2003 Major: Biological Anthropology & Anatomy (now Evolutionary Anthropology) and English; minor in Cultural Anthropology; certificate in Primatology; 2008 Ph.D., Biological Anthropology & Anatomy
"The professors that I interacted with on a daily basis were among the leaders in all of their respective subdisciplines. It was truly remarkable that the people featured in every textbook knew me by name and engaged with me intellectually. I am now a passionate teacher and researcher and that passion was fostered in this department."
"I would give current EA students the same advice that I was given when I was a student in the Department: remember that, as a student you have only two objectives: 1) get a degree and 2) build your CV for whatever comes next. This is not to say that students shouldn't have a social life or tent for basketball tickets (which I did both as an undergraduate and graduate student!), but that it is important to remember that time spent having all of the fun available at Duke is sometimes time spent not moving toward your goals. As a university Professor, the hardest thing that I do is pay attention to my work/life balance. I wish that I had thought about that more when I was a student too, as this mantra (get a degree, get a CV and realize that all of the other fun and important stuff shouldn't derail those objectives) was the real secret to getting through school and having great opportunities on the way out. Since graduating from Duke, I would advise current Duke students of one more important thing: jump the wall! Duke is a special magical place that we should all be proud of, but it is remarkably different from the real world which exists just off campus. The precious intensity that makes your education so special also means that you are missing the vast majority of society that you may be unprepared to join. Try to be part of solutions to bigger problems than those that exist within those walls."
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology