Category: Alumni Junior Fellows

Joseph Feldblum, alumni fellow (2018-22) and assistant research professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University, co-authored an article investigating the predictors of gestation length, and the impact of gestation length on offspring survival, in chimpanzees, humans’ closest living relatives. They found that like humans, chimpanzees had shorter gestations after short inter-gestational intervals, and short gestations were associated with higher offspring mortality. Read the full article in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology.

Abstract:

Objectives
Energetics are widely recognized to influence timing of birth in humans and other eutherian mammals, yet considerable variation exists in the relationship between energetic constraints and gestation length. In humans, poor nutrition and short inter-gestational intervals (IGIs) are associated with shorter gestations. In other mammals, lower energy availability is usually associated with longer gestations. We investigated the predictors of gestation length, and the impact of gestation length on offspring survival, in chimpanzees, humans’ closest living relatives.

Materials and Methods
We used 50 years of demographic and behavioral data to estimate gestation lengths in the wild chimpanzees of Gombe National Park, Tanzania, and then used ecological and demographic data to explore the predictors and consequences of gestation length in our sample.

Results
Gestation lengths were shorter for females in their early 30s (relative to younger and older females), and after short IGIs. Other predictors potentially associated with maternal energetic condition and maternal investment were not associated with gestation length. We also found that shorter gestation lengths corresponded to lower offspring survival.

Discussion
Like humans, chimpanzees had shorter gestations after short IGIs, and short gestations were associated with higher offspring mortality. We consider competing explanations for the conflicting relationships between energetics and gestation length across eutherian mammals in light of these results.

Citation: Feldblum, J. T., Boehm, E. E., Walker, K. K., & Pusey, A. E. (2022). Predictors and consequences of gestation length in wild chimpanzees. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 179( 3), 417– 430. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24601

In 1935, W.E.B. Du Bois published Black Reconstruction in America: An Essay Toward a History of the Part which Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in America, 1860–1880. At that time, The American Historical Review did not review the book because the editors did not recognize it as history. The journal is reckoning with racist aspects of its work and influence; 88 years later, Elizabeth Hinton, alumni fellow (2012-14) and associate professor of history and African American studies at Yale University, writes the long overdue review. Read The Last Great Battle of the West.

Citation: Elizabeth Hinton, “The Last Great Battle of the West”, The American Historical Review, Volume 127, Issue 4, December 2022, Pages 1909–1915, https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhac454

Max Lifchitz, alumni fellow (1974-77), composer, and professor of music at SUNY-Albany, to offer a recital featuring eight distinctive works inspired by diverse aspects of the natural world. Composers included in the event hail from Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, and throughout the US.

Event Time/Date: February 5, 2023 at 7:30 PM.

Access livestream.

Congratulations to Peter Wilf, alumni fellow (1999-02) and professor of geosciences at Penn State University, on being named as one of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2022 fellows! AAAS is the largest general science society. This year it recognized 506 scientists, engineers, and innovators for their distinguished scientific and social achievements. Peter is recognized for his contributions to research in paleobotany.

Vaughn Cooper, alumni fellow (2000-03) and professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Pittsburgh, commented on newly spreading misinformation about the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 variant XBB 1.5. “XBB did not evolve because people were vaccinated,” said Cooper, a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Pittsburgh. “The way it evolved, let’s be straight, is because people were infected by multiple viruses at the same time.” Read the Washington Post article.

Climate change is changing winter weather patterns, both in temperature and in duration. Warmer and shorter winters are causing some species to sleep later, or not at all. Mammal expert David Polly, alumni fellow (1994-96) and biology professor at Indiana University, says that changes to plant hibernation can have far-reaching effects on ecosystems. “If their cycles get off sync, then the whole food web becomes involved in some of that complexity,” Polly said. “That’s probably what worries climate change biologists the most.” Read more on Indiana Public Media.

Alumni fellow Melanie Mitchell (1990-92), who is a professor at the Santa Fe Institute and an expert in artificial intelligence (AI), discusses machine learning, AI systems, superintelligence, and the ethical considerations needed to align these systems with human values, preferences, and goals in Quanta Magazine.

Read more of Mitchell’s comments on AI chatbot technology in Bloomberg, MIT Technology Review, Jordan News, and Mind Matters News.

As part of the H-Diplo essay series entitled Learning the Scholar’s Craft: Reflections of Historians and International Relations Scholars, Isabel V. Hull, alumni fellow (1976-77) and John Stambaugh Professor of History, Emerita, at Cornell University shares stories from her “formative years” as a scholar interested in international affairs. Read the complete essay entitled “Back to Square One” on H-Net.

A recent Nature article looks at the looming biodiversity crisis as the United Nations convenes negotiators and ministers from more than 190 countries to address the emergency and identify targets to protect nature. In the article, Shahid Naeem, alumni fellow (1989-92) and ecologist at Columbia University, responds to questions about what might happen if species disappear. Ecosystems with low biodiversity also have low resilience — they are not as able to bounce back after a perturbation or shock, such as a fire, as more-diverse systems are, Naeem says. Follow this link to read the full Nature article.

Citation: Gilbert, Natasha. “Can the World Save a Million Species from Extinction?” Nature (London). England, n.d. doi: 10.1038/d41586-022-04370-4.

Named among the favorite books of 2022, either by Southern writers or about the South, Virginia Living includes the latest publication by poet and alumni fellow Gregory Orr (1972-75). For more than a decade, Orr has been writing toward “the Book:” an imagined tome containing every poem and song ever written. Drawing from a rich tradition of lyric poetry, Selected Books of the Beloved  (Copper Canyon Press) is the culmination of that project, and more—it is a celebration of the transformative power of poetry, and of our extraordinary capacity to feel and to love.