Applied Anthropologist Profile: Dr. Himani Nautiyal, Award Winning Biological Anthropologist

 

Dr. Himani Nautiyal (Source: National Geographic)

Life is a series of experiences that shapes who we become and who we are.  This is an adapt description for Dr. Himani Nautiyal, whose experiences growing up in a small village in the Indian Himalayan Mountains inspired her to pursue her studies in career in evolutionary biology and biological anthropology. She was keenly aware of the sensitive relationship between herself, the people in her village, and the natural environment they existed within. Respect for nature was necessary to ensure the survival of all within that habitat, and it is that very recognition that pushes her forward in her research and public outreach activities.

 

Dr. Nautiyal earned her bachelor’s in forestry at the Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, followed by her Master’s in Wildlife Biology at Bharathisdasan University-Tiruchirappalli.  She pivoted from a strictly hard science degree program to a more social science degree program with her doctoral work, which she completed at the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University in Japan.  It was here she opted to study the Himalayan langurs in her homeland of India.  She was familiar with the environment and had a network of people she could rely on, but she was also ready for the challenge of studying one of the world's “shyest” primate species.  This refers to the difficulties in observing these primates as they are keen on running away and avoiding observation by humans.  These were not her only challenges, though.  The territories these primates reside in are often remote, meaning far from human settlements, as well as difficult to access due to the types of terrain in the area. 

 

She reveled in these challenges as they only affirmed her desire to study the intersections between humans and nature, more specifically the evolutionary relationships between humans and nature.  Her research has grown significantly since she completed her doctoral research as she utilizes biological and cultural anthropological methods to study the people and the landscapes of the Himalayan Mountains they reside in to better understand the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss.

 

In 2014 she established the Himalayan Langur Project. The goal of this project is to integrate research and community engagement to foster and promote beneficial relationships between humans and the natural world of the Indian Himalayas.  There is specific emphasis on the study of Himalayan langur populations, coupled with working alongside human residential populations in identifying and implementing appropriate conservation efforts that mutually benefit both langurs and humans. She has also sponsored a number of students, from both India and abroad, on this project as interns.  They work alongside her in biological and cultural anthropological research, focusing on the study of the langur or the conservation efforts with local populations.

 

Her efforts continue beyond her research. She recognizes the need to communicate with people around the world about the impacts of her research, which are not just applicable to the Indian subcontinent.  The impacts of climate change on biodiversity and human populations are worldwide concerns, meaning it is one that everyone should be concerned with.  To fulfill this goal she engages in a variety of public outreach activities, including but not limited the creation of a documentary film, Traditions in Balance; public lectures; YouTube videos; websites; and more.  She has received numerous awards and recognitions for these efforts, the most recent of which was the American Association of Biological Anthropologists and the Leakey Foundation Communication & Outreach Award in Honor of Camilla Smith.  She also previously received the Conservationist of the Year Award by We Naturalists. Her documentary film has also received numerous recognitions and awards over the past couple of years. 

 

In totality, Dr. Himani Nautiyal demonstrates the drive for success that has enabled her to be an effective researcher and communicator of science. Her passion for conservation has aided various people both in Indian and abroad learn more about the natural environments they reside in, their impact on those environments, and how they can make positive changes to improve their living situations.  She is an inspiration to many, and she will continue to do so as she continues on in her career.

 

References

Himalayan Langur Project. (2026, June 8). Himalayan Langur Project. Retrieved from Himalayan Langur Project: https://himalayanlangur.com/#home

National Geographic. (2026, June 8). Himani Nautiyal, National Geographic Explorer. Retrieved from National Geographic Explorers: https://explorers.nationalgeographic.org/directory/himani-nautiyal

Nautiyal, H. (2026, June 8). FIELD Experience: Dr Himani Nautiyal . Retrieved from FIELD PERSPECTIVES: http://fieldperspectives.org/HimaniNautiyal.html

Nautiyal, H. (2026, June 8). Introduction. Retrieved from Himani Nautiyal: Primatologist and Evolutionary Biologist: https://www.himaninautiyal.com/introduction.html

Applied Anthropologist Profile: Dr. Kaniqua L. Robinson, Research and Applied Cultural Anthropologist of Public Memory, Criminal Justice Reform, and Deathways

 

Dr. Kaniqua Robinson

 

When one thinks of a tragic event, particularly one that leads to the loss of life, one considers who may be involved in the investigative process.  From an anthropological standpoint that is most often forensic archaeologists and anthropologists, who are responsible for exhuming the deceased and then identifying who they were and how they died.  These specialists play an important role in these investigations, but there is a need for a different type of anthropologist: the cultural anthropologist.  Cultural anthropologists often work with the living victims of such tragedies, specifically survivors and victims’ families, to understand the circumstances of what happened and how best to resolve the trauma and grief that comes from such tragic circumstances.  This is a responsibility that applied cultural anthropologist, Dr. Kaniqua L. Robinson, takes very seriously.

