Cara Ocobock

NSF - U.S. National Science Foundation NSF's mission is to advance the progress of science, a mission accomplished by funding proposals for research and education made by scientists, engineers, and educators from across the country.

The solicitations for this program were recently archived as we work to improve how we support the SBE research community. Future solicitations to support early career talent development will appear on nsf.gov and grant.gov.” 3/3

Here is the standard language they are using in response to inquiries:
"Thank you for your interest in the directorate for Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant program. 2/3

All NSF SBE DDRIG solicitations have been archived and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Grants currently submitted will be processed, but as always, chances of funding remain very low. This means anyone aiming for the upcoming deadline will not be able to submit. 1/3

This is great! Thanks for sharing and for the shoutout.

Miss you!

ICYMI Notre Dame Anthropology will be hiring a post-doc for 2026-2028. This is part of a university-wide initiative to support early career scholars. Deadline is Oct. 31...sorry for late notice.

apply.interfolio.com/171503

A skeleton/mummy sitting on a wooden bench on a porch. The skeleton/mummy is petting a skeleton cat with one hand, and is holding a Long Drink can in the other.

Me in Halloween form.

Thank you for the kind words!

A woman's place was not in the home: Challenging the assumptions about women's work in early modern history New research has revealed that women played a fundamental role in the development of England's national economy before 1700.

“More than half of the work done by women in the period between the 16th and 18th centuries took place outside of the home, and around half of all housework and three-quarters of care work was conducted professionally for other households” [England]

phys.org/news/2025-10...

Jane Goodall, Trailblazing Primatologist and Chimpanzee Conservationist, Has Died The anthropologist was famous for her pioneering research with chimpanzees and her influence on conservation

The anthropologist was famous for her pioneering research with chimpanzees and her influence on conservation

Neandertal Cold Adaptation: Technological, Anatomical, and Physiological Responses to Cold Stress in One of Our Closest Fossil Relatives Neandertals occupied western Eurasia for over 100 000 years, repeatedly enduring climates that ranged from seasonally cold to glacial. This paper reexamines the question of Neandertal cold adaptation...

New paper out! This was a fun collaboration with Dr. Trent Holliday, Libby Cowgill, and Scott Maddux to work up a broad review on Neanderthal cold adaptations ranging from technological to physiological. This is a good one for teaching.

We referred to our collaboration as the "Coldies but Goodies"

YouTube video by Human Biology Association Student webinar Series: Publishing for Students with Dr. Christopher Bae

📢The Student Webinar Series is back!
Join Courtney Callidora Manthey and Madison Honig as they kick off the season with Dr. Christopher Bae (University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa) for a conversation on publishing as a grad student.
Don’t miss this great start to the series!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHmE...

SoS 250: Jake Aronoff's incredible journey into aging (of immune cells) Jake Aronoff is a human biologist studying immune function and aging from an evolutionary and ecological perspective. During his PhD, he studied how stress and social inequality impacts inflammation a

🎙️ New Episode Alert!

This week we sit down with Jake Aronoff, a human biologist exploring the intersections of immune function, aging, and inequality.

soundcloud.com/sausageofsci...

🎙️ New Sausage of Science Episode!
Meet Leela McKinnon, PhD Candidate in Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Toronto. Her research explores sleep health in Indigenous Wixárika communities in Jalisco, Mexico—focusing on how rural-to-urban migration impacts sleep and circadian rhythms.

HBA is recruiting a Junior Service Fellow (Assistant Producer) for “The Sausage of Science.”
🗣️ Bilingual EN/ES required
🕒 ~6 hrs/mo | 🎧 Edit + schedule + show notes + social
💸 $750 HBA travel grant
Training provided.
Apply: email interest + CV + adviser letter to cocobock@nd.edu

Doing well and keeping busy. I was on sabbatical all this last year, spending most of my time collecting data in Finland. I’m back in the classroom this fall.

Also, I still share the interview you did with Father Terry with all my BioAnth students. Thank you for creating that amazing resource!

Just so gross. I am the one with a salary! I feed my students at meetings.

Oh my goodness! That was my first semester at ND! How are you???

That person is a jerk.

Great! And we don’t intend for those templates to be definitive, just a starting point for people to modify to best suit their needs.

Hi, I coauthored a paper on mentorship and part of it included templates for just this thing. Here is a link where I summarize what we talk about and provide those templates at the bottom. If this doesn’t work, reach out and I can email everything. sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock...

New publication out on the relationship between resting metabolism and thyroid hormones among reindeer herders and office workers in northern Finland. Female reindeer herders have, again, stood out compared to the other groups.

Read more here: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock...

Written by me and Libby Cowgill

Ode to the Toad

Just hopping towards the pond to relax

Unfortunate victims of untimely attacks

Many will become tasty snacks

Or worse, flattened into tire tracks

By humans whose awareness is lax

For these r-selected friends, this is merely nature's tax

I fear these are the unfortunate facts

A squirrel is trying to cool down in the Midwest heat wave by splooting on a wood bannister

It’s too hot today.

This Friday, our love story and comedy begins! Join us at 602 E Mishawaka Ave for a timeless tale like no other. Make your plans to see “Galatea,” this weekend and next weekend only.
Get tickets at amptheatrecompany.org/current-season
📷 by Miranda Manier

#michiana #mishawaka #michianatheatre

Forest encounters in Ivalo, Finland.