Applied Evolutionary Anthropology Lab

Applied Evolutionary Anthropology Lab
Department of Anthropology | University of California, Santa Barbara

Field team. August 2019. Mwanza, Tanzania.
What we do:
Our research concerns the behavioral ecology of the human family and the application of evolutionary anthropology to global health. We conduct field research in Mwanza, Tanzania in collaboration with the National Institute for Medical Research. We have four main research priorities:

Gendered / Sexual Conflict
Understanding barriers to women’s empowerment and gender equality.
e.g. Lawson et al. (2021). He for She? Variation and exaggeration in men’s support for women’s empowerment in northern Tanzania. Evolutionary Human Sciences.
Marriage
The evolution of marriage systems and the role of marriage in shaping wellbeing.
e.g. Schaffnit et al. (2019).Parent-offspring conflict unlikely to explain 'child marriage' in northwestern Tanzania. Nature Human Behavior.
Collaboration
Equitable partnership with collaborators in field research.
e.g. Urassa et al. (2021). Cross-cultural research must prioritize equitable collaboration. Nature Human Behaviour.
Childhood
Parental care, child wellbeing and transitions to adulthood.
e.g. Hedges et al. (2019). Earning their keep? Fostering, children’s education and work in north-western Tanzania. Demographic Research.
David W Lawson
Associate Professor
HSSB Room 2055
Department of Anthropology
University of California, Santa Barbara
Email: dlawson@ucsb.edu
Twitter: @DavidWLawson

I am an evolutionary anthropologist and population health scientist with broad interests in the family, gender equality and human wellbeing. Originally from Northern Ireland, I moved to California and joined UCSB in 2016. I was previously based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and at University College London, where I completed my PhD in Anthropology in 2009.
CV
Lab Members
We are recruiting postdoctoral scholars, graduate and undergraduate researchers to join our lab! Get in touch to enquire about opportunities.

Joseph Kilgallen
Graduate Student
Joseph is interested in sexual conflict, gender equality and understanding why some men are more supportive of women than others.
Twitter: @JosephKilgallen
Zhian Chen
Graduate Student
Zhian has broad interests in human behavioral ecology, but especially shifts in parental investment and attitudes.
Twitter: @ZhianChen4
Pietro
Mascot
Pietro's interests include people, dogs, birds, anything that moves, destroying expensive furniture and peanut butter.
Lab Alumni

Susan Schaffnit
Postdoc (2017-2020)
Susie's postdoc considered 'child marriage' in Tanzania. She has since joined the Shenk Research Group at Penn State. Twitter: @DrSchaffnit.
Anushé Hassan
PhD Completed 2021
Anushé's PhD considered childcare and child health in Tanzania. She is now a postdoc at LSHTM.
Twitter: @anushehassan.
Sophie Hedges
PhD Completed 2019
Sophie's PhD considered children's work and schooling in Tanzania. Sophie is now a Mixed Methods Research Specialist at Coram International.
Maria Dardoumpa
Visiting Grad Student (2019)
Maria is a PhD student
at Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, and collaborated with us on qualitative data analysis.
Undergrads
Research Assistants
Kristopher Buranasombati,
Rachel Lynes,
Addison Morris,
Megan Kenner
Anthony Galura
Research Assistant (2019)
Anthony joined our field team in summer 2019, and is a master of all trades. We hope to work again together soon!
Fieldwork
We conduct fieldwork in Mwanza, northwestern Tanzania in collaboration with the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR). Collaborating scientists at NIMR include Mark Urassa, Joyce Wamoyi, Jitihada Baraka, Yusufu Kumogola, and Jim Todd. Working at this site enables us to utilize the infrastructure of an ongoing Health and Demographic Surveillance System. We have also worked in northeastern Tanzania, including among Maasai communities with the NGO Savannas Forever Tanzania, and collaborated on projects based in rural Gambia and Ethiopia.
Publications
See also Google Scholar (can't find a PDF? Email us!)
- Read about our recent research in The Current 📰 -

I am currently editing a special collection of papers on 'Gendered Conflict in the Human Family' with the journal Evolutionary Human Sciences. The volume is co-edited with Kathrine Starkweather, Oluwaseyi Somefun, and Sarah Alami.

Working papers / in review
Baraka J, Lawson DW, Schaffnit SB, Wamoyi, J, Urassa M (in review). What drives early marriage? Parental influence, female agency and gendered conflict in Mwanza, Tanzania.

in press
Lawson DW. Parental care. (in press). In Koster J, Scelza B, Shenk M (Eds). Human Behavioral Ecology.

