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| Dr. Tina Lasisi (Source: www.tinalasisi.com) |
Today’s blog post features a research anthropologist whose work has applied anthropological applications. Dr. Tina Lasisi’s research on the evolution of human hair has sought to untangle some mysteries and biases concerning the biological diversity and variability present in hair. Today’s blog post will discuss Dr. Lasisi’s journey to studying human hair, the impact of her research in the academy, how she is communicating those results to the non-scholarly community, and where she is going from here.
Dr. Tina Lasisi became interested in understanding hair while she was taking an introductory biological anthropology course at Cambridge University. It was during the lecture that discussed human skin color variability as the result of biological adaptations to sun exposure that she began to understand more about how and why she and those around her looked different. While that answered one of curiosities it led her to wonder about a topic that was not discussed in class: hair. If skin color existed on a spectrum and was the result of biological adaptations could the same concept be applied to hair? She asked her course instructor and other anthropology faculty and researchers, but no one had an answer for her. All they could say was that she brought up and interesting research question, one that she should pursue if she wanted to learn more.
And pursue is exactly what she did.
She graduated from Cambridge University and pursued her graduate work under the supervision of Dr. Nina Jablonski, a biological anthropologist who has dedicated much of her research to understanding skin color variation. Dr. Jablonski was just one member of a team of interdisciplinary researchers who worked with Lasisi on her research on human hair variability. Her initial research found very little study on the topic, and what had been done was mired in racial prejudices and stereotypes. The reason there was so little study on this topic was the fear among scholars of promoting the prejudices that had formed the initial literature on these topics, but Lasisi was dedicated to her research and believed that there was an ethical, responsible, and scientifically appropriate means of completing her work. She found and built off a study by Harvard anthropologist, Daniel Hrdy, who had initially classified hair types by curl structure. From there she pioneered new ways of scientifically understanding hair morphology, followed by undertaking her study concerning how and why hair variability exists. For this she worked alongside anthropologists, thermal engineers, and physiologists, who conducted a series of experiments to determine how various hair types aided in heat regulation. Ultimately, she discovered that the curlier the hair the better able it was at keeping the head, and ultimately body, cool, while the flatter the hair the better adapted it was at keeping the head and body warm.
Lasisi continues her research on human hair, ancestry, and race as she is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Southern California. She has identified new areas of research that should be pursued, particularly related to hair health. She hopes that her previous research will be used in medical studies, such as in better understanding how hair type may or may not contribute to hair loss. She will be leaving her post-doctoral fellowship this year as she begins her Assistant Professor position at the University of Michigan in the fall semester.
Outside of her academic work she is also a dedicated science communicator. According to her website she states: “My mission is to break that narrative by empowering people to curious about (rather than afraid of) the fascinating nature of human biological diversity.” To this end she has been involved in a PBS program that seeks to educate viewers about human biological diversity. She has also created various videos and content concerning her research and race and ancestry that she has disseminated on various social media platforms. She is regularly interviewed by various news outlets and science organizations. She is definitely not shy about getting her message out there, which is a blessing since topics related to race remain contemporary issues that must be appropriately addressed to remove prejudicial biases and empower people to be happy with who they are, skin, hair, and all.
References
Abell, A. (2022, September 29). Tina Lasisi wants to untangle the evolution of human hair. ScienceNews.
Kwong, E., & Ramirez, R. (2022, February 14). How to Talk About Hair Like a Scientist. NPR.
Lasisi, T. (2022). Retrieved from TinaLasisi.com: https://www.tinalasisi.com/
Seo, H. (2022, March 9). Untangling Race From Hair. Retrieved from Sapiens: https://www.sapiens.org/biology/hair-race-evolution/
5 comments:
Firstly, this was beautifully written. This blog post captivated me because it was surprisingly about hair, one of my passions. Dr. Lasisi is truly an inspiration. She is courageous for seeking the answers to hair variability, despite not having much research to build upon. Her findings about the correlation between hair structure and heat regulation make sense geographically. Lastly, this post has shown me how anthropology can be integrated into studying topics that interest me.
Reading this article has brought my attention to the uniqueness of hair because hair comes in all types of texture. Now, I originally thought hair was defined by the genetics of ones ancestors and where they may have originate from because it was explained to me that way from my elders and it also just made sense, but I never thought to look for further knowledge on the topic. I admire Dr. Lasisi for doing what no one admired to do and study this topic to get a real answer of how and why hair textures are so differently defined.
Deona Mckinley
This was an interesting post to me because I was like Deona in her comment above. I originally thought curls had to do with genetics as well but to learn it's not is so interesting. It is cool to know that it has to do with heat regulation and I also applaud her for doing the research and experiments to figure out so considering no one else was willing to look into it further.
- Keira Robinson
As a Naturalists that only wears my hair in its natural curly state or protective styles that will not ruin my curl pattern I truly enjoyed this blog!!I actually learned something that can benefit me. As stated I am a naturalists with a curl pattern texture of 3B meaning my hair is really curly. After Reading this blog I now know that since my hair is very curly it actually keeps my body temperature fairly cool. Great Blog.
Jasmine Hill
Dr. Tina Lasisi’s journey to unravel the mysteries of human hair diversity is truly fascinating. Her curiosity and determination to pursue a research question that was largely unexplored is commendable.
Ahmesha Johnson
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