Stephanie Fox is a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Anthropology. She uses cross-species data from humans and non-human primates to investigate the evolutionary roots of human social behaviour, particularly female social relationships and cooperation. Her work focuses on the benefits of sociality, variables that constrain individuals from achieving their optimal social phenotypes, and how both benefits and constraints of sociality change in different life phases. Demography plays a key role in predicting access to different types of social partners over the lifespan, particularly with respect to the availability of related partners. Dr. Fox's recent work examines how a female's reproductive history shapes her access to offspring as social partners, and how adult offspring promote or constrain the social integration of their ageing mothers. Her work draws on long-term field observations of wild primates, including chimpanzees and blue monkeys, and laboratory analyses of biomarkers from non-invasively collected biological samples. She also leads an interdisciplinary working group dedicated to synthesizing cross-species and cross-cultural research to build holistic, evolutionary perspectives on human social ageing. 

I have a keen interest in exploring how immigration, gender dynamics, and family structures are influenced by policy and socio-economic factors. My research aims to illuminate the complex interplay between these elements and their impact on fertility choices and demographic shifts, particularly within immigrant communities.

Kristine Joy Chua is a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Anthropology at UCSB and earned her Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology from UCLA. Her research combines evolutionary and biocultural anthropology perspectives to understand how chronic stress “gets under the skin” during pregnancy. She utilizes methods from anthropology, biology, and public health to explore the social and biological factors that create and sustain peri- and postnatal inequities and the role that cultural practices play in shaping health norms. She works closely with pregnant Filipina mothers in the Philippines and pregnant mothers in Southern California. Current research questions include: (1) how does the maternal immune system respond to fetal cells circulating throughout pregnancy (co-director: Amy Boddy); (2) how do pregnant Filipina mothers respond to stress from their socio-political environment; (3) how are definitions of stress and coping mechanisms impacted by cultural attitudes; and (4) what conditions could preterm birth be an adaptive response for mothers. In addition to her academic work, she maintains her commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through undergraduate mentorship, partnerships with K-12 educators, and collaborations with community stakeholders.

Katie Sayre is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her work draws on theory and methodology from multiple disciplines, including anthropology, gerontology, public health, and demography. Her work explores how human lifestyles and biology interact over the life course and impact health during older adulthood, particularly in non-Western populations. She has previously examined the relationship between physical activity patterns and physical function during aging in groups of pastoralists and foragers in East Africa. Now, she works with the Tsimané Health and Life History Project, and focuses on how social relationships and communities impact both physical and cognitive health outcomes for older Tsimané women and men in Bolivia. She earned her BA in Anthropology and French at the University of Texas at Austin, her MS in Anthropology at the University of Arizona, and her PhD in Integrative and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Southern California.