scoping and Systematic Reviews With a Focus on Biocultural Research: The SCRIBE Toolkit.” American Journal of Human Biology 37, no. 9: e70133. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70133.

https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/online_resource/The_SCRIBE_toolkit/29364935?file=57972535

------------------------------

Contact Dr. Varela-Silva: [email protected]

------------------------------

Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association:

Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc

Chris Lynn, Host

Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: [email protected], Twitter:@Chris_Ly

Courtney Manthey, Co-Host, Website: holylaetoli.com/ E-mail: [email protected], Twitter: @HolyLaetoli

Cristina Gildee, SoS Co-Producer, HBA Junior Fellow

Website: cristinagildee.com, E-mail: [email protected],

In this episode, hosts Chris and Courtney talk with Dr. Seth Quintus about his work in Sāmoa and Hawaiʻi, blending Polynesian archaeology, ethnohistory, and social theory. They discuss the value of four-field anthropology and collaboration, variation across Polynesian histories and ideologies, and common misconceptions about ancient Hawaiian political systems.

Dr. Seth Quintus is a Pacific Island archaeologist and anthropology professor at the University of Hawai‘i. Coming from a long family line of teachers, Seth has carried that passion for learning and mentorship into his own career. He joined UH in 2016 and has built an impressive body of research exploring how people and environments have shaped one another across the Pacific. Originally from the Midwest, Seth has worked throughout the continental United States, including Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota, as well as in Sāmoa, Hawai‘i, Tokelau, and New Zealand. Although his specialty is archaeology, he approaches his work as a broadly trained anthropologist who values integrating multiple subfields to better understand human history and cultural change. His research focuses on long-term human–environment relationships, using spatial, ecological, and geomorphological methods to study settlement systems and agriculture. He’s particularly interested in how food production and environmental modification intersect with social and political change. Seth is also known for his commitment to teaching and community engagement. He partners with Kamehameha Schools, the National Park Service, and the National University of Sāmoa to involve students and community members in field research. In 2024, he received the College of Social Sciences Award for Excellence in Teaching. He earned his PhD in Anthropology from the University of Auckland, and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from North Dakota State University, where he graduated magna cum laude.

------------------------------

Find the papers discussed in this episode:

Quintus, S., Cochrane, E. E., Laumea, M., & Filimoehala, C. (2025). Assessing settlement diversity in Sāmoa. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2025.2509519

------------------------------

Contact Dr. Quintus: [email protected]

------------------------------

Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and the Human Biology Association:

Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc

Chris Lynn, Co-Host

Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: [email protected], Twitter:@Chris_Ly

Courtney Manthey, Co-Host

Website: holylaetoli.com/ E-mail: [email protected], Twitter: @HolyLaetoli

Mecca Howe, SoS Producer, HBA Fellow

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mecca-howe/, Email: [email protected]

Stephen McGarvey is Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology at Brown University School of Public Health and Professor of Anthropology (Courtesy) at Brown University. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and on the editorial board of the American Journal of Human Biology. He was the recipient of the 2025 Franz Boas Distinguished Achievement Award from the Human Biology Association. McGarvey earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Pennsylvania State University in 1980, and an M.P.H. in Epidemiology from Yale University in 1984. McGarvey is concerned with issues of human population biology and global health, specifically modernization-related induced socio-economic and behavioral changes, genetic and environmental influences on obesity and cardiovascular disease risk factor, and child nutritional status. His research involves low and middle income countries now focused on Samoa, American Samoa, and South Africa.

In this episode we discuss his concluding chapter of Princeton University Press book on Samoa research.

------------------------------

Contact Dr. McGarvey: [email protected]

------------------------------

Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and the Human Biology Association:

Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc

Chris Lynn, Co-Host Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: [email protected], Twitter:@Chris_Ly

Courtney Manthey, Guest-Co-Host, Website: holylaetoli.com/ E-mail: [email protected], Twitter: @HolyLaetoli

Anahi Ruderman, SoS Co-Producer, HBA Junior Fellow, E-mail: [email protected]

In this episode, Dr. Theodore Schurr shares insights from his career researching genetic prehistories, linkages, and identities within transforming geopolitical landscapes of the past as well as contemporary sociopolitical shifts, including post-Soviet Russia and Georgia. Next, Dr. Schurr and hosts Cara and Chris reflect on the evolution of anthropology and genetic research, including breakthrough technologies and advanced field methods, changing bioethics, intentional relationships with communities, and exciting new approaches that are expanding our understanding of variation and genetic-environmental interactions of the past and present.

Dr. Theodore (Tad) Schurr is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. For over thirty years, he has investigated the genetic prehistory of Asia and the Americas through studies of mtDNA, Y-chromosome, and autosomal DNA variation in Asian, Siberian, and Native American populations. For these studies, his lab characterized genetic diversity in indigenous populations of Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. His research group is currently exploring the population history of Georgia (Caucasus), Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Polynesia through collaborative studies in those regions. Other projects have investigated the role of the mtDNA in adaptation, cancer, complex diseases, and metabolism.

