Claudia R. Valeggia

Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Department of Anthropology
University of Pennsylvania
3260 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6398 USA
Phone: 215-746-5162    Fax: 215-898-7462
Email: valeggia@sas.upenn.edu

EDUCATION

1996   Ph.D. in Animal Behavior                          University of California, Davis, CA

1995   M.S. in Animal Behavior                           University of California, Davis, CA    

1988   Licenciatura in Biology (M.S. equivalent)      University of Buenos Aires, Argentina           

APPOINTMENTS

2005 – Present    Francis E. Johnston Term Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania

2005- Present      Research Associate, Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania

2005 – Present    Research Associate, Center for Human and Primate Reproductive Ecology, Yale University

2002-2005          Director, Chaco Area Reproductive Ecology Program, Department of Anthropology, Reproductive Ecology Laboratory, Harvard University, U.S.A.

1998- present      Researcher, Centro del Hombre Antiguo Chaqueño, National Council for Scientific and Technological Research, Argentina.

1998-2002          Post-doctoral Fellow, Department of Anthropology, Reproductive Ecology Laboratory, Harvard University, U.S.A.

1997- 1998         Instructor, Dept. of Psychology, University of California, Davis.

1996- 1997         Associate Researcher, Centro del Hombre Antiguo Chaqueño, Dept. of Biological Anthropology, Formosa, Argentina.

1996                  Lecturer, Dept. of Psychology, University of California, Davis. U.S.A.

Research Experience and Interests

2006- present   Breastfeeding in Northeastern Philadelphia. In collaboration with Dr. Gail Herrine (Women’s Center, Northeastern Hospital), we are investigating the relationship among social, cultural and biological variables in determining infant feeding choices among inner city Latinas and non-Latinas.

1997- present   Reproductive Ecology of Indigenous and Non-indigenous Groups in the Gran Chaco Region of South America.  A total of 54 months in the field studying demography, fertility, life history patterns, energetics, nutrition, infant and child growth and development, childcare practices, sexual and reproductive health.

1992-1995        Reproductive physiology and development in female Titi monkeys (Callicebus moloch).  Reproductive biology of neotropical primates. California Regional Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis

1994               Immune responses to social stress in Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)  California Regional Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis.

1991               Responses to novelty in two species of New World monkeys: Titi monkeys (Callicebus moloch) and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus).  California Regional Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis

1988-90           Behavioral response of shore crabs (Chasmagnathus granulatus) to different types of stimulation producing stress-induced analgesia and the effects of endogenous opioids and their antagonists on that response.  National Council for Scientific and Technological Research, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

GRANTS AND PROJECTS

Total amount awarded: $349,863

Trustees Summer Award
2007 Indigenous communities taking care of health

University Research Foundation, University of Pennsylvania
2006-2007 Biparental Care and Social Monogamy in Primates: Behavioral and Hormonal Correlates 

NICHD-PSC/ NIA/Boettner Center
2006-2007 Demographic changes in Toba villages in transition

Argentine National Women Council
2005-2006 Indigenous people taking care of health  (Aborígenes cuidando la salud)

National Geographic Society
2004-2005 The Wichí and the Toba hunter-gatherers of the Argentine Gran Chaco: Subsistence ecology and demography

LSB Leakey Foundation 
2003-2004   Demography and Subsistence Activities among the Wichí of the Argentine Chaco       

Wenner-Gren Foundation

2003-2004   Fertility and Subsistence Activities among the Wichí of the Argentine Chaco

National Geographic Society

2002-2003   Reproductive Ecology of Indigenous Foraging Communities in the Argentinean Chaco  

David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University

2001-2002         Adolescent motherhood in a Toba community of Formosa, Argentina

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development      

2000-2002 Energetics, Nursing Behavior, and Lactational Amenorrhea    

THESIS ADVISING

Completed theses

Riley M. Bove , “Girl helpers and nursing women’s activities among the Toba of Argentina” (1998) Bachelor’s Thesis, Harvard University.

Kathryn Faulkner, “Infant Growth Status in a Toba Community, Northern Argentina”  (1999) Bachelor’s Thesis, Emmanuel College, UK.

Kimberly M. Sánchez Ocasio, “A Fork in Fertility: The Demographic Transition and Factors Mediating a Fertility Decline among the Indigenous Toba of Argentina” (2002) Bachelor’s Thesis, Harvard University.

Claudia R. Fernández, “Attitudes towards sex and sexuality in Toba and Criollo adolescents in the Province of Formosa”.  (2005) Master’s Thesis, University of Formosa, Argentina.

Anne Grossestreuer, “Impact of early environment on reproductive patterns in inner city women”, Master Thesis, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

On-going Theses

Willcox, Allison, “Skeletal indicators of health and nutritional status in First Intermediate Period Egypt”, Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Norberto A. Lanza, “Changes in demographic patterns in the Western Toba populations during the last century”  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Córdoba, Argentina. 