Lawson DW & Gibson MA. (in press). Evolutionary Approaches to Population Health: Insights on Polygynous Marriage, ‘Child Marriage’ and Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting. In Burger O, Lee R & Sear, R. (Eds). Human Evolutionary Demography.

2021
Urassa M, Lawson DW, Wamoyi J, Gurmu E, Gibson MA, Madhivanan P, Placek C. (2021). Cross-cultural research must prioritize equitable collaboration. Nature Human Behaviour. 5:668-671.

>> Commentary: Lawson DW. (2021). Fostering an inclusive and equitable global research community in cross-cultural social science. Author Aid Blog.

Kilgallen JA, Schaffnit SB, Kumogola Y, Galura A, Urassa M. Lawson DW, (in press). Positive correlation between women’s status and intimate partner violence suggests violence backlash in Mwanza, Tanzania. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

Lawson DW. (2021). Book Review: Are Men Animals? How modern masculinity sells men short. Men and Masculinities.

Lawson DW, Schaffnit SB, Kilgallen JA, Kumogola Y, Galura A & Urassa M. (2021). He for She? Variation and exaggeration in men’s support for women’s empowerment in northern Tanzania. Evolutionary Human Sciences. 3: E27.

Schaffnit SB & Lawson DW. (2021). Married too young? The behavioral ecology of 'child marriage'. Social Sciences. 10: 161.

Lawson DW, Schaffnit SB, Hassan A, & Urassa M. (2021). Shared interests or sexual conflict? Spousal age gap, women’s wellbeing and fertility in rural Tanzania. Evolution and Human Behavior. 42: 165-175

>> Commentary: Lawson DW. (2021). When is marriage harmful to women? Human Behavior and Evolution Society Newsletter.

Schaffnit SB, Urassa M, Wamoyi J, Dardoumpa M, & Lawson DW. (2021). “I have never seen something like that”: Discrepancies between lived experiences and the global health concept of child marriage in northern Tanzania. PLOS ONE. 16(4): e0249200

Schaffnit SB, Wamoyi J, Urassa M, Dardoumpa M, & Lawson DW. (2021). When marriage is the best available option: perceptions of opportunity and risk in female adolescence in Tanzania. Global Public Health. 16: 1820–1833

2020
>> Commentary: Lawson DW, Urassa M & Schaffnit SB. (2020). Using mixed methods to correct stubborn misconceptions about child marriage. Nature Behavioural and Social Sciences Forum.

Lawson DW, Lynes R, Morris A & Schaffnit SB. (2020). What does the American public know about 'child marriage'? PLOS ONE 15(9):e0238346.

Berg V, Lawson DW, Rotkirch A. (2020). Financial opportunity costs and deaths among close kin are independently associated with reproductive timing in a contemporary high-income society. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 287: 20192478.

2019
Schaffnit SB, Urassa M & Lawson DW. (2019). ‘Child marriage’ in context: Exploring local attitudes towards early marriage in rural Tanzania. Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters. 27:1–13

Schaffnit SB, Hassan A, Urassa M & Lawson DW. (2019). Parent-offspring conflict unlikely to explain ‘child marriage’ in northwestern Tanzania. Nature Human Behaviour. 3:346-353.

>> Commentary: Stark L. (2019). Why daughters may choose early marriage. Nature Human Behaviour 3:325–326

>> Commentary: Lawson DW & Schaffnit SB. (2019). Distinguishing reality from stereotype in the end child marriage movement. Nature Behavioural and Social Sciences Forum.

>> Press: What if 'child marriage' means older teens making choices? Futurity.

Hedges S, Lawson DW, Todd J, Urassa M & Sear R. (2019). Sharing the load: the influence of co-resident children on the allocation of work and schooling in north-western Tanzania. Demography. 56:1931–1956

Hedges S, Sear R, Todd J, Urassa M & Lawson DW. (2019). Earning their keep? Fostering, children’s education and work in north-western Tanzania. Demographic Research. 41:263-292.

>> Commentary: Hedges S, Sear R, Todd J, Urassa M & Lawson DW. (2019). Earning their keep? Fostering, education and work in Tanzania. IUSSP online news magazine.

Hassan A, Schaffnit SB, Sear R, Urassa M & Lawson DW. (2019). Fathers favour sons, mothers don’t discriminate: sex-biased parental care in north-western Tanzania. Evolutionary Human Sciences. 1, e13.

2018
Lawson DW& Gibson MA. (2018). Understanding ‘Harmful Cultural Practices.’ Anthropology News 59:3; e219-e222.

Hedges S, Sear R, Todd J, Urassa M, & Lawson DW. (2018). Trade-offs in time allocation: Mixed support for embodied capital models of the demographic transition in rural Tanzania. Current Anthropology 59: 644-654.

