Michaela Howells
Biographic Data
| ID | 168540 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michaela Howells |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michaela |
| FAMILY NAME | Howells |
| SIGNATURE | HOWELLS M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of North Carolina Wilmington |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2972-9554 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 47 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Intergenerational effects of climate disasters: Trimester of Pregnancy When a Hurricane Hits Predicts Neonate Body Size
Increased prenatal stress associated with disasters disrupts first trimester foetal development across all groups but is most pronounced in unmarried individuals. Differences in birthweight reflect intergenerational impacts in disaster events
The Aids Memorial Quilt as Radical Public History
Radical public history relies on reflective practices that include formal and experientially acquired knowledge within a broad interdisciplinary framework. Using material culture methodologies from history and anthropology, we present the AIDS Memorial Quilt as an example of radical public history in action. We recount the history and meaning of the Quilt and share quantitative survey information based on college students’ responses to six Quilt …
Maternal stress and hair cortisol among pregnant women following hurricane Florence
Natural disasters represent major stressors, resulting in psychological distress and physiological responses such as increased cortisol. During pregnancy, this impacts not only maternal well-being, but also fetal development. In 2018, Hurricane Florence caused extensive damage across the eastern United States. Studies indicated that compared to married pregnant women, unmarried pregnant women had higher risk of distress. Here we assess hair corti…
Heavy metal ecotoxicology of vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) across field sites in South Africa
Is there a difference in student physical activity between a field school and a traditional classroom setting
OBJECTIVES: We compared the physical activity of nine students participating in an anthropological field school to their activity expenditures in traditional classrooms. We predicted that the students would exhibit higher physical activity during the field school due to the substantial physical requirements associated with the program compared to traditional classroom environments which are frequently more sedentary. METHODS: Participants (n = 9)…
There and back again: The biosocial dynamics of returning from the field
BACKGROUND: Leaving "home" to pursue fieldwork is a necessity but also a rite of passage for many biological anthropology/human biology scholars. Field-based scientists prepare for the potential changes to activity patterns, sleep schedules, social interactions, and more that come with going to the field. However, returning from extended fieldwork and the reverse-culture shock, discomforts, and mental shifts that are part of the return process ca…
Go with the Flo”: Conducting rapid research on prenatal stress following Hurricane Florence as participant observers
In this article, we explore the challenges of conceptualizing, designing, and establishing a rapid research agenda as a local researcher following a disaster. We share what we learned while developing and implementing this rapid study and explore the challenges shaped by time pressures, our local context, and resource availability. We identify four core challenges, experienced conducting rapid research, and provide suggestions to overcome these c…
Impacts of family and fieldwork on career/family balance among tenure‐track and tenured anthropologists
OBJECTIVES: A common dilemma rarely mentioned during doctoral training is career/family balance-especially the timing of children. This dilemma extends to professional anthropologists and includes questions surrounding the benefits and challenges of taking children to the field. We analyzed survey data from tenure-track and tenured anthropologists to determine if fieldwork in general and fieldwork with or without their children on site impacts ca…
Maternal marital status predicts self‐reported stress among pregnant women following hurricane Florence
OBJECTIVES: The effects of stress caused by natural disasters may be more pronounced in individuals with preexisting disadvantages. The degree of hardship and psychological distress associated with Hurricane Florence was assessed in 83 pregnant women. This research helps identify unmarried pregnant women as a group particularly at risk of distress following a natural disaster. METHODS: We assessed hardship associated with the hurricane using a qu…
The evolutionary adaptation of body art: Tattooing as costly honest signaling of enhanced immune response in American Samoa
The historical and cultural popularity of tattooing may be partly due to honest information tattoos convey about adaptive biology, similar to physical benefits of exercise
Zika virus in American Samoa: Challenges to prevention in the context of health disparities and non-communicable disease
These findings reinforce the need for a multi-pronged approach to ZIKV. This study highlights the need for information on culturally specific barriers and recognition of additional challenges associated with dual burden in marginal populations where social inequalities exacerbate health issues
Row as one! A history of the development and use of the Sāmoan fautasi
The racing of fautasi (30-metre, 45-seater, oared Sāmoan longboats) remains a central cultural competition that unifies contemporary American Samoa and the two Sā moan states more generally. However, the fautasiâ€TMs emergence and transition into this role has been dismissed as a vestige of colonialism and has been understudied by scholars. This paper examines the origin, development and use of the Sā moan fautasi with special reference to the ta…
Responding to Turbulent Times
Redefining Biological Anthropology
Patterns of gastro‐intestinal parasites and commensals as an index of population and ecosystem health: The case of sympatric western chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes verus ) and guinea baboons ( Papio ha…
The exponential decline of great apes over the past 50 years has resulted in an urgent need for data to inform population viability assessment and conservation strategies. Health monitoring of remaining ape populations is an important component of this process. In support of this effort, we examined endoparasitic and commensal prevalence and richness as proxies of population health for western chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes verus ) and sympatric g…
Do "savanna" chimpanzees consume C4 resources
Do "savanna" chimpanzees consume C4 resources
Go with the Flo”: Conducting rapid research on prenatal stress following Hurricane Florence as participant observers
