Caitlin (Cait) McPherson, PhD 

 

ASERT Fellow 

University of New Mexico 

Dept. Anthropology 

Email (as a link) cmcpherson@salud.unm.edu 

 

Education 

• ASERT Postdoctoral Fellow, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 2022 - Present 
• PhD, Biological Anthropology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 2022 
• BA, Anthropology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, 2010 

 

Teaching 

 

Teaching Mentors: Christine Woods, PhD, Faculty, Biology Department, Central New Mexico Community College; Todd Nims, MS, Faculty, Environmental Science Program, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute 

 

Courses Taught: Human Evolution, Human Variation in the Modern World, Co-evolution of Humans and Pathogens (section on respiratory diseases), Human Osteology (sections on vertebral pathology, dental development) 

 

Research 

 

Current Research: Assessing the relationship between skeletal biomarkers of developmental stress and growth, morbidity, and mortality trends  

 

Research Mentors: 

 

• Heather Edgar, Professor; Anthropology Department; Forensic Anthropologist, OMI; 

    Research Assistant Professor, Maxwell Museum; Director, Bridge Lab 

• Alexis (Lexi) O’Donnell, Asst Professor, COPH Deans Office; Adjunct Asst Professor; 

    Anthropology Department 

 

Publications: 

 

McPherson CB. Growing pains: opportunities to adjust phenotypic trajectories in childhood and adolescence complicate studies of developmental plasticity in late Homo. 2023. PaleoAnthropology (In press).   

 

McPherson CB. Examining developmental plasticity in the skeletal system through a sensitive developmental windows framework. 2021. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 176: 163-178. 

 

Mountain RV, Wilson JA, McPherson CB, Blew RM, Watson JT.  Sex differences in age-related bone loss and antemortem tooth loss in East-Central Arizona (AD 1200-1450).  2021.  International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 31: 716-726. 

 

Watson JT, McPherson CB, Moreno CG, Villalpando ME. Retraso en el crecimiento en la Sonora antigua (Stunted growth in ancient Sonora). 2021. Noroeste de México, 1: 47-68.   

McPherson CB, Ferguson TJ. Exploring Indigenous Associations with Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. 2019. Archaeology Southwest Magazine, 33: 10-12.