The Population Studies Center and Population Aging Research Center Colloquium

“Life History Transitions: An Evolutionary Demography Approach”  

Speaker: Claudia Valeggia, Associate Professor, Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Valeggia is originally from Argentina, where she received her degree in biology.  She received her PhD from the University of California, Davis in 1996. Following this, she did postdoctoral research at Harvard University and in 2005 She joined the Department o f Anthoropology at Penn.
         
Her work is primarily concerned with the interactions between human reproductive biology and the ecological and cultural context in which it develops.  Her research program takes a biocultural approach, that is, the interplay between biology and culture takes a central role in interpreting reproductive patterns.

Some of the topics she have explored are the determinants of the return to postpartum fecundity, the variation in reproductive hormonal levels within and between women in relation to environmental variables, growth and development patterns in infants and children, and variation in male and female life history in populations experiencing drastic lifestyle changes.  
         
Her research interests include human reproductive ecology, reproductive endocrinology, maternal and child health, and health of indigenous populations in Latin America.

For more information about the Noon Colloquium Series go to http://www.pop.upenn.edu/colloquium