Lab PI
Assistant Professor, Dept of Anthropology, UAlbany
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 paleoecological 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, and Woranso-Mille Paleoanthropological Research Project.
CV (October 2023)
Graduate Students
PhD Student, Dept of Anthropology, UAlbany
Eve Omondi
Eve joined the lab as a Phase I PhD student in Fall 2022, after completing her BS in Zoology from Maasai Mara University and an Advanced Certificate in Paleoanthropology from the Turkana Basin Institute. At UAlbany, her graduate work focuses on the analysis of late Miocene taxonomic and ecological turnover in large mammal faunas from eastern Africa. She has participated in several field work expeditions in the Turkana Basin focusing on late Cenozoic geology and paleontology. Eve also held multi-year positions for paleontology and paleoanthropology collections housed at the National Museums of Kenya and the Turkana Basin Institute. Her studies at UAlbany are supported by a Leakey Foundation Baldwin Fellowship.
PhD Student, Dept of Anthropology, UAlbany
Christianne Ormsby
Christianne joined the lab as a Phase II PhD student in Fall 2021, coming from East Tennessee State University where she completed her MSc in Geosciences (specialization in Paleontology). Christianne's MSc thesis investigated the functional morphology and paleoecology of Nimravides (Felidae) and Barbourofelis (Barbourofelidae) from the late Miocene of Florida using morphometric analyses. At UAlbany, Christianne's doctoral work focuses on convergent evolution of arboreal morphologies in primate and non-primate mammals using a combination of geometric morphometrics and phylogenetic comparative methods.
Sara Magee
Sara joined the lab in Fall 2021, after completing her BS in Evolutionary Anthropology from Rutgers University and an Honors Thesis investigating the relationship between feeding behavior and jaw morphology in mammals. At UAlbany, her graduate work investigates the relationships between human impacts, ecosystem change, and biodiversity loss in both the past and present. Her ongoing MA research focuses on early Holocene to Recent turnover in Malagasy mammal communities, which aims to provide insights on the ecological consequences of species loss in the present-day.
MA Student, Dept of Anthropology, UAlbany
Graduate Alumni
PhD Student, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University
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 with Chris Campisano and Denise Su as co-chairs, and received a Leakey Foundation Baldwin Fellowship to support her doctoral studies. We are very proud to have Linet as a lab alum!
Undergraduate Students
James Cooper
Sophomore—Political Science BA & Anthropology BA Student, Depts of Political Science & Anthropology, UAlbany
James joined the lab in Fall 2023. He is interested in the cognitive evolution of humans and non-human primates, and the links between biology and culture during hominin evolution. After completing his undergraduate degrees at UAlbany, James plans to pursue his graduate studies in evolutionary biology and social organization in early hominins.
Senior—Human Biology BS & Anthropology BA Student, Dept of Anthropology, UAlbany
Elainna Jennings
Elainna joined the lab in Spring 2023. She is interested in studying the relationship between locomotion/habitat patterns and bone morphology in the lower limb of primates, with a special interest in Gorilla. After completing her undergraduate degrees at UAlbany, Elainna plans to begin her graduate studies in biological anthropology using lab- and field- based approaches to understand the morphology of living and extinct primates, including work at African paleoanthropological sites.
Eleanor McDonald
Senior—Human Biology BS & Anthropology BA Student, Dept of Anthropology, UAlbany
Eleanor joined the lab in Spring 2023. She is interested in human osteology and forensics. In the lab, she has been working on a project studying covariation in cranial bone size across a recent human sample using 3D surface scans and morphometrics. Eleanor plans to begin her graduate studies in forensic anthropology after completing her undergraduate degrees at UAlbany. She recently completed the University of West Florida's Forensic Anthropology Field School where she learned mapping, excavation, evidence documentation, and other forensics procedures.
Senior—Human Biology BS, Dept of Anthropology, UAlbany
Katharine Serio
Katharine joined the lab in Fall 2023. She is interested in cranial and dental biology and evolution in humans. In the lab, she is working on a morphological study of a large collection of isolated hominin teeth, including casts of Plio-Pleistocene taxa and modern human teeth donated from dental patients. Katharine plans to pursue dental medicine after completing her undergraduate degree at UAlbany.