Dr Geoff Kushnick
Areas of expertise
- Behavioural Ecology 060201
- Biological (Physical) Anthropology 160102
- Demography 1603
Research interests
I am an evolutionary anthropologist with the following research interests:
- Human behavioural ecology
- Evolution of human reproductive strategies
- Evolution of social norms and institutions
- Quantitative methods and analysis
- Peoples and cultures of SE Asia and the Pacific
Biography
I am an evolutionary anthropologist, Fulbright Scholar (2014), and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (since 2019). My research focuses on the study of human behaviour, biology, and health through an evolutionary lens. I have experience conducting field research in Indonesia and the Solomon Islands, and using cross-cultural datasets such as the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample and the Ethnographic Atlas. I have expertise in quantitative-ethnographic and multivariate-statistical methods.
Available student projects
Please contact me if you are interested in pursuing an honours, masters, or PhD degree with a focus on the evolution of human behaviour.
Current student projects
Ben Gleeson (PhD): Human ecology and self-domestication (associate supervisor)
Adam Bode (PhD): Evolutionary and biocultural perspectives on romantic love (panel chair)
Past student projects
Emma Florey (Honours): “Parochial Altruism and Environmental Risk in a Cross-Cultural Sample” (primary supervisor)
Isabella Apriyana (Masters): “Investigating the Change of Reproductive Strategies following Subsistence Transition in Hunter-Gatherer Populations of Borneo, Indonesia” (primary supervisor)
Jennifer Geyer (Honours): “More the merrier? Human mate choice and the effects of sociosexual history and hormonal contraceptives” (primary supervisor)
Sumaiyah Qureshi (Honours): “Understanding Agta Fertility: Subsistence-Related Factors Associated with Reproductive Rates in a Foraging Population in Transition” (primary supervisor)
Stephen Orchard (Masters): “Sociosexual Norms, the Behavioural Immune System Hypothesis, and the Red Queen” (primary supervisor)
Megan O'Donnell (PhD): "Effects of Prenatal Bushfire Stress on Life History Traits in Humans" (secondary supervisor)
Ben Gleeson (Masters): "Human Self-Domestication by Intersexual Selection: Female Social Status and Stature Sexual Dimorphism" (primary supervisor)
Madelaine Winkler (Honours): “Pathogen Pressure and Consanguineous Marriage: The Case of Impal Marriage among the Karo Batak from North Sumatra” (co-primary supervisor)
Publications
- Kushnick G, Behie A, Zuska F (2022). Pregnancy outcomes among evacuees of the Sinabung volcano, 2010-2018 (North Sumatra, Indonesia): A matched cohort study. American Journal of Human Biology, 34(2), e23628.
- Bode A, Kushnick G (2021) Proximate and ultimate perspectives on romantic love. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 573123.
- Haynie H, Kavanaugh P, Jordan F, Ember C, Gray R, Greenhill S, Kirby K, Kushnick G, Low B, Tuff T, Vilela B, Botero C, Gavin M (2021). Pathways to social inequality. Hum Evol Sci, 3, e35.
- Kushnick G (2020). Gaps in Darwin's Initial Theory. In Todd K Shackelford & Viviana A Weekes-Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, Springer, Cham, Switzerland.
- Curtin C, Barrett HC, Bolyanatz A, Crittenden A, Fessler DMT, Fitzpatrick S, Gurven M, Kanovsky M, Kushnick G, Laurence S, Pisor A, Scelza B, Stich S, von Rueden C, Henrich J (2020). Kinship intensity and the use of mental states in moral judgment across societies. Evolution and Human Behavior, 41(5), 415-429.
- Deppe A, Kushnick G (2020). Olfactory predator recognition in the brown mouse lemur (Microcebus rufus) in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. American Journal of Primatology, 82(10), 1-12.
- Halcrow S, Warren R, Kushnick G, Nowell A (2020). Care of Infants in the Past: Bridging evolutionary anthropological and bioarchaeological approaches. Evol Hum Sci, 2, 1-17.
- Kavanagh P, Haynie H, Kushnick G, Vilela B, Tuff T, Bowern C, Low B, Ember C, Kirby K, Botero C, Gavin M (2020). Drivers of global variation in land ownership. Ecography, 43, 1-8.
- Scelza B, Prall SB, Blumenfield T, Crittenden AN, Gurven M, Kline M, Koster J, Kushnick G, Mattison SM, Pillsworth E, Shenk MK, Starkweather K, Stieglitz J, Sum C-Y, Yamaguchi, K, and McElreath R (2019). Patterns of paternal investment predict cross-cultural variation in jealous response. Nature Human Behaviour, 4, 20-26.
