Curriculum Vitae

Duke University Box 90383 Science Drive Durham, NC 27708-9976

919-684-6582 (office) (email)

• Ph.D., University of Toronto, 2007


• MA, University of Toronto, 2002


• Hon. B.Sc., University of Western Ontario/University of Toronto, 2001

Areas of Research

Primate functional morphology, palaeontology and biomechanics, developmental morphology

Major Grant Support

• National Science Foundation (pending)
  American Philosophical Society (pending)
  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
  General Motors Women in Science and Mathematics

Aye-aye locomotion, 2007-present

Collaboration with Dr. Roshna Wunderlich (James Madison University) and Dr. Daniel Schmitt (Duke University) investigating the biomechanics of the fore- and hind limbs in aye-aye locomotion.




Biomechanics of gorilla and chimpanzee knuckle-walking locomotion, 2008-present

Collaboration with Dr. Daniel Schmitt of Duke University and the North Carolina Zoological Park investigating the biomechanics of gorilla and chimpanzee knuckle-walking locomotion.




Geometry and loading of the leg and foot in anthropoid primates, 2007-present

Collaboration with Drs. Damiano Marchi and Daniel Schmitt of Duke University and Dr. Roshna Wunderlich of James Madison University investigating the biomechanics of the hindlimb during locomotion in hominoids and some cercopithecoids




Research Experience, 2004

Dissertation data collection with Dr. Wolfgang Maier.




Research Experience, 2001

Collaborative research project in South Africa with Drs Susan Pfeiffer, Judy Sealy and representatives of the Khoisan Indigenous Peoples. Research included the analysis of indigenous southern African skeletal remains from a variety of Later Stone Age sites.

• Field Work, 2006
  Palaeontological excavation of late Miocene locality and Dryopithecus fossil remains with Drs. David Begun of the University of Toronto and Laszlo Kordos of the Geological Museum of Hungary.


• Field Work, 2003
  Palaeontological excavation of new middle Miocene locality of Felsõtárkány with Dr. David Begun (University of Toronto) and in collaboration with Drs. Laszlo Kordos (Geological Museum of Hungary) and János Hír (Pásztó Municipal Museum, Pásztó, Hungary).


• Field Work, 2000
  University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Palaeontological excavation of Pliocene fossil hominin remains.


• Field Work, 1999
  University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Archaeological excavation of Middle Stone Age site focusing on the origins of early human modernity (ACACIA Fieldschool).

• BAA Curriculum Committee, November, 2007 - present


• American Association of Anatomists, Membership Committee, 2009-present


• EA Teaching collection committee, Chair, 2008-present


• Trinity College, Duke, Academic Advisor, 2008-present


• Academic Advisor (EA majors), 2007-2008

  Invited Lectures:

• Aye-aye hand posture and loading of their specialised digits during quadrupedal locomotion, Evolutionary Anthropology Talk Series (EATS), March, 2009


• Ontongey of the hominoid wrist and implications for the origin of hominin bipedalism, BAA Departmental Seminar, January, 2008


• Miocene hominoid evolution, University of Toronto, Human Biology and Evolution lecture, 2006


• How do palaeoanthropologists know what they know?, University of Toronto, Human Biology and Evolution lecture, 2006


• Primate evolution, University of Toronto, Human Biology and Evolution lecture, 2004

Publications (listed separately)

  Supervised Undergraduate Independent Research

• Michael Catalino, (2008-2009)
• Erik Stubberud, (2008-2009)
• Elizabeth Kramer, (2007-2008)

• Megan Pruette, (2008)

• Kevin Hatala, (2008-2009)
• Gail Ukato, (2008-2009)
• Jasmine Swaniker, (2008-2009)
• Cassandra Kisby, (2008-2009)
• Rita Baumgardner, (2007-2008)
• April Edwards, (2007-2008)
• Anita Pai, (2007-2008)