Research under the Biodemography and Evolution area is coordinated by Professor Michael Gurven.
This research integrates biology with classical demography in its study of birth and death processes affecting individuals, cohorts and populations. It is broad in scope, focusing on both the proximate biological mechanisms affecting growth, development, reproduction, health, aging and lifespan, as well as ultimate or functional explanations for demographic traits rooted in evolutionary perspectives and comparative biology.
Life history theory from biology acts as a critical theoretical foundation for evaluating empirical patterns in demographic traits within and among human societies, and also for key comparisons of humans with non-human primates and other long-lived social mammals. This approach models the effects of ecology and culture on individual behavioral strategies impacting reproduction, immune function and survival, and many indicators of well-being. The biodemographic study of the human life course is a salient theme at UCSB, as each life stage carries its own unique traits. Methods include the use of mathematical models and simulations, ethnography, behavioral observation, surveys, comparative methods, and biomarkers of disease and biological function.
Current foci of UCSB faculty include the effects of lifestyle change on chronic disease risks among Indigenous populations, comparative approaches to understanding cancer risks, cross-primate studies of social selectivity and aging, and the impacts of evolving social norms on gender inequality. Approaches are both cross-cultural and cross-species in order to best understand human variation. Long-term field projects run by UCSB faculty involve studies of foragers and farmers in South America, farmers and pastoralists of East Africa, and non-human primates in Kenya.
Researchers
Affiliates associated with the Biodemography and Evolution area
