Applied Evolutionary Anthropology Lab
We are based at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), the National Institute for Medical Research, Mwanza Centre (NIMR) and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) in Tanzania. Along with the main team members pictured below, we regularly work with other researchers at NIMR and students at UCSB. If you are interested in joining our team, please see the opportunities page.
Alex Ishungisa
Research Fellow, MUHAS.
Alex is interested in sexual and reproductive health and masculinities. He has led several of our studies on the social learning of gender roles.
Dunstan Matungwa
Research Officer, NIMR.
Dunstan is broadly interested in health science and research ethics. He leads the Social and Behavioral Science Research section of the Magu Health and Demographic Surveillance System.
Joseph Kilgallen
Research Fellow, Movember.
Joseph completed his PhD in 2025 working on gender norms in Tanzania. We are now collaborating together to understand the role of social norms in men’s health seeking behavior.
Sophia Alonzo
MA/PhD student, UCSB.
Sophia is interested in adolescence and girlhood, life history strategies, kinship and social support, gendered relationships, and global health from an evolutionary perspective.
Alumni
Lotty Brand
Lotty was a postdoctoral scholar in 2022-24, working on the social learning of gender roles.
Zhian Chen
Zhian completed his MA in 2023. His research focuses on social learning and parental care strategies.
Jitihada Baraka
Jitihada joined as a research affiliate in 2022-23, working on early marriage.
Susan Schaffnit
Susan was a postdoctoral scholar in our lab from 2017-21, researching early marriage.
Anushé Hassan
Anushé completed her PhD in 2021. Her thesis addressed alloparenting and child health.
Sophie Hedges
Sophie completed her PhD in 2019. Her work addressed trade-offs between children’s work and education.