The HSL is committed to training students and postdocs for positions inside and outside of academia, drawing on wide-ranging fields in the social sciences and sciences; to the well-being and flourishing of lab members; and to promoting a collaborative research environment that advances equity, diversity, and inclusion. See our lab commitments for more.

Directors

Dr Anne Pisor; HSL director; Penn State

Anne Pisor (“pie-zur”) is a social, behavioral, and ecological scientist doing interdisciplinary and intersectoral research to address 21st century problems. She focuses especially on the relationship between climate change, climate adaptation, and well-being, and on cooperation and natural resource management. Her basic-science-meets-applications work emerged from her ongoing research on the evolution of social relationships in humans, especially relationships spanning distance and intergroup relationships. Anne was recently named a Rising Star by the Human Behavior and Evolution Society as an early-career researcher “whose innovative work has already advanced the field.”

Anne is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Social Science Research Institute at Penn State University, where she is accepting PhD students interested in climate adaptation and health. You can watch a talk of hers for a taste of her academic approach.

Outside of academia, Anne is an entrepreneur and mentor with experience founding lean startups and managing academic spinoffs. The mission of her former climate tech startup, Fortifyd Inc., was to help households prepare for climate impacts before they happen. As a mentor, Anne encourages entrepreneurs to leverage social science and consider human factors in early-stage startups.

Dr Kris Smith; HSL co-director; Washington State

Kris Smith is a postdoc in the Human Sociality Lab and director of the Tanga Sociality and Fisheries Project in Tanzania. He studies how evolution and culture shape cooperative relationships, and how cooperative relationships can help achieve collective action, such as natural resource management. Prior to joining the Human Sociality Lab, Kris received his PhD in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2019 and stayed on for a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in the Social and Behavioral Science Initiative. During his time at Penn, he conducted field research with Hadza hunter-gatherers in Tanzania, studying how their decisions of whom to cooperate with are changing with increased integration with their neighbors.

Core members

Courtney Elmore; MA student; Penn State

Courtney is a passionate and driven Master’s student in Anthropology who wants to focus on human relationships and social dynamics. A military veteran with extensive experience in diverse and challenging environments, Courtney brings a unique perspective to the study of human interactions and cultural connections. Motivated by a desire to understand how relationships are shaped by societal contexts, Courtney is particularly interested in the intersection of cooperation, identity, and community. Through her studies, Courtney seeks to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world applications, contributing to a deeper understanding of human relationships in complex and evolving environments.

Evan Leacox; PhD student; Washington State

Evan’s interested in how adaptive governance emerges from environmental uncertainty, especially (1) what supports and limits diverse social collaboration, and (2) when and why people are patient with the - often slow - process of cultural and institutional change and transformation. He focuses primarily on how people are approaching equitable, community-led Social-Ecological System stewardship networks in the Columbia River Basin. Evan prioritizes a collaborative, community-engaged research approach to support theory development and cultural research that is guided by, and seeks to contribute to applied, community-identified interests. Evan is a trainee in WSU’s Rivers, Watersheds, and Communities program, where he has an NSF-funded graduate research fellowship.

Ollie Shannon; PhD student; Washington State

Ollie (they/them) is a Ph.D. student at Washington State University, driven by a lifelong commitment to social justice and the empowerment of marginalized communities. With over 20 years of experience as a social justice organizer in Idaho, they have dedicated much of their career to advocating for change and creating spaces for those often excluded from mainstream conversations. After years of direct action, Ollie returned to academia to further their understanding of how systemic structures impact mental health, earning a master’s degree at Boise State University where they focused on the cultural impacts on mental health within the Queer community in the Pacific Northwest.

Currently, Ollie is deeply engaged in research that explores cooperation, resource movement, and mutual support within Queer chosen family networks. Their work centers on understanding how cultural differences within these networks shape and influence the ways in which people come together, support each other, and build lasting, meaningful connections. At the heart of this research is a firm belief in the importance of conducting mutually beneficial research that is ethical, collaborative, and directly contributes to the communities being studied. They are passionate about ensuring that research is not only academic in nature but also rooted in real-world impact that strengthens and uplifts those who have been historically underserved.

Beyond their research, Ollie is enthusiastic about learning and developing innovative teaching strategies, particularly in the realm of equity-based pedagogy. They believe that education has the power to transform individuals and communities, and are committed to creating inclusive, empowering learning environments. Teaching is a deep passion for Ollie—one that aligns with their core belief that knowledge sharing and critical thinking are essential tools in the fight for justice and equality.

Affiliates

Dithapelo Medupe; PhD student; Penn State

Ditha uses human behavioral ecology (HBE) as a lens to understand human-environment interactions. It allows her to apply evolutionary theory to human behavior. Ditha’s current project looks at how rainfall, biodiversity, and soil largely influenced the spread of intensive agriculture and its associated socio-political institutions.

For my next big project, Ditha is taking courses in epidemiology to understand how market integration influences morbidity and mortality in societies that did not previously have intensive agriculture. She will focus on previous foragers and agro-pastoralists in Botswana. Car accidents are the leading cause of injury and death in Botswana. The sub-area of epidemiology of injury and accidents focuses on the study of accidents. Ditha will use human behavioral ecology to understand the drivers of accidents by combining quantitative epidemiology and ethnographic methods. Are most accidents due to young people costly signaling to their peers by risk-taking while driving, or are they due to cash-strapped taxi drivers who do not have enough money to maintain their vehicles but wish to make money to keep up with market integration demands? Future work will combine epidemiology and HBE to understand how market integration is affecting the prevalence of chronic diseases like kidney disease, hypertension, heart disease, obesity, and depression in this population. Ditha’s medical training will be useful for these studies.