UNCG Human Diversity Lab

I’m going back to in-class essay writing format for assessment (handwritten notes and annotated articles allowed for reference). This in combination with oral presentations, class discussion of readings, and other analogue-style activities.

So many concerning trends covered in this thread about why some Science Direct sites are no longer credible.

Great time last night listening to Isaac Kotler at the Continental Club in Greensboro

Same here. Turned out to be broken. Take care.

Ciao, Italy! Nous voyageons à Paris!

Students in the Evolutionary Medicine and Paleopathology Study Abroad course arrived in Venice last night. We had a nice dinner together and a little tour of some of the 118 islands that make up Venice.

Thank you to Valentina Giuffra, Giulia Rincommi, and Antonio Fornaciari for inviting me to give a keynote address at the Human-Environment Interactions during the Late Antique little Ice Age Congress. They organized a fantastic meeting at the University of Pisa and it was my pleasure to attend.

Conference poster. Meeting is entitled, “human-environment interactions during LILIA: exploring biochemical perspectives”

Giving a keynote at this conference in Pisa tomorrow. Really looking forward to hearing from these colleagues about their research and sharing my perspective on climate change and paleopathology.

Picture of a book entitled “Apocalypse: How catastrophe transformed our world and can forge new futures.” Written by Lizzie Wade, cover is off-white, with a tear down the center of the cover revealing a bright red streak.

A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read Book of May 2025 • A Publishers Weekly Most Anticipated History Book of the Year • A The Millions Most Anticipated Spring Book of the Year "Lizzie Wade is an exceptional journalist and a master storyteller. She reminds us that survival always has been, and still is, possible, and that our world always has been, and still is, a choice." –Ed Yong, author of An Immense World “This book upended my understanding of the ancient world. Wade renders our deep past in vivid prose, showing us that times of great rupture also bring great possibilities for new ways of living, if we let them. Apocalypse is the best kind of history book: vibrant and vital.” —Zoë Schlanger, author of The Light Eaters

Lizzie Wade (writer for @aaas.org Science Magazine) just sent me a copy of her new book, which features some of my research on the Indus civilization. I am saving it for the plane trip to Italy next week but I’m so excited to read it!

Bronze Age leprosy hitched rides along ancient copper and pottery trade route 4000-year-old scarred jaws in Oman hub mark oldest cases outside South Asia

Our work on Bronze Age leprosy in Oman is featured in this article in Science Magazine this week. Best part? Two high school students did the scanning with me—learned to identify signs of the disease, use the micro CT, and the software to reconstruct the data. They’re at Chapel Hill Biology now!

First graduate student graduation from the Robbins Schug Human Diversity Lab at UNCG! Congratulations Darius Thompson!!!!

Measles virus and rinderpest virus divergence dated to the sixth century BCE Measles virus diverged from rinderpest virus in the sixth century BCE, indicating an early origin for human measles.

Measles likely came from cows (via rinderpest) around the 6th century BCE.

For 2,500 years, we didn’t evolve superhuman resistance—children just died. Real protection only came in the 1960s, with vaccines.

Our superpower isn’t evolving into superhumans. It’s outthinking pathogens.

Complete your passbook and receive a free t-shirt that you can tie dye, if you want. Grateful to all our faculty and student volunteers for making this event so special every year! More information here: linktr.ee/uncgsciencee...

Flier describing activities at UNCG science everywhere

It’s Science Everywhere at UNCG! Join 5000 people from all over North Carolina for an awesome free event celebrating science! We’ve got over 60 activities and lab tours, a robot building competition, a robot parade, the Native American Student Association Powwow, and food trucks on campus from 12-4.

NSF-Funded One paleopathology meeting in Durham, 2024

UNCG students in Venice, Italy for a study abroad course on Evolutionary Medicine and Paleopathology

UNCG students in the lab

#SustainableDevelopment #Bioarchaeology #Paleopathology #ClimateResilience #EquityInSTEM
#inclusiveeducation #ethics #ONEPaleopathology #PlanetaryHealth #ONEHealth #ClimateJustice #Grist50

2023 publication entitled Climate change, human health, and resilience in the Holocene

2024 publication entitled Past is present: climate adaptation, resilience, and malaria in the Holocene

2024 editorial entitled Ethical Guidelines and Policies of Bioarchaeology International

📚 **2 Years. 8 Publications. Global Impact.**
Our team has published groundbreaking research on:
✅ Human resilience in shifting climates
✅ Ethical frameworks for sustainable development
✅ Health, culture, and inequality in past societies

2025 publication entitled from one health to one paleopathology: deep time perspectives on health in the face of climate and environmental change

2025 publication entitled They are people too: the ethics of curation and use of human skeletal remains for teaching and research

2025 publication entitled Lepromatous leprosy in Bronze Age Oman: Micro CT provides tools for paleopathology in fragmentary commingled assemblages

2025 publication entitled Viewpoint: One Paleopathology and Lessons from the Past

The Human Diversity Lab @UNCG was founded in 2023 to explore how communities adapt to environmental change & to champion ethical, equitable solutions for sustainable development. Through bioarchaeology & paleopathology, we’re uncovering lessons from the past to inform a just and resilient tomorrow.

Paleoradiology uses CT scanning, digital radiography, and 3D imaging to non-invasively characterize the lives and the experience of health and disease for past people. This paper presents an analysis of micro-CT scans of leprosy in three archaeological maxillae from Dahwa, Oman (2500-2000 BCE) to…

In 2025, now more than ever, it is crucial to pause and reflect on our values and ethical principles as a discipline. Journal editors, professional associations, and academic institutions must work with descendant communities to decide on care for these individuals going forward.

As biological anthropologists, we have a responsibility to be transparent about the past while dedicating time, effort, and resources to rectify unjust and unethical practices and make reparations for these acts. Leaders of our institutions must take initiative to empower and support these efforts.

The history of anatomical sciences is fraught with racism. Our discipline was built on the bodies of people from communities that were intentionally marginalized for economic and political gain. The legacy of these actions continues to harm Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color today.

Aww thank you! Looking forward to interacting more.

Thanks for this pack! Not an archaeologist but I am working on paleopathology in human skeletal remains from Dahwa, Oman with Kim Williams and PhD student Sangeeta Mahajan. First paper should be coming soon! Sangeeta’s looking at Bronze Age population mobility and exchange using isotopic analysis.

💔

Not surprised but what a great analysis

Great piece! Thank you for being part of the special issue. It’s almost done!

a woman is riding a green bicycle on a sidewalk with palm trees in the background Alt: a woman is riding a green bicycle on the boardwalk at Venice Beach with palm trees in the background

GIF where you’re from