Student Profile Megan Arnot UCL

UCL webpage:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/people/research-students/megan-arnot

Twitter:

@meganarnotx

Blurb:

MSci Human Sciences & Evolution, 1^st class (Hons), UCL (2013-2017)

All scientists have the common goal of wanting to understand why things are the way they are. As a behavioural ecologist, I ask “why?” from a functional perspective; looking at traits and trying to understand what environment would have resulted in them being selected for. I specifically focus on the human menopause, which is often regarded as an evolutionary puzzle. From a traditional Darwinian perspective, the extended post-reproductive lifespan females experience does not make sense, as why would natural selection have favoured a trait that appears to reduce the reproductive capacity of females? In addition to the menopause being a puzzle in itself, there is also a great deal of variability in age of natural menopause both within and between cultures, in addition to a wide range of symptoms experienced – both of which are factors that are not well understood. Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (Bristol, UK), Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (multisite, USA), and primary data collected from traditional groups in China (Mosuo, Han, Yi and ZhaBa), my research investigates the evolutionary ecology of menopause timing and symptoms, which will hopefully shed light on whether there is an adaptive reason for the variation seen in the aforementioned traits.

Supervisors:

Ruth Mace, Department of Anthropology

Emily Emmott, Department of Anthropology

Stephen Jivraj, Epidemiology & Public Health

Publications:

Arnot, M. 2017. A Response to Gardner and Harrison: the Reasons for, and Implications of, Brexit from an Anthropological Standpoint. Papers from the Institute of Archaeology, 27(1), doi: 10.5334/pia-547.