Lab PI
Assistant Professor in Human Evolution
Dept of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
John Rowan
I received my PhD in Evolutionary Anthropology from Arizona State University as an affiliated student with the Institute of Human Origins working with Kaye Reed. My research focuses on the discovery and analysis of fossil hominoids (apes and humans) and their associated faunal and palaeoecological context in eastern Africa. I currently direct the Lothagam Research Project and conduct field and lab work on other fossils sites in Ethiopia and Kenya in collaboration with the Hadar Research Project, Ledi-Geraru Research Project, Lake Victoria Prehistory Project, Napudet Research Project, Omo Group Research Expedition, West Turkana Paleo Project, and Woranso-Mille Paleoanthropological Research Project.
CV (November 2025)
Current PhD Students
PhD Student, Dept of Anthropology, UAlbany
Eve Omondi
Eve joined the lab in Fall 2022, after completing her BS in Zoology from Maasai Mara University and an Advanced Certificate in Paleoanthropology from the Turkana Basin Institute. Her PhD work focuses on the analysis of Late Miocene faunas from eastern Africa. She has participated in several field work expeditions in the Turkana Basin focusing on late Cenozoic geology and paleontology. Her studies are supported by a Leakey Foundation Baldwin Fellowship. Adam Gordon serves as Eve's co-advisor at UAlbany.
PhD Student, Dept of Anthropology, UAlbany
Christianne Ormsby
Christianne joined the lab in Fall 2021, after completing her MSc in Geosciences at East Tennessee State University. Christianne's MSc investigated the functional morphology of Nimravides (Felidae) and Barbourofelis (Barbourofelidae) from the Late Miocene of Florida using morphometric analyses. Christianne's PhD work focuses on convergent evolution of arboreal morphologies in primate and non-primate mammals using geometric morphometrics and phylogenetic comparative methods. Adam Gordon serves as Christianne's co-advisor at UAlbany.
Current MPhil Students
MPhil Student, Human Evolutionary Studies, UCambridge
Rosie Drury
Rosie joined the lab in Fall 2025. Her MPhil research investigates the environmental predictors of catarrhine behavioural diversity. Sylvain Lemoine serves as Rosie's co-advisor at Cambridge.
Alex Muck
MPhil Student, Human Evolutionary Studies, UCambridge
Alex joined the lab in Fall 2025, after completing his BA in Anthropology from the University of California Los Angeles. His MPhil research describes new Middle Pleistocene hominin postcrania from Eliye Springs, Kenya. Marta Mirazón Lahr serves as Alex's co-advisor at Cambridge.
Lindsey Peacock
MPhil Student, Biological Anthropological Science, UCambridge
Lindsey joined the lab in Fall 2025, after completing her BA in Anthropology from the University of Colorado Boulder. Her MPhil research investigates the alpha taxonomy of an Early Pliocene hominin mandible from Lothagam and its associated faunal and palaeoecological context.
Rosalie Scott
MPhil Student, Human Evolutionary Studies, UCambridge
Rosalie joined the lab in Fall 2025. Her MPhil research investigates Plio-Pleistocene hominin dental evolution. Marta Mirazón Lahr serves as Alex's co-advisor at Cambridge.
Linmary Thomas
MPhil Student, Human Evolutionary Studies, UCambridge
Linmary joined the lab in Fall 2025, after completing her BA in Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Reading. Her MPhil research focuses on analyses of the Pleistocene biogeography of South Asian faunas in the context of hominin dispersals. Marta Mirazón Lahr serves as Linmary's co-advisor at Cambridge.
Current Undergraduate Researchers
Emily Bradley
Archaeology and Biological Anthropology, UCambridge
Emily's Undergraduate Dissertation aims to establish functional morphotypes in the large hominin postcranial sample from Koobi Fora, Kenya. In particular she is focusing on 3D morphometric analyses of the femoral sample.
Nat Dixon
Medical Sciences, UCambridge
Nat's Undergraduate Dissertation investigates the role of rock climbing in primate adaptation through an internal analysis of bone structure using mCT scans across a wide comparative sample of extant anthropoids with associated behavioural data.
Jodie Hulme
Archaeology and Biological Anthropology, UCambridge
Jodie's Undergraduate Dissertation concerns dental evolution in eastern Africa robust australopiths. She is analysing a large 3D sample of isolated postcanine teeth to assess differences in relative cusp area and position through time.
Mango Sum Yue
Veterinary Sciences, UCambridge
Mango's Undergraduate Dissertation investigates the postcranial functional morphology of two partial Ekembo skeletons from the Early Miocene of Kenya in comparison with a large sample of extant catarrhine taxa.
Graduate Alumni
MPhil Human Evolutionary Studies, UCambridge
Juliet Aze
Juliet joined the lab in Fall 2024, after completing a Dual BA degree between Sciences Po (Politics and Government) and Columbia University (Evolutionary Biology of the Human Species). At Cambridge, her MPhil thesis investigated variation in limb morphology and proportions across chimpanzee populations occupying a variety of habitat types. She applied these findings towards the interpretation of Miocene ape postcranial adaptations. Marta Mirazón Lahr served as Juliet's co-advisor at Cambridge.
MA Anthropology, UAlbany
Sara Magee
Sara joined the lab in Fall 2021, after completing her BS in Evolutionary Anthropology from Rutgers University. At UAlbany, her MA research focused on early Holocene to Recent turnover in Malagasy mammal communities, with an aim to provide insights into the ecological consequences of species loss in the present-day. Adam Gordon served as Sara's co-advisor at UAlbany.
MSc Human Evolutionary Biology, Turkana University College
Linet Sankau
Linet joined the lab as an affiliated Master's student in Spring 2021. She received a BA in History and Archaeology from Maseno University and completed her MSc in Human Evolutionary Biology at Turkana University College (Chair: John Rowan, Committee: Kevin Uno, Daniel Green). Linet's MSc research combined stable isotopic analysis of fossil bovid teeth with body mass data to understand niche differentiation among herbivores at Lothagam. In Fall 2023, Linet joined the Evolutionary Anthropology PhD program at Arizona State University and received a Leakey Foundation Baldwin Fellowship to support her PhD studies.