- Carter T, Kushnick G (2018). Male aggressiveness as intrasexual contest competition in a cross-cultural sample. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 72(6), 1-9.
- Gavin M, Kavanagh P, Haynie H, Bowern C, Ember C, Gray R, Jordan F, Kirby K, Kushnick G, Low BS, Vilela B, Botero C (2018). The global geography of human subsistence. Roy Soc Open Sci, 5(9), 171897.
- Gleeson B, Kushnick G (2018). Female status, food security, and stature sexual dimorphism: Testing mate choice as a mechanism in human self-domestication. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 167(3), 458-469.
- Kushnick G (2016). Ecology of Pair Bond Stability. In Shackelford T, Weekes-Shackelford V (eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, Springer International Publishing Switzerland, Switzerland.
- Kushnick G, Fessler DMT, Zuska F (2016). Disgust, gender, and social change: Testing alternative explanations for the decline of cousin marriage in Karo society. Human Nature, 27(4), 533-555.
- Atkinson QD, Coomber T, Passmore S, Greenhill SJ, Kushnick G, 2016. Cultural and environmental predictors of pre-European deforestation on Pacific islands. PLoS ONE, 11(5), e0156340.
- Barrett HC, Bolyanatz A, Crittenden AN, Fessler DMT, Fitzpatrick S, Gurven M, Henrich J, Kanovsky M, Kushnick G, Pisor A, Scelza B, Stich S, von Rueden C, Zhao W, Laurence S, 2016. Small-scale societies exhibit fundamental variation in the role of intentions in moral judgment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 113(7), 4688-4693.
- Fessler DMT, Holbrook C, Kanovsky M, Barrett HC, Bolyanatz AH, Gervais MM, Gurven M, Henrich J, Kushnick G, Pisor AC, Stich S, von Rueden C, Laurence S, 2016. Moral parochialism misunderstood: A reply to Piazza and Souza. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 283, 20152628.
- Kushnick G, Hanowell B, Kim J, Langstieh B, Magnano V, Olah K, 2015. Experimental evidence for convergent evolution of maternal care heuristics in industrialized and small-scale populations. Royal Society Open Science, 2, 140518.
- Fessler DMT, Barrett HC, Kanovsky M, Stich S, Holbrook C, Henrich J, Bolyanatz AH, Gervais M, Gurven M, Kushnick G, Pisor AC, von Rueden C, Laurence S, 2015. Moral parochialism and contextual contingency across seven societies. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282, 20152628.
- Kushnick G, Gray R, Jordan F, 2014. The sequential evolution of land tenure norms. Evolution and Human Behavior, 35(4), 309-318.
- Kushnick G, 2013. Access to resources shapes maternal decision making: Evidence from a factorial vignette experiment. PLoS ONE, 8, e75539.
- Kushnick G, 2013. Why do the Karo Batak prefer women with big feet? Flexible mate preferences and the notion that one size fits all. Human Nature, 24, 268-279.
- Kushnick G, 2012. Book review: Reproduction and adaptation: Topics in human reproductive ecology. Human Biology, 84(1), 91-92.
- Kushnick G, 2012. Helper effects on breeder allocations to direct care. American Journal of Human Biology, 24, 545-550.
- Kushnick G, Fessler DMT, 2012. Misconstruals miss the mark: A reply to El Guindi and Read. Current Anthropology, 53(1), 136-137.
- Fessler DMT, Stieger S, Asaridou S, Bahia U, Cravalho M, de Barros P, Delgado T, Fisher M, Geraldo Perez P, Goetz C, Haley K, Jackson J, Kushnick G, Lew K, Pain E, Pisor A, et al, 2012. Testing a postulated case of intersexual selection in humans: The role of foot size in judgments of physical attractiveness and age. Evolution and Human Behavior, 33(2), 147-164.
- Kushnick G, Fessler DMT, 2011. Karo Batak cousin marriage, cosocialization, and the Westermarck hypothesis. Current Anthropology, 52(3), 443-448.
- van Oven M, Hämmerle JM, van Schoor M, Kushnick G, Pennekamp P, Zega I, Lao O, Brown L, Kennerknecht I, Kayser M. 2011. Unexpected island effects at an extreme: Reduced Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA diversity in Nias. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 28(4), 1349-1361.
- Kushnick G, 2010. Resource competition and reproduction in Karo Batak villages. Human Nature, 21, 62-81.
- Kushnick G, 2009. Parental supply and offspring demand amongst Karo Batak mothers and children. Journal of Biosocial Science, 41, 183-193.