 

Dr. Robinson earned her Bachelor’s of Arts degree in English from Georgia State University, followed by her Master of Arts in Anthropology from the same institution.  She earned her Ph.D. in Applied Anthropology from the University of South Florida (USF) in 2018.  It was here where she joined a select group of USF faculty and students in a project to investigate the locations of missing children buried at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, a reform school in Florida.  The project, named the Boot Hill Burial Grounds Project, resulted in the identification and exhumation of 55 burials of young boys who died during their tenure at the school.  It also forced individuals associated with the school, including staff, juveniles at the school, and neighboring residents, to confront the realities of the tragedies that took place there.  This required the careful work of cultural anthropologists, and as a doctoral student Dr. Robinson fulfilled this role.  Working as a Research Assistant on the project she learned about what happened from various individuals’ perspectives.  You took this information and turned it into her doctoral research, which focused on the role of religion in the creation of public memory.  She addressed how religion worked as a means of reconciling these events. 

 

Her work also touched on several other topics, including inequalities in the criminal justice system, particularly against minority youths, and the need for reforms.  Dr. Robinson has published several articles and book chapters on this subject matter, as well as provides several public lectures on these topics.  By doing this she is taking the scholarly and applied approaches in ensuring that people understand what happened at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, its impacts on the victims and their families, and how to not allow these tragedies to continue.

 

In addition to this work she is currently an Associate Professor in Anthropology at Furman University.  She has also served as an officer on various boards and organizations.  She is listed as the VP of Communications for the Association for Black Anthropologists and the Research Consultant & Memorialization Specialist for the Black Cemetery Network.  In these roles she applies what she has learned concerning racial injustice and works to minimize and eliminate those barriers and issues, further demonstrating how anthropology is not just an academic endeavor but one that can be used to solve real problems.

 

Works Cited

Association of Black Anthropologists. "ABA Executive Board." 26 May 2022. Association of Black Anthropologists. Electronic. 14 May 2026.

Furman University. "Kaniqua Robinson, Associate Professor, Anthropology." n.d. Furman University. Electronic. 14 May 2026.

Robinson, Kaniqua L. The Performance of Memorialization: Politics of Memory and Memory-Making at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. Dissertation. Tampa: University of South Florida, 2018. Print.

The Black Cemetery Network. "Our Team." 2021. The Black Cemetery Network. Electronic. 14 May 2026.

The Use of Archaeological Methods in Animal Conservation and Preservation

Figure 1:  Huemels are a critically endangered camelid species found in South America (Source: Barberena et al., 2011)

A hot topic that has been popular over many decades has been environmental conservation and preservation.  There are countless governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and individuals who are concerned with many different aspects of global environmental changes.  This includes concerns about the extinction of various plant and animal species, global warming, or other issues concerning our natural environments.  Researchers in the fields of natural resource management, biology, environmental sciences, and other hard sciences have dedicated a great deal of time, energy, and resources to understanding these issues and seeking resolutions to them.  One area of research that has received little attention in helping holistically understand and resolve these issues is archaeology.  Today’s blog post will address how archaeological research can be and is used to address issues concerning environmental protection, specifically animal conservation and preservation.

 

Environmental archaeologists have been addressing the issue of how their work can and should be used for environmental preservation for decades.  There have been some miscommunications in how specifically this can be done in a realistic manner, though.  Several environmental archaeologists have promoted ideas concerning returning to Indigenous means of working the land, which proved to be environmentally sustainable in the past.  While this is true it is not necessarily feasible due to the contemporary manipulation and changes to the lands that were previously worked through Indigenous methods.  This had led to pivoting directions and messaging. 

 

Presently, archaeologists argue that their work still matters but in different ways.  First, archaeological data can be used to understand the historical relationships between humans and their environments.  By having this understanding one can better assess the role humans have played in manipulating those environments, identifying how specific plant and animal species have changed or gone extinct due to human actions.  Another important consideration is using archaeological data to evaluate past environments, which provides a survey of what past environments exists and with which specific plant and animal species existed within them.  Lastly, there is the potential for using archaeological data to pinpoint when specific plant or animal species were introduced by human into an environment, thereby understanding which animals were natural versus invasive to the environment.  This point of information is already documented in the historical record, such as knowing when European songbirds, such as the sparrow, were released throughout North America and devastated indigenous song bird populations.  An archaeological survey of these data provides are greater temporal range, particularly if and where the historical data is lacking or nonexistent.

