Howells, Michaela E
Associate Professor
- 910.962.3431
Phone
Howells, Michaela E
Associate Professor
Positions
- Associate Professor, Anthropology , College of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts
Overview
Overview
Her current work focuses on the impact of natural disasters and climate change on maternal and child health. Her research interests include stigma, social determinants of health, reproductive justice, prenatal stress, toxic stress, intergenerational health outcomes, and health equity. She aims to identify barriers to health care surrounding civil status, prenatal care, menstrual equity, natural disasters, Zika, and HIV/AIDS.
She is the Director of the UNCW GAPS (Growth Adaptation Pregnancy Stress) Lab and has conducted collaborative research in the South Pacific, Asia, Africa, Central and South American, and the American Southeast.
Publications
Selected Publications
Academic Article
Chapter
| Year | Title | Altmetric |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-01-01 | Primates and primatologists: reflecting on two decades of primatological and ethnoprimatological research, tourism, and conservation at the Ubud Monkey Forest -- Tourism and Indonesia’s Primates.
Springer.
153-178.
2022-01-01
|
|
| 2019-01-01 | Fossil primates from flooded habitats: the antiquity of an association -- Primates in Flooded Habitats: Ecology and Conservation.
PLoS One.
2019-01-01
|
|
| 2017-01-01 | The Freshman 15.
Greenwood / ABC-CLIO.
2017-01-01
|
|
| 2017-01-01 | “The mosquito brings the sickness”: local knowledge, stigma, and barriers to Zika prevention in rural Guatemala. -- Maternal Health, Pregnancy-Related Morbidity and Death Among Indigenous Women of Mexico and Central America: An Anthropological, Epidemiological and Biomedical Approach..
Springer Nature.
2017-01-01
|
Document
| Year | Title | Altmetric |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-01-01 | Zika: From the Brazilian Backlands to Global Threat.
American Journal of Human Biology.
2018-01-01
|
|
| 2016-01-01 | Engaged Anthropology Grant: Michaela Howells.
The Wenner-Gren Blog.
2016-01-01
|
|
| 2013-01-01 | Evolution of Menopause.
Citizendium.
2013-01-01
|
Report
| Year | Title | Altmetric |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-01-01 | Effects of Stress on Pregnancy: Outcomes After a Hurricane.
Natural Hazards Center Quick Response Grant Report Series.
2021-01-01
|
|
| 2016-04-01 | Zika's frightening stranglehold.
Sapiens: Online Magazine of the Wenner Gren Foundation.
2016-04-01
|
Presentations
- Dry matter digestibility and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of captive northern galagos (Otolemur garnettii) fed experimental “frugivorous” and “invertebrate” diets, American Association of Biological Anthropologists Meeting 2023-04-01
- Health Disparities and natural disasters: unmarried pregnant women and stress following Hurricane Florence., Society for Applied Anthropology Meetings 2023-03-01
- Health disparities and natural disasters: do unmarried pregnant women experience higher levels of physiological stress following a hurricane? , 9th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Bioanthropology Interest Group (SEBIG) 2023-02-01
- The Intersection of LGBT Populations and Aging: Biological and Cross-Cultural Explorations Part 1, Osher Lifelong Learning Workshop Series 2022-09-01
- The Intersection of LGBT Populations and Aging: Biological and Cross-Cultural Explorations Part 2, Osher Lifelong Learning Workshop Series 2022-09-01
- Differences in STI prevalence across age and sex classes in Samoa: the value of age specific preventative services, 45th Annual Meeting of the Human Biology Association 2020-05-01
- Tattoos and other biomarkers: secretory immunoglobulin A, C-reactive protein, cortisol, and bacteria-killing response to tattooing, 45th Annual Meeting of the Human Biology Association 2020-05-01
- Experimental investigation of phytoliths and combustion features and their relevance for the 'Cooking Hypothesis` from East Turkana, Kenya, 89th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists 2020-04-01
- Food choice and nutritional analysis of frugivorous and insectivorous diets in captive Northern greater galagos (Otolemur garnettii), 89th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists 2020-04-01
- Tattoo and Cultural Protections on Health, Tatau Tattoo Festival 2019-11-01
- Family and Career Dynamics among Biological and Applied Anthropologists, the 44th Annual Meeting of the Human Biology Association 2019-03-01
- Going with the Flo: Socioeconomic disparities in stress experiences and mediation following Hurricane Florence, 44th Annual Meeting of the Human Biology Association 2019-03-01
- Going with the Flo: Socioeconomic disparities in stress experiences and mediation following Hurricane Florence. , Annual Convention for the Human Biology Association 2019-03-01
