Contact Information

Associate Professor of Biological Anthropology
Departments of Anthropology and Biology
Core Faculty, Women's Gender and Sexuality Program
Boston University

Mail: 
     232 Bay State Road
     Boston, MA 02215

Office:
     Stone Science Building, Room 247E
     675 Commonwealth Ave
     Boston, MA 02215

Email: caschmit [at] bu [dot] edu

Phone: +1 (617) 353 - 5026

Co-Director
Sensory Morphology and Anthropological Genomics Lab (SMAGL)
Stone Science Building, Room 251
675 Commonwealth Ave
Boston University

I am Associate Professor of Biological Anthropology, and co-director with Dr. Eva Garrett of the Sensory Morphology and Anthropological Genomics Lab (SMAGL) at Boston University. My central research questions use non-human primate (NHP) models to understand adaptations to extreme ecologies, which are becoming more severe with anthropogenic climate change. I focus on pre-adulthood as a particularly responsive and plastic period when ecological conditions may have an outsized impact on developing primates and their life histories. How vulnerable or robust are primates, including humans, to environmental variation during ontogeny, and what can this tell us about developmental impacts on lifetime health? I use behavioral ecology, morphometric, and genomics methods to study mechanistic and adaptive aspects of these questions in two NHP models: savanna monkeys (Chlorocebus spp.), and woolly monkeys (Lagothrix spp.)

My work with Chlorocebus investigates both heritable and epigenetic components to developmental patterns that help us to better understand the interplay between extremes in resource quality and energetics, life history, and adult-onset traits and disease. Part of this research focuses on whole genome sequenced and pedigreed Chlorocebus at Wake Forest University, where with Primate Signature funding I am analyzing genome-wide methylation and differential gene expression data across a high-fat diet intervention. This is informed by my work characterizing how genetic variation (consistent with the Thrifty Genotype hypothesis for the evolution of metabolic disorders) and dietary impacts in utero (consistent with the Thrifty Phenotype hypothesis) influence growth in Chlorocebus (published in the International Journal of Obesity), and how these patterns may be tracked by variation in gene expression.

With the International Vervet Research Consortium, I maintain (and continue to build) an archive of samples and data from over 2,000 wild Chlorocebus, 117 of which we have whole genome sequenced (with more on the way), to understand how selection impacts the metabolic genes, systems, and processes uncovered in captivity. With this sample, I have collaborated on projects ranging from the evolution and pathogenicity of SIV in wild vervets (published in PLOS Pathogens and the Journal of Virology), to genome-wide variation and gene-expression in relation to health phenotypes (published in Nature Genetics). You can learn more about the diversity of the research program in my book, Savanna Monkeys: The Genus Chlorocebus, now available at Cambridge University Press. With Leakey Foundation and National Geographic Society funding I currently use RNA-seq to characterize the expression of metabolism-associated genes across a recent drought at my two field sites in South Africa: Soetdoring Nature Reserve (where vervets forage naturally), and a private farm near the !Gariep Dam (where vervets a regularly provisioned). Paired with body condition and human impacts data (published in the  American Journal of Physical Anthropology), this will be the first explicit test in the wild of Thrifty Genotype and Thrifty Phenotype hypotheses. With this research, I hope to contribute to a comprehensive model for how genetics interact with diet and climate to produce life history variation. Field work for these projects is ongoing in South Africa with my collaborator Prudent Mokgokong at North West University.

My developing work on Lagothrix expands the use of portable genomics technologies to delve into how diet, sociality, and genetic variation interact to enable the energetics of high-elevation living while also potentially constraining climatic adaptability. I have funding from the National Science Foundation, The Leakey Foundation and the  National Geographic Society to characterize population viability and how the energetics of the high-altitude Andes structures social behavior and genetics in Critically Endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkeys (L. flavicauda). Using portable Oxford Nanopore sequencers, my group has generated reference mitogenomes and microbiome data for multiple Lagothrix taxa. With 200+ L. flavicauda fecal samples from across Perú, we will assess signs of selection to cold and hypoxia, how genetic variation has shifted due to climate change and human impacts, and update taxonomy to include a novel population we discovered in central Perú (published in Oryx) and to complement our recent habitat viability assessment (published in the American Journal of Primatology). This work is and will continue to be in collaboration with Peruvian and International NGOs - including Yunkawasi Perú and Neotropical Primate Conservation - ensuring the inclusion of local communities and conservation.

For more information, and information on other research projects and collaborators, please follow the links above or you can contact me by email. If you still want to learn more, I also have had a rather robust social media presence.

Lab Accomplishments

  • 07 May 2024: PI Christopher Schmitt has been promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure! Huzzah!
  • 17 April 2024: Anthropology Ph.D. student Warrenkevin Henderson has been awarded $16,000 from the Boston University long-term Graduate Student Abroad Fellowship! Congratulations, Warrenkevin!
  • 29 March 2024: Biology (Specialization in Behavioral Biology) B.A. student Sofia Weaver in one of only two BU students to be selected in the national competition for a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship! Very well-deserved, Sofia! Congratulations!
  • 16 February 2024: Anthropology Ph.D. student Jess Martin won a Pollitzer Travel Award to help her offset the costs of attending the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Biological Anthropologists in Los Angeles!  Congrats, Jess!
  • 16 February 2024: Please join me in welcoming Soumalya Ghorui, M.Sc. to the SMAGL! Soumalya has just accepted our offer to join the Ph.D. program in Biological Anthropology at Boston University in Fall 2024!  Soumalya is joining us from years of work with the Himalayan Langur Project, which he will continue collaborating with to develop his Ph.D. project (with a few new skills he'll develop with us!). We look forward to working with you here in Boston, Soumalya!
  • 10 February 2024: Anthropology Ph.D. student Jimmy Erkens is a semi-finalist for a Point Foundation Scholarship! Congratulations, Jimmy, on the huge honor, and good luck moving forward in the competition!
  • 19 January 2024: Biology (Specialization in Behavioral Biology) B.A. student Sofia Weaver is officially one of just four BU undergraduate students to advance to the national competition for a Goldwater Scholarship! Very well-deserved, Sofia, and fingers crossed!
  • 01 January 2024: Biology (Specialization in Behavioral Biology) B.A. student Sofia Weaver has been named an IDEAS (Increasing Diversity in the Evolutionary Anthropological Sciences) Scholar for the American Association of Biological Anthropology! Congrats, Sofia! This award will fund Sofia attending the 2024 AABA meetings in Los Angeles, and set her up with a strong network of diverse Biological Anthropologists!
  • 14 December 2023: PI Christopher Schmitt has been awarded a Meridian Grant (in collaboration with Santiago Ramírez Said and Roberto Elias Piperis) from the National Geographic Society in support of his research Assessing Technological Enhancement of Conservation Monitoring and Education for Endangered Endemic Primates in Perú.
  • 14 December 2023: PI Christopher Schmitt and Postdoctoral Associate Lecturer Dr. Evelyn Pain have been awarded a grant from The Leakey Foundation in support of their research on Fission-fusion Dynamics in a High-Altitude Atelin Primate, the Yellow-Tailed Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda).
  • 01 December 2023: Dr. Christian Gagnon (recent Ph.D. student in Anthropology) has successfully defended his dissertation, The Evolutionary History and Adaptive Significance of UCP1-Mediated Thermogenesis in Primates! Dr. Gagnon will be starting as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Genevieve Housman's Lab in the Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany in January. We'll miss you, Christian! Well done!
  • 15 November 2023: Anthropology Ph.D. student Mel Zarate has been awarded a NSF INTERN Supplement to her Graduate Research Fellowship to work with Zoo New England's Conservation Genomics section to investigate the genetics of cardiomyopathy in captive gorillas! Congrats, Mel! 
  • 06 November 2023: Biology (Specialization in Behavioral Biology) B.A. student Sofia Weaver has been awarded Best Poster Presentation, Runner Up at the joint meeting of the Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists and the Mid-Atlantic Biological Anthropology Interest Group (NEEP/MABIG) meetings in Richmond, VA for her poster on body size in Critically Endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkeys (Lagothrix flavicauda) in Perú using dual-laser photogrammetry! Congrats, Sofia!
  • 15 August 2023: Anthropology Ph.D. student Christian Gagnon and PI Christopher Schmitt have been awarded a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation for Christian's dissertation project, Validating Signals of Selection using Cold-Mediated Expression of Wild Vervet (Chlorocebus spp.) UCP1 in Fibroblast-Derived Brown Adipocytes! Congratulations, Christian!
  • 12 June 2023: Biology (Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution) M.S. graduate Max Dippel has accepted a job with Dr. John Ray at the Benaroya Research Institute in Seattle, where he'll be working on discovering regulatory variation associated with autoimmune disorders! Congrats on the amazing job, Max! Very well-deserved!
  • 12 June 2023: Biology (Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution) M.S. graduate Max Dippel is a finalist in the 2023 American Society of Primatologists Student Competition! He'll present his M.S. research, Genetic Variation in Heat Shock Protein HSPA1L in Savanna Monkeys: Implications for Heat Resilience, virtually at the Reno meetings later this month. Congratulations, Max!
