Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President

Faculty Spotlight

Dr. Lorena Madrigal

Name

Lorena Madrigal

College

CAS

Department

Anthropology

Undergraduate Degree

Anthropology

From

University of Utah

Graduate Degree

Anthropology

From

University of Cincinnati

Doctoral Degree

Anthropology

From

University of Kansas

Previous Post(s)

None. This was my first and only job

Selected Published Works

• Madrigal, L. 2006.Human biology of Afro-Caribbean Populations. Book published by Cambridge University Press. Part of the Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology.
• Indentured migration and differential gender gene flow: The origin and evolution of the East-Indian community of Limón, Costa Rica.American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Loredana Castrì, Flory Otárola, Mwenza Blell, Ernesto Ruiz, Ramiro Barrantes, Donata Luiselli, Davide Pettener, Lorena Madrigal. 2007. Available in early view.
• Human skin-color sexual dimorphism: a test of the sexual selection hypothesis. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2007 Mar;132(3):470-82.  Madrigal, L. and W. Kelly.
• Human skin-color sexual dimorphism: a test of the sexual selection hypothesis. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2007. Reply to Frost.  133 (1): 780-781. Madrigal, L. and W. Kelly.
• The East-Indian diaspora in Costa Rica: inbreeding avoidance, marriage patterns and cultural survival. 2007. American Anthropologist. 109 (2): 330-337. Madrigal, L. et al.

Area of Specialization / Research

I am a biological anthropologist interested in understanding recent evolutionary events in human populations. I am particularly interested in the formation of new populations in the Caribbean following the invasion of Europeans and the forced migration of African slaves, and the migration of East-Indian indentured servants. I want to understand how cultural forces affect the evolution of human populations. Thus, my research is truly bio-cultural, in that I need the cultural information to understand the biology of a human group. For example, I am interested in how marriage customs affect the evolution of populations by means of influencing who may or may not contribute genetically to a population, and hence to its evolution. I am also working on an NIH-funded project on the genetics of differential longevity, and how differential longevity may affect the genetic contribution of women in a population.

Current Course Offerings

• Human Evolutionary Genetics
• Biological Anthropology
• Human Variation
• Quantitative methods

How and when did you first become interested in your field of study?

During my junior year in high school (in Costa Rica), I told my Social Science teacher that I felt frustrated because I wanted to study the social sciences and biology at the same time, and that could obviously not be done. He said that it could, in anthropology! He gave me a book to read, and right then and there I decided that I would pursue a PhD in Anthropology. I was 16 years of age.

What made you decide to pursue a career in higher education? 

I knew that in Anthropology a PhD was necessary, and that if I wanted to do research, I needed to be in academia. In addition, I wished to contribute to the formation of young anthropologists.

Why did you choose to be a part of the academic community at USF?

USF offered an opportunity to join a growing department. And indeed, the department has grown and developed to become a center of study of international recognition.

What do you enjoy about teaching the students of USF?

I love the diversity of the student body at USF. My students have included senior citizens, international students, young mothers who occasionally bring their children to class, and everything in between. Such diversity greatly enriches class discussion, and I confess I have heard some pretty interesting stories told in my classroom!

What do you like about the university community?

USF is a place in which I have made many important friendships, which have lasted for decades. It is a place in which families are welcomed, from young babies to teens to grown children, to our parents. It is a place where baby clothes are re-cycled from baby to baby, where people are valued as human beings and not just as workers. My colleagues and I have gone through pregnancies, births, retirements and even deaths together. In USF, we have grown as scholars and as human beings.