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Email:
caroline.uggla.09@ucl.ac.uk
Year of start: 2010
Subject: Biological
Anthropology
Research Topic/ Provisional Dissertation Title
The Human Behavioural Ecology of Public Health
Supervisors
Prof. Ruth Mace (Primary)
Dr. David W Lawson (Secondary)
Introduction
My interests are based around life history theory and in particular health-seeking behaviours and reproductive decision-making. It is well known that there is large individual variation health and health-seeking behaviours but the ultimate explanations for such variation are less explored.
Since achieving or maintaining good health requires resources of some kind (time, money, skill etc.) investments in health invariably have to be traded against other fitness generating behaviours. Life history theory can thus make predictions about variation in health-seeking behaviour based on variation in the costs and benefits faced by individuals in allocating resources to health over, for example, parenting or mating effort.
To test such predictions I am using data from two large scale demographic surveys from both high and low mortality contexts (sub-Saharan Africa and Northern Ireland respectively). I am interested in individual and ecological effects (e.g. extrinsic mortality) on health-seeking and reproduction behaviours, and how the effect of individual factors might be mediated by the local ecological context.
Research interests
- Health-seeking behaviours
- Reproductive decision-making
Academic Background/Education
MRes Anthropology (Distinction) University College London (2010)
BA (Hons) Anthropology (1st Class) Durham University (2009)
Funding
Jointly by UCL IMPACT studentship and European Research Council