Gibson MA & Lawson DW. (2018). Population issues in development. International Encyclopaedia of Anthropology. Wiley.

Lawson DW & Gibson MA. (2018). Polygynous marriage and child health in Sub-Saharan Africa: What is the evidence for harm? Demographic Research 39:177–208.

2017
Lawson DW, Núñez-de la Mora A, Cooper GD, Prentice AM, Moore SE, Sear R. (2017). Marital status and sleeping arrangements predict salivary testosterone levels in rural Gambian men. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology 3: 221-240.

Lawson DW, Schaffnit SB, Hassan A, Ngadaya E, Ngowi B, Mfinanga SGM, James S, Borgerhoff Mulder M. (2017). Father absence but not fosterage predicts food insecurity, relative poverty, and poor child health in northern Tanzania. American Journal of Human Biology 29 e22938.

2016
Sear R, Lawson DW, Kaplan H, Shenk M. (2016). Understanding variation in human fertility: What can we learn from evolutionary demography? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 371, 20150144

Lawson DW & Borgerhoff Mulder M. (2016). The offspring quantity-quality trade-off and human fertility variation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 371, 20150145.

Lawson DW, Sear R, Shenk M, Stearns S & Kaplan H. (Editors). (2016). Understanding Variation in Human Fertility: What Can We Learn From Evolutionary Demography? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 371(1692).

Lawson DW, James S, Ngadaya E, Ngowi B, Mfinanga SGM, Borgerhoff Mulder M. (2016). Reply to Rieger and Wagner: Context matters when studying purportedly harmful cultural practices. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 113(13), E1771-E1772

2015
Lawson DW, James S, Ngadaya E, Ngowi B, Mfinanga SGM, Borgerhoff Mulder M. (2015). No evidence that polygynous marriage is a harmful cultural practice in northern Tanzania. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 112(45), 13827-13832.

>> Interview: Polygynous marriage can benefit women and children. (2015). Capioca.

>> Press: Does poverty, not polygamy, harm women? (2015). Futurity.

Lawson DW& Hedges S. (2015). The costs and benefits of child labour. Current Anthropology 56, 545-568.

Hedges S, Borgerhoff Mulder M, James S & Lawson DW. (2015). Sending children to school: rural livelihoods and parental investment in child education in northern Tanzania. Evolution & Human Behavior 37:142-151.

Gibson MA & Lawson DW. (2015). Applying evolutionary anthropology. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News and Reviews 24(1): 3-14.

2014
Lawson DW, Borgerhoff Mulder M, Ghiselli ME, Ngadaya E, Ngowi B, Mfinanga SGM, Hartwig K. & James S. (2014). Ethnicity and child health in northern Tanzania: Maasai pastoralists are disadvantaged compared to neighbouring ethnic groups. PLOS ONE 9: e110447.

>> Press: Lawson DW& James S. (2014). Maasai in Tanzania: World fame but empty stomachs. Improving Nutrition and Food Security: Guardian Global Development Professionals Network. Dec 2014.

Pound N, Lawson DW, Toma, A.M & Richmond, R. Penton-Voak^,I. (2014). Facial asymmetry is not associated with childhood ill-health in a large British cohort study. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282:20141639.

Lawson DW & Uggla C. (2014). Family structure and health in the developing world: What can evolutionary anthropology contribute to population health science. In Gibson MA & Lawson DW. (Eds) Applied Evolutionary Anthropology: Darwinian Approaches to Contemporary World Issues. New York: Springer.

Gibson MA & Lawson DW. (2014). Applying evolutionary anthropology to a changing world. In Gibson MA & Lawson DW. (Eds) Applied Evolutionary Anthropology: Darwinian Approaches to Contemporary World Issues. Springer.

Gibson MA & Lawson DW. (Editors). (2014). Applied Evolutionary Anthropology: Darwinian Approaches to Contemporary World Issues. New York: Springer.

2013
Lawson DW, Makoil A & Goodman A. (2013). Sibling configuration predicts individual and descendant socioeconomic success in a modern post-industrial society. PLOS ONE 8: e73698.

Nettle D, Gibson MA, Lawson DW& Sear, R. (2013). Human behavioural ecology: Current research and future prospects. Behavioural Ecology 24: 1031-1040.

Nettle D, Gibson MA, Lawson DW, & Sear R. (2013). How much you need to engage with mechanism depends on what you are trying to do. Behavioral Ecology 24: 1046-1047

Alvergne A. Lawson DW, Clarke P & Mace, R. (2013). Fertility, parental investment and the early adoption of modern contraception in rural Ethiopia. American Journal of Human Biology 25: 107-15.