Meredith R. Reiches, “Metabolic changes during puberty: a life-history approach” Doctoral Dissertation, Harvard University, USA. Co-directed with Dr. Peter T. Ellison

Laura Romcevich, “Breastfeeding among Latinas in Philadelphia”, Master’s Thesis University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Jacquelyn McNaughton, “Sexual orientation and expressions of jealousy among college students”, Honor’s Thesis, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Ed Berchick, “Learning not to follow the rules: Anthropologists’ Accounts of Practices in Ethics”, Honor’s Thesis, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

HONORS AND AWARDS

1992-1994     International Peace Scholarship, P.E.O. Foundation

1992             Outstanding Teaching Award, University of California, Davis

1991             International Fellowship, American Association of University Women (AAUW)

1990             Training Scholarship, Organization of American States

1990             Travel Scholarship, Fulbright Commission

1990             Smithsonian Fellowship, Wildlife Conservation & Management Training Program, Smithsonian Institution

MEMBERSHIPS

American Anthropological Association, USA

American Association of Physical Anthropologists, USA

Asociación de Antropología Biológica de la República Argentina, Argentina

Biosocial Society, UK

Human Biology Association, USA

International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation

Fundación E.C.O. (Ecosistemas del Chaco Oriental), Formosa, Argentina

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

2007 – Present         Consulting Curator, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania

2007 – Present         Advisory Board, La Casa Latina, University of Pennsylvania

2007- Present           Global Health Advisory Board, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania

2007 – Present         Bursaries Committee, Biosocial Society, UK

2004 -  Present         Committee of Overseas Members, Biosocial Society, UK

2001 – Present         President, Fundación ECO, Argentina

1996                      Organizing Committee, Human Behavior and Evolution Society, USA

1996                                     Organizing Committee, Society for the Study of Reproduction Meetings, Davis, California, USA.

1994                                      Membership Committee, Animal Behavior Society

PUBLICATIONS

Valeggia, C.R. (in press) Taking the lab to the field: Minimally invasive techniques for monitoring reproductive hormones in population-scale research.  Population Development Review 33(3).

Valeggia, C.R. (in press) Métodos mínimamente invasivos para el estudio de hormonas en el campo. Revista Argentina de Antropología Biológica.

Walker, R., Hill, K., Gurven, M., Magliano, A., Chagnon, N., Djurovic, G., Hames, R., Hurtado, A.M., Oiver, W.J., De Souza, R., Valeggia, C. and Yamauchi, T. (2006) Growth rates, developmental markers, and life histories in 21 small-scale societies. American Journal of Human Biology 18(3):295-311.

Valeggia, C.R. (2006)  Changing times for the Argentine Toba: Who cares for the baby now?  Gillian Bentley & Ruth Mace (Eds).  Biosocial Society Symposium Series. Cambridge University Press, 15 pages.

Valeggia, C.R. and Lanza, N. A. (2005) Tiempos de cambio: Consecuencias de la transición nutricional en comunidades Toba de Formosa.  (Consequences of the nutritional transition in the Toba communities of Formosa). Anales del XXIV Encuentro de Geohistoria Regional, Resistencia.

Sánchez-Ocasio, K. and Valeggia, C.R. (2005) Fertilidad y transición demográfica entre los Toba del Gran Chaco Argentino: Factores Mediadores. (Fertility and demographic transition among the Toba of the Argentine Gran Chaco: Mediating Factors) Anales del XXIV Encuentro de Geohistoria Regional, Resistencia.                  

Lanza, N. A. and Valeggia, C. R. (2005) Análisis de posibles factores determinantes de la proporción sexual secundaria en una población Toba.  (Analysis of possible determinants of secondary sex ratios in a Toba population).  Revista Argentina de Antropologia Biológica 7 (2) 21-33.

Valeggia, C.R., Lanza N. A. and Córdoba, L.I. (2005) Fuentes de variación en la alimentación actual de los toba-pilagá del oeste formoseño.  (Sources of variation in the current diet of Toba-Pilaga people in Western Formosa). Actas del Quinto Congreso de Americanistas, Sociedad Argentina de Americanistas, Buenos Aires: 123-142.

Ellison, P.T., Valeggia, C.R., and Sherry, D. S. (2005) Human birth seasonality. In: Primate Seasonality: Implications for Human Evolution.  Diane K. Brockman and Carel P. van Schaik (Eds).  Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology, Cambridge University Press, 17 pages.

Valeggia, C.R. and Ellison, P. T. (2004)  Lactational amenorrhea in well nourished Toba women of Argentina.  Journal of Biosocial Science 36 (5) 573-595.

Valeggia, C.R. and Ellison P. T. (2003) Impact of breastfeeding on anthropometric changes in a population of Toba women.  American Journal of Human Biology 15:717-724.

Ellison, P.T. and Valeggia, C. R. (2003) C-peptide levels and the duration of lactational amenorrhea. Fertility and Sterility 80(4):878-880.

Valeggia, C. R. and Tola, F. (2003) The Argentine Toba.  In: Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology. Ember and Ember (Eds.), Plenum/Kluwer Press, pp. 564-572.

Bove, R. M., Valeggia, C.R, and Ellison, P.T. (2002) Girl helpers and nursing women’s activities among the Toba of Argentina. Human Nature 13(4), 457-472.

