David Puts     Lisa Welling     Alex Hill     John Wheatley     Sara Carlson    

David is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology. He received his Bachelor’s degree in anthropology (with a minor in mathematics) from Kenyon College, and Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh, under Steven Gaulin and Michael Siegel. He received his postdoctoral training in neuroscience at Michigan State University in the laboratory of Marc Breedlove and Cindy Jordan. David is interested in how sex hormones affect our development, and why we evolved these developmental patterns. Outside of the lab, David is generally still thinking and talking about research. But when he’s not doing this, he likes outdoor activities, sports, games, good food, and especially being around friends and family. View CV

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Lisa is a postdoctoral researcher in the lab. Previously, Lisa completed an undergraduate degree with first-class honors in psychology at St Thomas University in Canada and was transferred into the PhD program after completing the requirements for a Masters degree in the psychology department at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. She completed her PhD, entitled Individual Differences in Face Preferences, in 2008 under the supervision of Dr. Ben Jones. Lisa is interested in how hormones affect different aspects of our behavior, including mate-choice, preferences, and attractiveness. Papers that Lisa had published while at Aberdeen can be found at the FaceLab publications page.

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A doctoral candidate in biological anthropology, Alex has spent the last two of his twenty-five years here at Penn State. His principal academic interests are evolutionary psychology and behavioral ecology, though in his copious free time he enjoys Stephen King novels and has been an Atlanta Braves fan since he was ten. He is a 2003 graduate of St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School in Sewanee, TN, and in 2007 graduated magna cum laude from the University of the South, where he majored in anthropology and French.

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John is a first year graduate student who is returning to academics after 11 years living abroad teaching English in East Asia and serving as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. With an educational background in psychology and animal behavior at Indiana University, his current primary interest is in the biology and behavioral ecology of human mating behavior. Outside the university he's most likely to be found cooking vegetarian meals with his wife or wilderness backpacking.

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Sara is a junior studying Anthropology. Before returning to school, she was a market research analyst focused on military and transportation issues, specializing in focus groups, field based research, and the Latin American demographic. Sara worked as a volunteer in Peru during 1995-1996, teaching literacy classes for highland farmers, and remodeling projects at both the community and family levels. When she’s not studying or working in the lab, Sara spends her free time volunteering as a conversation partner with Global Connections, enjoying time with her family, and blogging about green living.

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Alumni

Rob Burriss     Julia Barndt     Sarah Wolff    

Rob was an NIJ funded postdoctoral researcher at PSU, where he investigated the influence of genetic ancestry on facial appearance. Visit OracleLab.co.uk for more information about Rob's work.

Julia was enrolled in Penn State's Schreyer Honors College Integrated Undergraduate/Graduate Program, and graduated with her Master's degree in 2010. For her thesis, she investigated sexual selection and women's voices.

Sarah graduated from Penn State with a Master's in 2009. Her thesis research was on vocal masculinity as a dominance signal in men.