 

Several studies have already utilized archaeological data to provides insights into past environments, particularly for critically endangered animal species.  One study on Huemuls (Figure 1), a camelid species indigenous to the Chilean and Argentinian Andes, utilized isotopic analyses to understand the diets of zooarchaeological samples of these species.  This information provided insights into the specialized diets of these species, which can inform contemporary conservationists on the best practices for replenishing these species.  This enables them to reintroduce them into areas where they will be best able to not only survive but thrive as they have plenty of food resources to proliferate across their new home ranges. 

 

A second study on Asiatic cheetah species has great potential for preserving these species, of which there are less than 70 left in the wild.  Morphological, genetic, and radiometric analyses of seven mummified cheetahs and over 50 skeletonized samples have provided insights into the number and home range for these cheetahs.  The researchers determined that hybridization between African and Asiatic cheetah species was quite common in the past, as well as additional useful information that could be used by conservationists as they explore options for rewilding this cheetah species.

 

Ultimately, there is great potential in the use of archaeological data to better inform conservation efforts.  While this blog post focused on two case studies focused on animal species there are several other studies that showcase the use of these methods in floral (plant) and other species, including insects, bacteria, and more.  By using multiple lines of evidence and interdisciplinary studies a better understanding of conservation problems can be attained, leading to informed and potentially more viable solutions.

 

References Cited

Barberena, R., Méndez, C., Mena, F., & Reyes, O. (2011). Endangered species, archaeology, and stable isotopes: huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) isotopic ecology in central-western Patagonia (South America). Journal of Archaeological Science, 38(9), 2313-2323.

 

Boug, A.A., Mir, Z.R., Jbour, S. et al. Mummified cave cheetahs inform rewilding actions in Saudi Arabia. Commun Earth Environ 7, 24 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-03021-6

 

Shriver-Rice, M., Schneider, M. J., & Pardo, C. (2022). Charismatic megafauna, regional identity, and invasive species: what role does environmental archaeology play in contemporary conservation efforts?. World Archaeology, 54(3), 429-446.

Anthropologist Profile: Ella Cara Deloria, Educator, Ethnographer, and Linguistic Anthropologist

 

Ella Cara Deloria

Not every scholar or researcher comes from a privileged background and has an easy time pursuing their studies or career.  These individuals often face unseen challenges that make it difficult to be as successful as others, which makes their accomplishments all the more special and important.  Today’s blog post will address the achievements of Ella Cara Deloria, a Dakota educator and scholar, who faced several serious hardships but is considered one of the most successful anthropological scholars to date.

 

Ella Cara Deloria was born on January 31, 1889 to a Euro-American mother and a Yankton Sioux father, who was also an Episcopal priest. Her paternal grandfather was a tribal leader.  She grew up with modest means, but her family instilled in her the importance of education and maintaining her Indigenous way of life.  She was taught both the Dakota and Lakota languages, maintaining fluency in both her entire life.  In 1910 she began her studies at Oberlin College, which she completed in 1913.  She immediately followed this up by earning her Bachelor’s of Science in Education at Columbia Teachers College, earning her degree in 1915. 

 

It was during her tenure at Columbia that she met Franz Boas, who is considered the father of modern anthropology.  She was impressed with the anthropological subject matter he was teaching his students, and he saw in Deloria an individual he could employ to help educate his students.  Given her interests in education Deloria jumped at the chance to teach Boas’s students Dakota and Lakota.  Upon graduating from Columbia she became a teacher.  She first taught language arts, followed by health education and later dance and physical education in various Indigenous school districts.  She was a celebrated educator, but she could not help but notice the challenges her students faced.  She documented these and advocated on behalf of her students, setting the foundations for what is today known as culturally relevant teaching practices.

 

In 1927 she reunited with Boas and began a 15 year career as an ethnographer and anthropological linguistics scholar.  These studies were first undertaken under the guidance of Boas but later by Ruth Benedict.  With Boas they studied American Indian languages and cultures, with Deloria serving as an instrumental cultural informant for Boas.  She also forayed into her own independent work.  She interviewed elders, composed several Indigenous language dictionaries and grammar books, and translated ceremonial texts.  This resulted in a series of publications, including “The Sun Dance of the Oglala Sioux,” in the Journal of American Folklore in 1929, the Dakota Texts (1932), Speaking of Indians (1944), and Waterlilly, which was published after her death in 1988.  Her book Dakota Way of Life won the 2023 Dwight L. Smith (ABC-CLIO) Award and a bronze medal for the 2023 Will Rogers Medallion Award, both of which were awarded posthumously.

