July 14, 2017
UTM Anthropology is very pleased to welcome Dr. David Samson as Assistant Professor, Biological Anthropology.
He arrives from Duke University where he was a Post-Doctoral Associate and senior research scientist. His Ph.D. from Indiana University was awarded in 2013. Given that his PhD was awarded only a few years ago, Dr. Samson’s established research productivity and creativity in pursuing this topic is phenomenal, with eleven first or sole-authored articles in peer-reviewed journals, and two co-authored articles. He also has five first-authored and one co-authored publications in review, all in major journals such as AJPA, American Journal of Human Biology, American Journal of Primatology, Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health and Evolutionary Anthropology. He produced three of these articles and developed others while teaching a heavy 4-4 course load at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, with teaching accolades from both students and fellow faculty. He is a member of Sigma XI: The Scientific Research Society and the recipient of several fellowships.
Dr. Samson is seen as an exceptional and energetic interdisciplinary scholar using broad, sophisticated research strategies to investigate major behavioural and physiological transitions in human evolution, with results that have significant implications for modern human medical, occupational and life-style issues. Dr. Samson will bring a strong teaching and research program for both evolutionary anthropology and primatology to UTM, launching us in completely new directions while complementing existing faculty. For Anthropology as a whole, he will provide new interactions with our strong health and medical anthropology programs at both the undergraduate and graduate level, as well as offering interactions with cognitive and developmental research in psychology and biology.