  • 02 June 2023: New Mission High School (BPS) interns Gina Gawargi & Kevin Carbonell-Gautier officially finish their Career and Technical Education Internships (under Anthropology Ph.D. student Mel Zarate's guidance) in the SMAGL today! It's been wonderful having them, and they finished strong: amplifying insect DNA from wild woolly monkey feces, and doing a sequencing run on the MinION! Congrats, Gina and Kevin! We hope we'll see you at BU and in the SMAGL again soon!
  • 04 May 2023: Anthropology Ph.D. student Jess Martin has won scholarship from BU's Center for Innovation in Social Science to conduct summer microbiome labwork on wild vervet monkey samples with our collaborator Prudent Mokgokong at North West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa. Congrats, Jess! See you in Potch!
  • 24 April 2023: Anthropology Ph.D. student Christian Gagnon has been named Outstanding Teaching Fellow of the Year by the Department of Anthropology! Congratulations, Christian, and very well-deserved!
  • 20 April 2023: PI Christopher Schmitt has been named President of the American Association of Anthropological Genetics, a national organization to promote the study and training of anthropological genetics by facilitating communication and fostering cooperation between individuals engaged in this broadly defined field.
  • 10 April 2023: Anthropology Ph.D. student Jess Martin has won a scholarship and travel grant to attend the University of Washington Summer Institute for Statistical Genetics! Congratulations, Jess, and have fun coding!
  • 07 April 2023: Biology (Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, and Genetics) B.A./M.S. student Sophia Long has accepted an offer to do her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at Stony Brook University!  Congratulations, Sophia!
  • 31 March 2023: Biology (Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution) M.S. student Max Dippel has successfully defended his thesis, Genetic Variation in Heat Shock Protein HSPA1L in Savanna Monkeys: Implications for Heat Resilience! Congratulations, Max, and very well done! 
  • 28 March 2023: Biology (Specialization in Behavioral Biology) B.A. student Sofia Weaver has been awarded a summer UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program) Research Award for her project proposal to study body size in Critically Endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkeys (Lagothrix flavicauda) in Perú using dual-laser photogrammetry! Congratulations, Sofia! We're excited for your first field experience!
  • 16 January 2023: Anthropology Ph.D. student Mel Zarate and PI Christopher Schmitt have published Mel's master's thesis research along with novel surveys done with Neotropical Primate Conservation in the American Journal of Primatology, Expanded distribution and predicted suitable habitat for the critically endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) in Perú. Congratulations, Mel!
  • 16 December 2022: Anthropology Ph.D. student Christian Gagnon has won a Dissertation Grant from The Leakey Foundation in support of his dissertation research Validating Signals of Selection using Cold-Mediated Expression of Wild Vervet (Chlorocebus spp.) UCP1 in Fibroblast-Derived Brown Adipocytes. Well done, Christian!
  • 07 November 2022: Anthropology Ph.D. student Christian Gagnon has won runner-up for Best Poster Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists (NEEP) in Buffalo for his poster, Evidence of selection in the FABP4 gene region suggests thermoregulatory adaptation to cold temperatures in savanna monkeys. ​Congrats, Christian!
  • 23 September 2022: Anthropology Ph.D. student Christian Gagnon and PI Christopher Schmitt have published Christian's first dissertation chapter using the lab genomics pipeline in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Evidence of selection in the UCP1 gene region suggests local adaptation to solar irradiance in savanna monkeys (Chlorocebus spp.). Congratulations, Christian!
  • 15 August 2022: PI Christopher Schmitt has published a collaborative paper with Dr. Tesla Monson, Dr. Marianne Brasil, Dr. Michael Mahaney, Cat Taylor, and Dr. Leslea Hlusko in the journal Biology (MDPI) special issue on Paleontology in the 21st Century, Keeping 21st Century Paleontology Grounded: Quantitative Genetic Analyses and Ancestral State Reconstruction Re-Emphasize the Essentiality of Fossils.
  • 15 August 2022: Anthropology Ph.D. student Mel Zarate and PI Christopher Schmitt have been awarded a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation for Mel's dissertation project, Landscape Mitogenomics and High-Altitude Adaptation in the Peruvian Yellow-Tailed Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda)! Congratulations, Mel!
  • 8 July 2022: Biology B.A./M.S. alumna Erica Sun will start her new job as a bioinformatician at Merck working on animal vaccine development this coming week!  Congratulations Erica!