 

In addition to her own research she was employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for two projects.  One involved studying and reporting on the socioeconomic challenges of the residents of the Navajo Nation Reservation.  Her work with the Navajo garners far more attention than her work with the Lumbee of North Carolina, which was also commissioned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  For this project she was commissioned to write a pageant that chronicled the Lumbee’s successes over their history.  The purpose of this pageant was to combat the racial and ethnic prejudices the Lumbee faced by the neighboring White population.  Deloria knew nothing about the Lumbee, but she did not let that stop her from completing the work.  She started by reviewing the published literature on the Lumbee, which she quickly realized was largely incomplete and negatively biased.  She drew upon ethnographic methods, including participant observation and interviews, to learn more about the Lumbee.  This concluded in the composition of a pageant that highlighted the Lumbee’s cultural values, beliefs, and traditions.  The pageant employed only Lumbee actors and was a huge success.  The two day run was consistently sold out and drew audiences from across the United States who came to North Carolina to see the show.  The Lumbee were so impressed with her work that they requested she return the next year to help them put the play on again.  She did so without pay and while pausing her own research on the Dakota.

 

It is important to state that despite Deloria’s academic successes she found very little financial support or success. She was financially supported by her brother and father during the early parts of her career, but during the Great Depression she became the sole financial support for her family.  She had so little money that she lived out of her car for several years.  Despite this she continued to work and advocate tirelessly for American Indians, both in education and anthropological studies until her death in 1971. 

 

Her work in language preservation has set the foundational standards for how that work continues to this day.  As well, her advocacy in education and American Indian history and culture also set the standards for how those activities should be completed today.  Deloria was a trailblazer within the field of anthropology and a cherished advocate for American Indians.

 

Works Cited

Aktá Lakota Museum. "Ella Cara Deloria." 2026. Aktá Lakota Museum & Cultural Center. Electronic. 13 May 2026.

Bakken, Gordon Morris. "Ella Cara Deloria." n.d. Brittanica . Electronic. 13 May 2026.

Gardner, Sherri. "Meet the TC Alum Who Set the Standard for Indigenous Cultural Preservation." 25 June 2025. Teachers College, Columbia University. Electronic. 13 May 2026.

Locklear, Jessica. "“The Life Story of a People:” Ella Cara Deloria and the Lumbee ." 17 March 2025. The American Philosophical Society. Electronic. 13 May 2026.

The Dead Do Tell Tales: New Insights into the Abandonment of Neolithic Megalithic Tombs

 

Figure 1: Megalithic tomb known as Newgrange (Ireland) (Source: MNStudio/Shutterstock)

   

 

Throughout the European continent are large semi-subterranean tombs that were constructed by Neolithic populations between 4300–3100 BC.  These tombs are clustered in highest incidence in France, Germany, Denmark, and southern Scandinavia, but they are found elsewhere, including a very well known one in Ireland (Figure 1).  These tombs required a great deal of human labor to construct.  First, there was the removal of tons of dirt, followed by the movement and placement of large stone slabs to construct the tomb itself.  These tombs were used by Neolithic farmers until around 2900 BC, and their abandonment has puzzled archaeologists for decades. 

 

While various hypotheses derived from the archaeological data have been put forward it is a recent archaeogenetic study that seems to have provided some insights into what may have caused the cultural shifts that led to changing attitudes or trends with the use of the megalithic tombs.  It appears that there was a demographic shift in the populations that occupied Europe.  Genetic analyses of individuals interred in tombs in France, Scandinavia, and other locations demonstrated a distinct difference in populations placed in the tombs early in their use versus the populations interred much later.  These populations were identified as separate based on their locations within the tombs, as well as their mortuary treatment.  Each had distinctively different body positioning, which suggested some sort of cultural shift.  When these two groups’ genetics were tested scholars realized they were genetically different.  The individuals interred earlier in the tombs were Europeans, whereas the groups interred later came from the Eurasian Steppes (i.e., Hungary and the Middle East).  This demonstrates that there was a demographic shift in the population with populations from the south and Middle East replacing the European populations.

 

It is unclear what specifically led to this demographic shift.  The scholars who conducted the genetic analyses did note that they found bacterial signatures for the bacterium responsible for the Plague, but it is unclear if disease was the sole reason for the great loss of life among Neolithic European populations.  Demographic profiles of the Neolithic Europeans last interred in the tombs demonstrated a large proportion of infants and juveniles, suggestive of disease being a factor in their deaths.  Their deaths could have also easily been caused by famine or warfare, however.  It is likely that there was multiple causes for the massive loss of life among European Neolithic farmers, leading bioarchaeologists to future avenues of research to discover if this is the case.

 

References

Seersholm, F.V., Ramsøe, A., Cao, J. et al. Population discontinuity in the Paris Basin linked to evidence of the Neolithic decline. Nat Ecol Evol 10, 677–688 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-026-03027-z 

Taub, B. (2026, April 10). Neolithic Europeans Suddenly Stopped Building Megalithic Tombs 5,000 Years Ago - And Now We Know Why. IFLScience, p. 1.