Applied Evolutionary Anthropology Lab

Our team spans the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) in the USA, and both 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 junior researchers at NIMR and students at UCSB. If you are interested in joining our team, please see the opportunities page.

David W Lawson

Professor of Anthropology, UCSB.

David is the Director of the Applied Evolutionary Anthropology Lab. For more information see here and here.

Alex Ishungisa

Research Fellow, MUHAS.

Alex is interested in sexual and reproductive health, masculinities, health systems and policy. 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

PhD candidate, UCSB.

Joseph is interested in gender equality and the role of social norms and sanctions in behavior change. He has co-led multiple mixed-methods field projects in Mwanza since 2019.

Estelle Brulhart

Co-founder, Ma Balle Ta Balle.

Estelle has provided logistical support for many of our projects in Mwanza. We now are developing new research together on the impact of sport on adolescent resilience.

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.