------------------------------

Find the papers discussed in this episode:

Yardumian, A., Shengelia, R., Chitanava, D., Laliashvili, S., Bitadze, L., Laliashvili, I., ... & Schurr, T. G. (2017). Genetic diversity in Svaneti and its implications for the human settlement of the Highland Caucasus. American journal of physical anthropology, 164(4), 837-852.

Schurr, T. G., Shengelia, R., Shamoon-Pour, M., Chitanava, D., Laliashvili, S., Laliashvili, I., ... & Yardumian, A. (2023). Genetic analysis of Mingrelians reveals long-term continuity of populations in Western Georgia (Caucasus). Genome Biology and Evolution, 15(11), evad198.

Ancient Lineages: Reconstructing the Genetic History of Svaneti, Northwest Georgia https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/ancient-lineages/

------------------------------

Contact Dr. Schurr: [email protected]

------------------------------

Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and the Human Biology Association:

Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc

Chris Lynn, Co-Host

Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: [email protected], Twitter:@Chris_Ly

Cara Ocobock, Co-Host

Website: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/, Email:[email protected], Twitter:@CaraOcobock

Mecca Howe, SoS Co-Producer, HBA Fellow

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mecca-howe/, Email: [email protected]

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Kyle Wiley, Assistant Professor of Sociology & Anthropology at the University of Texas at El Paso, about how social and traumatic stressors during pregnancy become biologically embedded and shape maternal and infant health.

Kyle shares his path into biological anthropology and discusses his biosocial research on perinatal health disparities in the United States and Brazil. We explore his work on interpersonal violence during pregnancy in São Paulo, Brazil, focusing on how trauma affects maternal and infant cortisol regulation and what this means for fetal programming and intergenerational health.

We also discuss his recent research on pica among Latina pregnant women, which takes a novel approach by examining stress hormones and inflammation rather than micronutrient deficiencies. The episode closes with a look at Kyle’s new faculty role at UTEP, his current projects, and how he maintains work–life balance as an early-career scholar.

------------------------------

Find the work discussed in this episode:

Wiley, K. S., Gouveia, G., Camilo, C., Euclydes, V., Panter-Brick, C., Matijasevich, A., Ferraro, A. A., Fracolli, L. A., Chiesa, A. M., Miguel, E. C., Polanczyk, G. V., & Brentani, H. (2025). A Preliminary Investigation of Associations Between Traumatic Events Experienced During Pregnancy and Salivary Diurnal Cortisol Levels of Brazilian Adolescent Mothers and Infants. American Journal of Human Biology, 37(2), e70004. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70004

Kwon, D., Knorr, D. A., Wiley, K. S., Young, S. L., & Fox, M. M. (2024). Association of pica with cortisol and inflammation among Latina pregnant women. American Journal of Human Biology, 36(5), e24025. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.24025

------------------------------

Contact Dr. Wylie: [email protected]

------------------------------

Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association:

Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc

Chris Lynn, Host

Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: [email protected], Twitter:@Chris_Ly

Courtney Manthey, Co-Host, Website: holylaetoli.com/ E-mail: [email protected], Twitter: @HolyLaetoli

Cristina Gildee, SoS Co-Producer, HBA Junior Fellow

Website: cristinagildee.com, E-mail: [email protected],

In this episode, hosts Chris and Mecca interview Dr. Cindi SturtzSreetharan about language decoding, why inclusive language matters for better science, the importance of clearly defining the terms we use, and how ethnographic methods help contextualize research. Dr. SturtzSreetharan is a President’s Professor at the School of Human Evolution & Social Change at Arizona State University. She has a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Willamette University, a master’s in Asian studies from the University of Oregon, and a doctorate in Anthropology from the University of California at Davis. Her research interests center on a language-in-interaction approach to the construction of identities, including masculinity. Much of her earlier work focused on how Japanese men use language as a resource for creating, maintaining, or refuting a masculine identity. She has also worked on language use in reality TV shows, serial dramas, and film, focusing specifically on language and fatherhood. For the past decade, Dr. SturtzSreetharan has turned her attention to the intersection of language, the body, and medicine. Her current work is an investigation of metabolic syndrome in Japan, a so-called lifestyle condition that affects more men than women. She is particularly interested in the way that everyday, mundane language interactions contribute to the production of felt shame and stigma around body size, shape, and care.

------------------------------

Find the papers discussed in this episode:

SturtzSreetharan, C.L & Shibamoto-Smith, J. It’s not the language, it’s us: Recommendations on what language can do and on what we as writers can do. American Journal of Human Biology 37(6): e70079 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70079 (2025)

SturtzSreetharan, C.L., DuBois, L.Z., & Brewis, A. 2025. Defining and deploying gender/sex in human biology: Where are we? Where should we be? American Journal of Human Biology 37(6):e70093 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70093 (2025)

------------------------------

Contact Dr. SturtzSreetharan: [email protected]

------------------------------

Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and the Human Biology Association:

Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc

Chris Lynn, Co-Host

Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: [email protected], Twitter:@Chris_Ly

Mecca Howe, Co-Host, HBA Fellow

Email: [email protected], Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mecca-howe-phd-22a48173/