Hello HUBI alumni,

Greetings from hot and steamy summer in Bloomington. I hope this newsletter finds you well and flourishing in whatever pursuits you have been engaged in since graduation.

All is well in the Human Biology Program here at IU. We continue to thrive with over 500 majors, who we are able to accommodate by offering the full suite of Human Biology courses each semester. Core course topics included the relationship between human biology and climate change, empathy, the irrational mind, exercise and cancer, current trends in infectious disease, tuberculosis, and pregnancy and gestation. This coming year I will again offer HUBI B-150, our only non-majors course. A new topic this time: “what is “normal” human biology?”. I am very interested in how cultural norms about what human biology “should” be (e.g. body size, color, diet, etc.) are related to the statistical distributions of these traits in a population. My graduate student Jennifer Cullin (who some of you had as an AI in HUBI-B 200 or HUBI-B 300) and I received a grant from the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to hold a scholarly workshop on this topic in Fall 2019, and the topic fits well with my ongoing work on milk consumption and its effects on human biology and life history.

A highlight of this past academic year was that I was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). AAAS is the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society and is dedicated to “advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all people.” Best known for publishing the journal Science, it is also a major advocate for science education and science-based public policies. Fellows are elected by their peers in recognition of their contributions to science in a number of areas (e.g. research, education, communication, technology, etc).

In terms of non-academic pursuits, this past fall I was fortunate to be able to hike the West Highland Way in Scotland. Long distance walking is one of my favorite activities, and doing it amidst stunning scenery makes it all the more enjoyable. There are many long distance walking routes in the United Kingdom and I look forward to exploring more of them. Over winter break I spent some time in Joshua Tree National Park in California and at the coast in San Diego. This past week I returned from a trip to Colorado, where I did a lot of hiking around Pikes Peak and the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. I head west again in August to backpack with my sister in the Tetons!

This year we celebrated our 10th graduating class in Human Biology. We invited back Dr. Jessica Brenay Basham, one of the members of our very first graduating class, to talk about how the Human Biology Program had served her as she pursued a career in obstetrics and gynecology. It was an inspiring talk, as were those by our two graduating senior speakers. All in all, it was a lovely day to acknowledge all of our graduates.

This is the last year of my second term as the Human Biology Program Director. It has been an honor and privilege to work in this capacity for the past eight years and watch the program develop and expand. On July 1, I will pass the directorship baton to Dr. Richard Hardy, professor of Biology, who I’m confident will bring a fresh vision to the program. I will return to full time teaching in the Anthropology department, including ANTH-B 200, still one of my favorite courses to teach. In addition, our administrative assistant, Diane Richardson, is retiring on June 30. Diane has worked in the program from its inception in 2006, and she has provided invaluable service to it, from helping our students register for classes, to organizing our graduation activities. We will miss her wisdom, kindness, and administrative acumen, and wish her well in her retirement.

All the best to you and keep in touch!