Nina Jablonski

Nina G. Jablonski
Nationality American
Fields anthropology, palaeobiology
Institutions Pennsylvania State University
Alma mater Bryn Mawr College
Notable awards Fletcher Foundation Fellow, 2005

Nina G. Jablonski is an American anthropologist and palaeobiologist, known for her research into the evolution of skin color in humans. She is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University, and the author of Skin: a Natural History and Living Color: the Biological and Social History of Skin Colour.

Education

Jablonski grew up on a farm in New York State. She was inspired to study science by a National Geographic program about Louis Leakey, the palaeontologist.[1]

Jablonski studied biology at Bryn Mawr College, and received her PhD in anthropology from the University of Washington. She was awarded an honorary degree from Stellenbosch University in 2010.[2]

Career

After finishing school, Jablonski was a lecturer in the Department of Anatomy at the University of Hong Kong from 1981 to 1990, a lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Human Biology at the University of Western Australia from 1990 to 1994, a researcher in the California Academy of Sciences from 1994 to 2006, and then served as head of the Anthropology Department at Penn State from 2006 to 2011.[1]

Research

Jablonski researches human and primate evolution.[2] She is known for her research into human skin, and has published two books on the subject. She researches the origin and evolution of the skin and skin pigmentation and the relationships between vitamin D requirements and metabolism in the context of human migration and urbanization.[2] In 2012 she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to carry out research into human vitamin D production in natural conditions with the goal of informing public health interventions addressing vitamin D deficiency.[3]

Jablonski also researches primate evolution in response to environmental change, the role of displays and physical stature in the evolution of hominid bipedalism, and primates in post-Miocene environments.[2]

She leads the Effects of race program in South Africa which studies the methodology of research into race and racial discrimination. She is also involved in an initiative to improve the understanding of evolution and increase the take up of STEM fields in the United States, leading the development of genetics and genealogy curricula for undergraduate students.[4]

Jablonski gave a TED presentation in 2009 entitled Skin colour is an illusion.[5] She has also appeared in an episode of the BBC documentary series Horizon ("What's the problem with nudity?),[6] as well as on The Colbert Report and several NPR radio shows.[2]

Publications

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jablonski, Nina. "About". Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Department of Anthropology - People". Penn State University. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Fellows: Nina G Jablonski". Guggenheim Fellowship. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "Nina Jablonski". Edge.org. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  5. ↑ "Nina Jablonski breaks the illusion of skin colour". TED. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  6. ↑ King, Paul. "Can people unlearn their naked shame?". BBC. Retrieved 8 February 2014.

External links