Hannah Moots

Paleoecology; Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction; Archaeogenetics; Human Ecology and Evolution; STEM/STEAM Education

Hannah's research draws on bioarchaeological, paleoenvironmental and genomic lines of evidence to investigate connections between environmental change and human health. Her current work examines the recursive relationship between multifactorial diseases and the biological and cultural changes - such as pathogen burden, mobility patterns, and dietary shifts - that came about in the Neolithic transition. Her past research has included an archaeogenetic analysis of the dispersal of several domesticated crops, including taro (Colocasia esculenta) and broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) and a paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the aridification of the Saharan Desert over 8,000 years at Gobero, Niger.

Before beginning her PhD, she worked as the Lead Earth Science Educator at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, Texas where she taught and developed earth science educational programs.