In this article, we explore the challenges of conceptualizing, designing, and establishing a rapid research agenda as a local researcher following a disaster. We share what we learned while developing and implementing this rapid study and explore the challenges shaped by time pressures, our local context, and resource availability. We identify four core challenges, experienced conducting rapid research, and provide suggestions to overcome these c…
Intergenerational effects of climate disasters: Trimester of Pregnancy When a Hurricane Hits Predicts Neonate Body Size
Increased prenatal stress associated with disasters disrupts first trimester foetal development across all groups but is most pronounced in unmarried individuals. Differences in birthweight reflect intergenerational impacts in disaster events
Do "savanna" chimpanzees consume C4 resources
Patterns of gastro‐intestinal parasites and commensals as an index of population and ecosystem health: The case of sympatric western chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes verus ) and guinea baboons ( Papio ha…
The exponential decline of great apes over the past 50 years has resulted in an urgent need for data to inform population viability assessment and conservation strategies. Health monitoring of remaining ape populations is an important component of this process. In support of this effort, we examined endoparasitic and commensal prevalence and richness as proxies of population health for western chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes verus ) and sympatric g…
Redefining Biological Anthropology
Responding to Turbulent Times
Zika virus in American Samoa: Challenges to prevention in the context of health disparities and non-communicable disease
These findings reinforce the need for a multi-pronged approach to ZIKV. This study highlights the need for information on culturally specific barriers and recognition of additional challenges associated with dual burden in marginal populations where social inequalities exacerbate health issues
Row as one! A history of the development and use of the Sāmoan fautasi
The racing of fautasi (30-metre, 45-seater, oared Sāmoan longboats) remains a central cultural competition that unifies contemporary American Samoa and the two Sā moan states more generally. However, the fautasiâ€TMs emergence and transition into this role has been dismissed as a vestige of colonialism and has been understudied by scholars. This paper examines the origin, development and use of the Sā moan fautasi with special reference to the ta…
The evolutionary adaptation of body art: Tattooing as costly honest signaling of enhanced immune response in American Samoa
The historical and cultural popularity of tattooing may be partly due to honest information tattoos convey about adaptive biology, similar to physical benefits of exercise
Maternal marital status predicts self‐reported stress among pregnant women following hurricane Florence
OBJECTIVES: The effects of stress caused by natural disasters may be more pronounced in individuals with preexisting disadvantages. The degree of hardship and psychological distress associated with Hurricane Florence was assessed in 83 pregnant women. This research helps identify unmarried pregnant women as a group particularly at risk of distress following a natural disaster. METHODS: We assessed hardship associated with the hurricane using a qu…
Impacts of family and fieldwork on career/family balance among tenure‐track and tenured anthropologists
OBJECTIVES: A common dilemma rarely mentioned during doctoral training is career/family balance-especially the timing of children. This dilemma extends to professional anthropologists and includes questions surrounding the benefits and challenges of taking children to the field. We analyzed survey data from tenure-track and tenured anthropologists to determine if fieldwork in general and fieldwork with or without their children on site impacts ca…
Heavy metal ecotoxicology of vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) across field sites in South Africa
Is there a difference in student physical activity between a field school and a traditional classroom setting
OBJECTIVES: We compared the physical activity of nine students participating in an anthropological field school to their activity expenditures in traditional classrooms. We predicted that the students would exhibit higher physical activity during the field school due to the substantial physical requirements associated with the program compared to traditional classroom environments which are frequently more sedentary. METHODS: Participants (n = 9)…
There and back again: The biosocial dynamics of returning from the field
BACKGROUND: Leaving "home" to pursue fieldwork is a necessity but also a rite of passage for many biological anthropology/human biology scholars. Field-based scientists prepare for the potential changes to activity patterns, sleep schedules, social interactions, and more that come with going to the field. However, returning from extended fieldwork and the reverse-culture shock, discomforts, and mental shifts that are part of the return process ca…
Go with the Flo”: Conducting rapid research on prenatal stress following Hurricane Florence as participant observers
In this article, we explore the challenges of conceptualizing, designing, and establishing a rapid research agenda as a local researcher following a disaster. We share what we learned while developing and implementing this rapid study and explore the challenges shaped by time pressures, our local context, and resource availability. We identify four core challenges, experienced conducting rapid research, and provide suggestions to overcome these c…
Maternal stress and hair cortisol among pregnant women following hurricane Florence
Natural disasters represent major stressors, resulting in psychological distress and physiological responses such as increased cortisol. During pregnancy, this impacts not only maternal well-being, but also fetal development. In 2018, Hurricane Florence caused extensive damage across the eastern United States. Studies indicated that compared to married pregnant women, unmarried pregnant women had higher risk of distress. Here we assess hair corti…
The Aids Memorial Quilt as Radical Public History
Radical public history relies on reflective practices that include formal and experientially acquired knowledge within a broad interdisciplinary framework. Using material culture methodologies from history and anthropology, we present the AIDS Memorial Quilt as an example of radical public history in action. We recount the history and meaning of the Quilt and share quantitative survey information based on college students’ responses to six Quilt …
Intergenerational effects of climate disasters: Trimester of Pregnancy When a Hurricane Hits Predicts Neonate Body Size
Increased prenatal stress associated with disasters disrupts first trimester foetal development across all groups but is most pronounced in unmarried individuals. Differences in birthweight reflect intergenerational impacts in disaster events
Medicine (6 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Biology (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Population (4 works) · Demography (3 works) · Environmental health (3 works) · Geography (3 works) · History (3 works)