Professor
Contact Phone:
(805) 893-2202
Office Location:
HSSB 2060
Website:
Specialization:
Integrative Anthropological Sciences (behavioral ecology, evolutionary medicine, human biology, biodemography, hunter-gatherers and horticulturalists, life history theory, indigenous health; Bolivia, Paraguay)
Education:
PhD, University of New Mexico (2000)
Research:
Research Interests
Professor Gurven's research links the evolved life history of humans with high levels of intragroup cooperation. He has conducted fieldwork for two decades with South American indigenous populations, and his work takes an evolutionary perspective on behavior, health, physiology and psychology. Since 2002, Gurven has co-directed the Tsimane’ Health and Life History Project to better understand how aspects of environment and lifestyle affect health and lifespan in subsistence-level societies. His research applies an evolutionary lens to help inform our understanding of today’s complex diseases. His current research in biodemography and health disparities helps understand environmental and social impacts on growth, development and aging across the lifespan. He also focuses on how acculturation and market integration have impacted demographic and social patterns, and chronic disease risk (e.g. heart disease, diabetes, dementia) among indigenous populations.
Projects:
Publications:
Sample Publications
- Gurven, M., Stieglitz, J., Trumble, B., Blackwell, A.D., Beheim, B., Davis, H., Hooper, P., Kaplan, H. 2017. The Tsimane Health and Life History Project: Integrating anthropology and biomedicine. Evolutionary Anthropology 26:54-73.
- Gurven, M., Trumble, B.C.†, Stieglitz, J., Blackwell, A.D., Michalik, D.E., Finch, C.E., Kaplan, H. 2016. Cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in evolutionary perspective: a critical role for helminths? Evolution, Medicine & Public Health 338-357.
- Gurven, M., Costa, M.*, Trumble, B.†, Stieglitz, J., Beheim, B.†, Eid Rodriguez, D., Hooper, P.L., Kaplan, H. 2016. Costs of reproduction and maternal depletion in a high fertility and mortality population. Nature Scientific Reports 6:30056.
- Gurven, M., Blackwell, A., Eid Rodriguez, D., Stieglitz J., Kaplan, H. 2012. Does blood pressure inevitably rise with age? Longitudinal evidence among isolated forager-horticulturalists. Hypertension 60:25-33.
- Gurven, M., Stieglitz, J., Hooper, P., Gomes, C., Kaplan, H. 2012. From the womb to the tomb: the role of transfers in shaping the evolved human life history. Experimental Gerontology 47:807-813.
- Gurven, M., Hill, K. 2009. Why do men hunt? A re-evaluation of "Man the Hunter" and the sexual division of labor. Current Anthropology 50(1):51-74.
- Gurven, M. 2006. The evolution of contingent cooperation.Current Anthropology 47(1):185-192.
- Gurven, M., Walker, R. 2006. Energetic demand of multiple dependents and the evolution of slow human growth. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 273:835-841.