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Brooke A. Scelza (Principal Investigator)
I am a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at UCLA. I received my PhD in Biocultural Anthropology from the University of Washington in 2008. My dissertation work was with the Martu in Western Australia. There I studied parental investment as children were making the transition to adulthood.
In 2009 I shifted my fieldwork to Namibia, where I began working with the Himba. My work there focuses on two main topics, the importance of mother-adult daughter relationships, and the role of "multiple mating" in men's and women's reproductive and parenting decisions. |
Major Collaborators
Sean Prall, PhD
Assistant Professor, University of Missouri
Dr. Prall is a co-Director of the Kunene Rural Health and Demograhy Project, of which he has been a part since 2016. He received his PhD from the Indiana University in 2014. He brings to the project expertise in reproductive endocrinology and experience collecting physiological data. His current interests are in evolutionary and ecological endocrinology and life history theory, with an emphasis on understanding the effects of androgens on health and behavior. He is also leading a project looking at trade-offs between maintenance and reproduction, with particular focus on sleep health.
Brenna Henn, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Davis Department of Anthropology Dr. Henn is a population geneticist focused on sub-Saharan Africa. Her work with Himba focuses on understanding ancestry and family relationships from a genetic perspective. She has been involved with the project since 2014. |
Richard McElreath, PhD
Director, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture Dr. McElreath contributes statistical expertise to our project and has also brought the KRHDP under the umbrella of MPI-Evolutionary Anthropology as part of an endeavor to promote longitudinal fieldwork in the evolutionary social sciences. |
Jacob Sheehama, PhD
Deputy Director, Academic Affairs and Research
University of Namibia, Oshakati
Dr. Sheehama is interested in rural health throughout Namibia and is a co-Director of the Kunene Rural Health and Demography Project. He is helping to bridge partnerships between UCLA and the University of Namibia, with particular emphasis on issues related to maternal and child health and promoting links between anthropology and public health. His other work as a microbiologist focuses on the transmission, prevention and control of tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious diseases.
Deputy Director, Academic Affairs and Research
University of Namibia, Oshakati
Dr. Sheehama is interested in rural health throughout Namibia and is a co-Director of the Kunene Rural Health and Demography Project. He is helping to bridge partnerships between UCLA and the University of Namibia, with particular emphasis on issues related to maternal and child health and promoting links between anthropology and public health. His other work as a microbiologist focuses on the transmission, prevention and control of tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious diseases.
Our Field Team
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Graduate Students
Renee Hagen (Interests: cultural evolution, reproductive decision-making and human behavioral ecology)
Sally Li (Interests: life history theory, fertility and parental investment)