2012
Lawson DW, Alvergne A. & Gibson MA. (2012). The life history trade-off between fertility and child survival. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279: 1748 4755-4764.

Goodman A, Koupil I & Lawson DW. (2012). Low fertility increases descendant socioeconomic position but reduces long-term fitness in a modern post-industrial society. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279:4342-4351.

>> Press: Macleod M (2013). Population Paradox. New Scientist.

2011
Lawson DW& Mace R. (2011). Parental investment and the optimization of human family size. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 366, 333-343.

Gibson MA & Lawson DW. (2011). ‘Modernization’ increases parental investment and sibling resource competition: evidence from a rural development initiative in Ethiopia. Evolution & Human Behavior 32, 97-105.

Lawson DW. (2011). Life history theory and human reproductive behaviour. In Swami, V. (Ed) Evolutionary Psychology: A Critical Introduction pp. 183-214. BPS: Blackwell.

Lawson DW.(2011). A review of ‘Animal homosexuality: a biosocial approach’ by A. Poiani. Animal Behaviour 81, 499.

2010
Lawson DW& Mace R. (2010). Siblings and childhood mental health: evidence for a later-born advantage. Social Science and Medicine 70, 2061-2069.

Lawson DW& Mace R. (2010). Optimizing modern family size: trade-offs between fertility and the economic costs of reproduction. Human Nature 21, 39-61.

2009
Lawson DW& Mace R. (2009). Trade-offs in modern parenting: a longitudinal study of sibling competition for parental care. Evolution & Human Behavior 30, 170-183.

2008
Lawson DW& Mace R. (2008). Sibling configuration and childhood growth in contemporary British families. International Journal of Epidemiology 37, 1408-1421.

>> Press: How older siblings stunt your growth. (2007). BBC News.

Lawson DW, Jordan FM & Magid, K. (2008). On sex and suicide bombing: an evaluation of Kanazawa’s ‘Evolutionary Psychological Imagination’. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 6, 73-84.

2007
Sear R, Lawson DW& Dickins T. (2007). Synthesis in the human evolutionary behavioural sciences. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 5 3-28.

Lawson DW. (2007). Frustrated felines and excited ungulates: a review of ‘Homosexual behaviour in animals – an evolutionary perspective’ Edited by V. Sommer and P. Vasey. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 5, 257-260.

Scott BE, Lawson DW& Curtis V. (2007). Hard to handle: understanding mother’s handwashing behaviour in Ghana. Health Policy & Planning 22 216-224
Teaching

Anth209
Applied Evolutionary Anthropology

This graduate discussion-based course explores the relevance of evolutionary anthropology to contemporary efforts to improve human wellbeing, particularly in low and middle-income countries. It also provides an opportunity to consider the potential policy implications and ‘broader impacts’ of your own current/planned research – often a requirement for grant applications. In the 2020/21 academic year, this course will be arranged around the theme of understanding and dismantling patriarchy.
Anth170
Behavioral Ecology of the Family
In this course we utilize behavioral ecology as a theoretical framework to examine family relationships and global diversity in family structure. We will apply theoretical concepts such as life history theory, sexual selection and kin selection to different aspects of family life. Taking a broad comparative perspective, we also consider the application of behavioral ecology to non-human families.
Anth130
International Development and Population Health

This course considers the distribution and determinants of wellbeing in human populations, with an emphasis on low-income nations and the actions of the international development sector. Focus is placed on cultural/social determinants of health, including issues of gender equality. We will take a critical perspective on the tools used to measure population health and the design and evaluation of development policy and interventions.
Funding

Applied Evolutionary Anthropology Lab

Department of Anthropology | University of California, Santa Barbara

Department of Anthropology | University of California, Santa Barbara

What we do:

What we do:

Our research concerns the behavioral ecology of the human family and the application of evolutionary anthropology to global health. We conduct field research in Mwanza, Tanzania in collaboration with the National Institute for Medical Research. We have four main research priorities:

Our research concerns the behavioral ecology of the human family and the application of evolutionary anthropology to global health. We conduct field research in Mwanza, Tanzania in collaboration with the National Institute for Medical Research. We have four main research priorities:

Gendered / Sexual Conflict

Gendered / Sexual Conflict

Understanding barriers to women’s empowerment and gender equality.

Understanding barriers to women’s empowerment and gender equality.

Marriage

Marriage

The evolution of marriage systems and the role of marriage in shaping wellbeing.

The evolution of marriage systems and the role of marriage in shaping wellbeing.

Collaboration

Collaboration

Equitable partnership with collaborators in field research.

