PhD candidate in the Evolutionary Anthropology Department at Duke University
Alisha Anaya earned her bachelors of science in Biological Anthropology from the George Washington University (‘18). She is currently a fifth year PhD candidate at Duke University in the Evolutionary Anthropology Department. Her previous work focuses on the locomotor modes of the Miocene ape Oreopithecus bambolii and early hominin Australopithecus afarensis. Her doctoral research focuses on understanding forelimb versus hind limb dominance and limb diversification in primates and carnivores. Alisha uses novel, automated approaches to geometric morphometrics to study shape variation and shape evolution in the hands and feet of both primates and carnivores. She was awarded an NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (DDRIG) to fund this work. Her forthcoming projects utilize novel, automated methods to quantify shape variation in primate teeth and post-cranial elements.