- Tattooing and Immune Response: More Like Exercise or an Inoculation? , 44th Annual Meeting of the Human Biology Association 2019-03-01
- The Evolutionary Adaptation of Body Art: Tattooing as an Honest Signal of Fitness, 117th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association 2018-11-01
- Fight the bite: Zika Virus, personal responsibility, maternal stigmatization, and disabled children in American Samoa, 87th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists 2018-04-01
- Tatau and the hygiene hypothesis: retesting the inoculation effect of tattooing in American Samoa, 43rd Human Biology Association Meeting 2018-04-01
- Trouble in paradise: analyzing the patterns of a bites and scratches directed at humans by long-tailed macaques (Macaque fascicularis) at Padangtegal Wenara Wana, Bali, Indonesia, 87th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists 2018-04-01
- Zika virus and maternal stigmatization: Supporting maternal and child health through religious engagement in American Samoa, 87th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists 2018-04-01
- “Fight the bite”: Zika, tattoos, and health in American Samoa, Central Washington University Invited Lecture 2018-02-01
- The embodiment of inequality: the effect of maternal social status on fetal growth, prenatal care, and Zika exposure in American Samoa, East Carolina University Invited Lecture 2018-01-01
- “Fight the bite”: Zika, tattoos, and health in American Samoa, Green River College Invited Lecture 2018-01-01
- Does maternal social status impact their exposure to the Zika virus in American Samoa?, Modernization and Health in the Asia-Pacific Region. Joint sponsored by the Japan Physiological Anthropology Society 2017-08-01
- Stress, creativity, and final exams: A preliminary report., 42nd Human Biology Association 2017-04-01
- Behaviors, badges, bans, and babies: Religious commitment signaling and unwed motherhood in American Samoa. , 86th American Association of Physical Anthropologists 2017-04-01
- Examining heavy metal concentrations in hair of South African vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) to access anthropogenic impacts, 86th American Association of Physical Anthropologists 2017-04-01
- Of Moms and mosquitos: Embodiment of inequality and Zika risk in American Samoa, Conference on Rural Health – University of Alabama 2017-04-01
- The embodiment of inequality: Zika risk in the Pacific island of American Samoa. , 42nd Human Biology Association 2017-04-01
- Zika in rural Guatemala: condom stigmatization and the embodiment of risk., 42nd Human Biology Association 2017-04-01
- Key note address: History of the development and use of the Samoan fautasi , Hawaiian Watercraft Conference 2017-02-01
- Mosquitos and Moms: the intersection of biology and culture during recent Zika outbreaks in American Samoa. , Southeastern Evolutionary Perspectives Society 2017-02-01
- Stigma and size: maternal social status, neonate size, and risk of Zika in American Samoa, Invited Extemporaneous Talk: University of Alabama 2017-01-01
- American Samoa and the Embodiment of Inequality in the Age of Zika, 115th American Anthropological Association Meeting 2016-11-01
- Tie the knot, grow a baby: The effects of marital status on neonate growth in American Samoa, Mid-Atlantic Biological Interest Group Meeting 2016-10-01
- Reduced Maternal Social Status in American Samoan Women Results in Slower Fetal Growth, Pacific Islander Health Conference 2016-05-01
- Anthropologists Under Pressure: Perceptions of Stress, Conflict, and Support in the Pursuit of Career-Family Balance, American Association of Physical Anthropologists 2016-04-01
- Does chronic maternal psychosocial stress among American Samoan women affect neonate body size? , Human Biology Association Meetings 2016-04-01
- Examining maternal marital status in American Samoa: implications for neonate size and access to prenatal care, Human Biology Association Meetings 2016-04-01
- Stigma and size: does reduced maternal social status in American Samoan women result in slower fetal growth? , Southeastern Evolutionary Perspectives Society Meeting 2016-02-01
- Anthropologists, Kids, and Careers: When Family is Strange and the Field Familiar, American Anthropological Association Meeting 2015-11-01
- Is chronic maternal psychosocial stress linked to neonate outcomes in American Samoan women? The intergenerational effects of stress on neonate body size., American Anthropological Association Meeting 2015-11-01
- Stressing the small stuff: Does Maternal Psychological Stress Affect Neonate Body Size In American Samoans?, Mid-Atlantic Biological Interest Group Meeting 2015-10-01
- Impact of psychosocial stress on gestation length and pregnancy outcomes in Samoan women, In-Service Presentation 2011-01-01
- An ethnoprimatological approach to understanding human-chimpanzee sympatry in western Tanzania, 2008 Walker Van Riper and William H. Burt University of Colorado Lecture Series 2008-09-01