Equitable partnership with collaborators in field research.

Childhood

Childhood

Parental care, child wellbeing and transitions to adulthood.

Parental care, child wellbeing and transitions to adulthood.

David W Lawson

David W Lawson

Lab Members

Lab Members

We are recruiting postdoctoral scholars, graduate and undergraduate researchers to join our lab! Get in touch to enquire about opportunities.

We are recruiting postdoctoral scholars, graduate and undergraduate researchers to join our lab! Get in touch to enquire about opportunities.

Graduate Student

Graduate Student

Graduate Student

Graduate Student

Mascot

Mascot

Lab Alumni

Lab Alumni

Susan Schaffnit

Susan Schaffnit

Postdoc (2017-2020)

Postdoc (2017-2020)

PhD Completed 2021

PhD Completed 2021

PhD Completed 2019

PhD Completed 2019

Maria Dardoumpa

Maria Dardoumpa

Visiting Grad Student (2019)

Visiting Grad Student (2019)

Undergrads

Undergrads

Research Assistants

Research Assistants

Anthony Galura

Anthony Galura

Research Assistant (2019)

Research Assistant (2019)

Fieldwork

Publications

Publications

See also Google Scholar (can't find a PDF? Email us!)- Read about our recent research in The Current 📰 -

See also Google Scholar (can't find a PDF? Email us!)- Read about our recent research in The Current 📰 -

I am currently editing a special collection of papers on 'Gendered Conflict in the Human Family' with the journal Evolutionary Human Sciences. The volume is co-edited with Kathrine Starkweather, Oluwaseyi Somefun, and Sarah Alami.

Working papers / in review

Baraka J, Lawson DW, Schaffnit SB, Wamoyi, J, Urassa M (in review). What drives early marriage? Parental influence, female agency and gendered conflict in Mwanza, Tanzania.

in press

Lawson DW. Parental care. (in press). In Koster J, Scelza B, Shenk M (Eds). Human Behavioral Ecology.

Lawson DW & Gibson MA. (in press). Evolutionary Approaches to Population Health: Insights on Polygynous Marriage, ‘Child Marriage’ and Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting. In Burger O, Lee R & Sear, R. (Eds). Human Evolutionary Demography.

2021

Urassa M, Lawson DW, Wamoyi J, Gurmu E, Gibson MA, Madhivanan P, Placek C. (2021). Cross-cultural research must prioritize equitable collaboration. Nature Human Behaviour. 5:668-671.

>> Commentary: Lawson DW. (2021). Fostering an inclusive and equitable global research community in cross-cultural social science. Author Aid Blog.

Kilgallen JA, Schaffnit SB, Kumogola Y, Galura A, Urassa M. Lawson DW, (in press). Positive correlation between women’s status and intimate partner violence suggests violence backlash in Mwanza, Tanzania. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

Lawson DW. (2021). Book Review: Are Men Animals? How modern masculinity sells men short. Men and Masculinities.

Lawson DW, Schaffnit SB, Kilgallen JA, Kumogola Y, Galura A & Urassa M. (2021). He for She? Variation and exaggeration in men’s support for women’s empowerment in northern Tanzania. Evolutionary Human Sciences. 3: E27.

Schaffnit SB & Lawson DW. (2021). Married too young? The behavioral ecology of 'child marriage'. Social Sciences. 10: 161.

Lawson DW, Schaffnit SB, Hassan A, & Urassa M. (2021). Shared interests or sexual conflict? Spousal age gap, women’s wellbeing and fertility in rural Tanzania. Evolution and Human Behavior. 42: 165-175

>> Commentary: Lawson DW. (2021). When is marriage harmful to women? Human Behavior and Evolution Society Newsletter.

Schaffnit SB, Urassa M, Wamoyi J, Dardoumpa M, & Lawson DW. (2021). “I have never seen something like that”: Discrepancies between lived experiences and the global health concept of child marriage in northern Tanzania. PLOS ONE. 16(4): e0249200

Schaffnit SB, Wamoyi J, Urassa M, Dardoumpa M, & Lawson DW. (2021). When marriage is the best available option: perceptions of opportunity and risk in female adolescence in Tanzania. Global Public Health. 16: 1820–1833

See also Google Scholar (can't find a PDF? Email us!)
- Read about our recent research in The Current 📰 -

See also Google Scholar (can't find a PDF? Email us!)
- Read about our recent research in The Current 📰 -

Pound N, Lawson DW, Toma, A.M & Richmond, R. Penton-Voak^,I. (2014). Facial asymmetry is not associated with childhood ill-health in a large British cohort study. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282:20141639.