Faculty Profile

headshot of D.  Andrew Merriwether

D. Andrew Merriwether

Professor; Collegiate Professor for College in the Woods

Anthropology; Residential Life

Background

Merriwether is a molecular anthropologist and population geneticist whose research focuses on the peopling of new landscapes (the New World and the Pacific), reconstructing the past using genetic data from contemporary populations and ancient DNA from the archaeological record. Additional areas of research focus on genes involved in adaptation to altitude, diabetes and obesity.

Education

  • PhD, University of Pittsburgh
  • MA, BS, BA, Pennsylvania State University

Research Interests

  • Ancient DNA/PaleoGenomics
  • Molecular Anthropology
  • Peopling of the New World and The Pacific
  • Plant and Animal Domestication
  • Population Genetics/Phylogenetics
  • Forensic DNA
  • Molecular Epidemiology
  • Biomedical Anthropology
  • Evolutionary Biology/Molecular Evolution
  • Paleodemography