Valeggia, C., Faulkner, K., and Ellison, P. T. (2002) Evaluación de curvas de peso en lactantes de una comunidad Toba de Formosa.  Archivos Argentinos de Pediatría 100 (2), 31-36.

Valeggia, C.R. and Ellison, P.T. (2002) Energetics, Fecundity, and Human Life History. In: Biodemography of Fertility, J. Rodgers and H.P. Koehler (Eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 87-103.

Valeggia, C.R. and Ellison, P. T. (2001).  Lactation, Energetics, and Postpartum Fecundity.  In: Reproductive Ecology and Human Evolution, Peter T. Ellison (Ed.), Aldine de Gruyter, New York., pp. 85-105.

Faulkner, K., Valeggia, C.R., and Ellison, P.T. (2000) Infant growth status in a Toba community of Formosa, Argentina.  Social Biology and Human Affairs, 65.1:8-19.

Fernandez-Duque, E., Valeggia, C.R., and Mason, W. A.  (2000).  Effects of pair-bond and social context on male-female interactions in captive titi monkeys (Callicebus moloch). Ethology, 106, 1067-1082.

Valeggia, C.R., Mendoza, S.P., Fernandez-Duque, E., Mason, W.A., and Lasley, B. (1999) Reproductive Biology of Female Titi Monkeys (Callicebus moloch). American Journal of Primatology, 47(3):183-95.

Valeggia CR, Mendoza SP, Capitanio JP. (1997)  A non-radioactive assay for determination of mitogen induced proliferation of peripheral blood lymphocytes in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Boletin Primatológico Latinoamericano, 6(1):9-13.

Fernandez-Duque E, Valeggia CR. (1995)  Meta-analysis: a valuable tool in conservation research. Reprinted in: Readings from Conservation Biology; To Preserve Biodiversity – An overview.  Editor: David Ehrenfeld, 208-214.

Fernandez-Duque E, Valeggia CR. (1994) Meta-analysis: a valuable tool in conservation research. Conservation Biology 8(2): 555-561.

Fernandez-Duque E, Valeggia CR, Maldonado H. (1992) Multi-trial learning in the crab Chasmagnathus. Behavioral and Neural Biology 57: 189-197.

Valeggia C, Fernandez-Duque E, Maldonado H. (1989) Danger stimulus-induced analgesia in the crab Chasmagnathus granulatus. Brain Research 481:330-333.

Broad-audience Publications

Braunstein, J.A., Valeggia, C.R., and Krebs, E., 2003. The deadly paradox of Bañado “La Estrella”. Cultural Survival Quarterly, Spring 2003, 67-69.

Valeggia, C. R. and Ellison, P. T. 2001 Nutrition, Breastfeeding, and Fertility. DRCLAS News, Harvard University, Spring 2001, 24-27.

Fernandez-Duque, E. and C.R. Valeggia, 1996.   Poster sessions: an alternative term assignment in animal behaviour courses.  Animal Behaviour Newsletter, 41(4): 5.

SELECTED INVITED TALKS AND SEMINARS

     Men in transition: Paternal Care Among the Toba and Wichí of Argentina.  Symposium on Paternal Care, Philadelphia, March 29, 2007

     The Chaco Area Reproductive Ecology Program, Animal Behavior Group, University of Pennsylvania, November 10, 2006.

     Energetics and postpartum fecundity. Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania, October 19, 2006.

     Possible trade-offs between immune system and reproductive function.  Stanford Biodemography Workshop, Napa Valley, February 9-12, 2006.

     Energetics and female fecundity: Lessons from the Toba of Argentina.  Population Studies Center Colloquium Series, University of Pennsylvania, November 28, 2005.

     Changing times for the Argentine Toba: Who cares for the baby?  Invited paper to be presented at the 2004 Biosocial Society Symposium: Alloparenting in Human Societies, London, May 7-8, 2004.

The Peoples of the Gran Chaco: Environmental influences on reproduction, nutrition and health.  Department of Anthropology Seminar Series, Dept. of Anthropology, Stanford University, January 30, 2004

Workshop on Ethical Aspects of Research with Human Subjects, lecturer and coordinator, Argentine Association of Biological Anthropologists, Catamarca, Argentina, October 2003

Growth and Development in Toba Infants, 1^st National Auxology Conference, Argentine Society of Pediatrics, Buenos Aires, April 2003

Lactation and nutrition in peri-urban Toba women.  Workshop on Epidemiology for Medical School Residents, Ministry of Human Development, Formosa, September 2001

Nutrition and Fertility: Changing Lifestyles and Policy Implications. David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University, May 2001

Advances in human reproductive ecology.  Seminar offered at the Dept. of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, April 2001

Biosocial influences on female reproduction in titi monkeys and humans, NYCEP Seminar Series, Dept of Anthropology, New York University, New York, February 2001

Life history, energetics, and fertility in populations in transition. Third Conference on Lowest Low Fertility with a special focus on The Biodemography of Fertility, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany,  August  2000.

languages

            spanish:  Proficient (Native Language)

English:  Proficient

Italian:  Fluent