  • 6 July 2022: Anthropology Ph.D. student Christian Gagnon has been awarded funds from the Department of Anthropology at Boston University to conduct pilot work validating the conversion of vervet fibroblasts into brown adipocyte-like cells in the lab of Dr. Courtney Babbitt at UMass Amherst. Cell lines were delivered today from UCLA!  Good luck, Christian!
  • 28 April, 2022: Anthropology Ph.D. student Mel Zarate has been awarded $16,000 from the Boston University long-term Graduate Student Abroad Fellowship! Congratulations, Mel!
  • 25 April, 2022: Anthropology Ph.D. student Mel Zarate has has passed her comprehensive exam and advanced to candidacy!  Congrats Mel!
  • 20 April, 2022: Anthropology Ph.D. student Mel Zarate has been awarded $5,000 from the Primate Action Fund towards her dissertation project, Landscape Mitogenomics and High-Altitude Adaptation in the Peruvian Yellow-Tailed Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda). These funds will help fund field surveys and support a Peruvian field assistant during her dissertation work. Congratulations, Mel!
  • 10 April, 2022: Anthropology Ph.D. student Mel Zarate is on the Waitlist for the Fulbright Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship for her dissertation project, Landscape Mitogenomics and High-Altitude Adaptation in the Peruvian Yellow-Tailed Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda). Congrats, Mel!
  • 4 April, 2022: Biology M.S. student Ben Recchia has received an Honorable Mention for his NSF GRFP proposal! Congratulations, Ben, it’s a huge accomplishment!
    21 March, 2022: Anthropology Ph.D. student Christian Gagnon has passed his dissertation prospectus defense, on The Evolutionary History and Adaptive Significance of UCP1-Mediated Thermogenesis in Primates, and is officially ABD! Congratulations, Christian!
  • 15 March, 2022: Biology (General) B.A. student Gianna Grob is a finalist for the position of Scientific Program Analyst at the National Human Genome Research Institute at the NIH!  Congratulations on making it this far, Gianna, and fingers crossed for the final interview!
  • 2 March, 2022: Stacy-Anne Parke (B.A. Biological Anthropology, 2019), a SMAGL alumna, has accepted an offer to do her Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology at New York University and the New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology. She'll be working with Dr. James Higham, Dr. Scott Williams, and Dr. Susan Antón! Congratulations, Stacy!
  • 28 February, 2022: Biology (Ecology & Conservation Biology) B.A. student Will Pudlo has won a place on the NSF International Research Experience for Students Program Behavioral Ecology, Demography and Conservation of Primates in the Humid Chaco of Argentina to work with Dr. Eduardo Fernandez-Duque on his Owl Monkey Project in Formosa, Argentina! Congrats, Will!  
  • 10 February, 2022: Anthropology Ph.D. student Mel Zarate is a semi-finalist for a Study/Research Fulbright Award to fund her dissertation research on yellow-tailed woolly monkey genetics in Peru!  Fingers crossed on the final awards! 
  • January 2022: Anthropology Ph.D. students Christian Gagnon and Warrenkevin Henderson's review of the 7th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists is online now at Evolutionary Anthropology!  Congratulations, Christian and Warrenkevin!
  • 8 December 2021: Biology B.A./M.S. student Erica Sun has successfully passed her Master's Thesis defense, on "Selection in the PLIN2 (Perilipin-2) Gene Among Wild Savanna Monkeys (Chlorocebus spp.)." Congratulations, Erica! 
  • 1 December 2021: Former Biology M.S. alumna Laura Angley has accepted a job as the project manager for Project ChimpCARE at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago! Congratulations, Laura!
  • 6 July 2021: Biology M.S. student Max Dippel has won the 2021 Global Studies Scholarship from Field Projects International! Max will use this scholarship to participate in FPI's course Genomics in the Jungle III: Herpetofauna of the Amazon. Congratulations, Max!
  • 13 May 2021: Biology M.S. student Laura Angley has won the 2021 Denton Award for Outstanding Masters Thesis in Biology for her thesis, "Post-Release Survival Rates and Welfare of Rehabilitated Vervet Monkeys in Malawi." Congratulations, Laura!
  • 4 May 2021: Anthropology Ph.D. candidate Christian Gagnon has passed his comprehensive exam and advanced to candidacy!  Congrats Christian!
  • 28 April 2021: Anthropology Ph.D. student Mel Zarate has won a GSO Travel Award to present her research at the 2022 Joint Annual Meeting of the International Primatological Society and la Sociedad Latinoamericana de Primates in Quito, Ecuador.
  • 12 April 2021: Biology M.S. student Laura Angley has passed her Master's Thesis defense, on "Post-release survival rates and welfare of rehabilitated vervet monkeys in Malawi", with research done in collaboration with the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust!  Congrats Laura!