As a biological anthropologist, I research the interaction between human biology and cultural practices. Utilizing a biocultural framework incorporating human adaptability and political economy, I am interested in the relationship between humans and their environments and how this relationship affects biological outcomes. For example, I seek to problematize the nutrition transition concept through research into the multiple pathways that shape biological outcomes in complex environments experiencing resource constraints. These pathways include socioeconomic and environmental influences as well as individual strategies and priorities that people develop to cope with stressful environments. Currently, I study how indigenous North American populations articulate and navigate changing ecological, political, and socioeconomic environments as measured by such biological indicators as physical activity patterns, dietary intake, and nutritional status, such as overweight and obesity. Through past work among rural residents of Appalachian Kentucky and current work with Alaska Natives, I seek to understand how political-economic forces limit resources and access to healthy lifestyles.

I have recently worked on a community-based participatory research (CBPR) Faith Moves Mountains (PI Dr. Nancy Schoenberg, funded by the National Institutes of Health) project in Eastern Kentucky. The various health intervention programs within this project include smoking cessation, cancer screening, and a health promotion program which seeks to increase fruit and vegetable intake & increase physical activity. Other ast health research includes a federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant to assess the accuracy, feasibility, and cultural acceptability of various physical activity measures among rural Appalachians, including self-report, pedometers, and accelerometers. I conducted survey research in Martin County, Kentucky on an environmental impact follow-up study to the coal sludge spill in 2000. I have also conducted various program evaluations through my past work at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, including a Photovoice evaluation of a home visitation program and work on the institution's Quality Improvement Science training through a Robert Woods Johnson Foundation grant.

I currently work for the State of Alaska in the Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Senior and Disability Services. I teach online anthropology classes at two Kentucky universities.In addition to a number of peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and book reviews recently published, I also serve on a number of journal editorial boards, including Contemporary Journal of Anthropology and Sociology, Student Anthropologist, and Anthropologies. Past manuscript reviews include Disability and Rehabilitation, Journal of Contemprary Anthropology, The Oral History Review, and Medical Anthropology Quarterly.

Doctoral Candidate, biocultural anthropology, University of Kentucky