Schroeder Lab
Current Lab members
Lavania Nagendran
PhD candidate
Lavania joined the Schroeder Lab in 2019, following an MSc from the University of Toronto. She is interested in identifying hybridization in human evolution when genetic data is irretrievable. Her research involves examining the skeletal patterns (morphological integration, fluctuating asymmetry) of coyote hybrids and their parental populations.
Twitter: @Lavania_N
Dr. mark conaway
postdoctoral
fellow
Mark is a morphometrician and biological anthropologist researching morphological integration, with a focus on the primate postcranium. His research interests extend also to critical measurement/landmarking theory and its applications to geometric morphometrics, as well as simulation of integration statistics. Mark joined the Schroeder Lab in August 2023.
nomawethu hlazo
phd candidate
Nomawethu is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cape Town, under the primary supervision of Prof. Rebecca Rogers Ackermann. She has an MSc in Archaeology (distinction) from the University of Cape Town. Her research focuses on the evolution of the genus Paranthropus, specifically the evolutionary processes responsible for its diversification.
Klara komza
phd candidate
Klara Komza is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto. She joined the Schroeder lab in 2019 after having completed an MSc in Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Kent. She is interested in the evolution of bipedalism, with an emphasis on Plio-Pleistocene hominins. Her research focuses on foot functional morphology and quantitative genetic methods. She is co-supervised by Dr. Bence Viola.
Twitter: @KlaraKomza
MadeLIne Mccuaig
phd student
Madeline joined the Schroeder lab in 2018 after completing an MSc at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on bioarchaeology, evolutionary process, and skeletal variation, specifically how patterns of variation differ across different elements of the human skeleton.
SArah Friesen
Phd candidate
Sarah Friesen is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto. She joined the Schroeder lab in 2022 and she has an MSc in Archaeological Science from Lakehead University. Her research interests are in shape variation, morphological integration, and the evolutionary processes that have shaped locomotor adaptations in the great ape and hominin foot.
ALumni
Undergraduate research students
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Megat Mohd Hamka (2019) - BSc (Hons) Biology and Anthropology with distinction
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Samantha Bulchand (2020) - BSc (Hons) Neuroscience and Biological Anthropology with distinction
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Cathy Tran (2021) - BSc (Hons) Forensic Anthropology and Biological Anthropology with high distinction (recipient of UTM Founders Gold Member)
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Gabriel Boily-Porter (2021) - BSc (Hons) Biological Anthropology
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Luca Del Giacco (2023) - BSc (Hons) Forensic Anthropology
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Landunika Tennakoon Mudiyansel (2023) - BSc (Hons) Biological Anthropology
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Graduate students
Natasa Zdjelar (MSc 2020)
Preston Walberg (MA 2021)
Amanda Darvi (MSc 2023)
Brittany Sparrow (MSc 2023)
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