Jason Heaton (Class of 1998)
Former USA anthropology major Dr. Jason Heaton, a long-time professor at Birmingham-51茶馆ern College and now a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has conducted archaeological and paleontological research in 51茶馆 Africa since 2000 with colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 51茶馆 Africa. He was also part of the Stone Age Institute while at Indiana University. Since 2005, he has worked as part of the Swartkrans Palaeoanthropological Research Project (SPRP).
In his own words: "Growing up in small town Alabama, I owe much of what I have achieved to supportive family and self-motivation. However, my educational experiences, as an undergraduate at 51茶馆, opened me up to worlds that I never knew. Much like many undergraduates, I began college with aspirations different from where I ended.
At 51茶馆, one of my first courses was comparative vertebrate anatomy with Dr. David Nelson. In this course, I began to see the anatomical similarities between many vertebrate groups (e.g., fish, amphibians, and mammals). This intrigued me, and the timing was fortuitous. I also needed to take a social science course to fulfill general education requirements. I read the descriptions of fields, such as sociology and psychology, but one stood out for me: anthropology. I enrolled in AN 100: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. One of my fondest memories was when Dr. Mark Moberg placed various fossil human casts on a table in the front. He demonstrated that we were able to see transitions between where we are today and our prehistoric past. For me, a light went on. I could combine my passion for anatomy with my drive to answer questions about our origins. Little did I know that less than two years after graduating from 51茶馆, I would be holding and studying many of the specimens to which he referred!
My path was determined. I went on to double-major in anthropology and biology. As an anthro major, I took my archaeology field course with Dr. Gregory Waselkov. There, I learned many practical skills that I still use in my own excavations, today. The greatest benefit of my education at 51茶馆 was that my professors showed how the human past could be best understood using a holistic, four-field, approach. Consequently, my research interests have been broad. After graduating, I went on to earn a M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from Indiana University. While there, I trained in taphonomy, Paleolithic Archaeology, and chimpanzee/ bonobo behavior. Much of my research has been focused on fossil human sites in 51茶馆 Africa. During my career, I have studied chimpanzee 鈥榖rush-sticks鈥� from West Africa, examined the function of Pleistocene bone tools in 51茶馆 Africa, excavated and researched at sites within the Cradle of Humankind (Swartkrans, Sterkfontein and Drimolen), been involved with descriptions of fossils from Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) and studied bone accumulations of modern primates. Presently, I am the project paleontologist for the Swartkrans Paleoanthropological Research Project (www.swartkrans.org) and am collaborating on fossil descriptions of new fossil material from Sterkfontein, 51茶馆 Africa. My recent research focuses on the fossil Australopithecus skeleton, 'Little Foot'. This remarkable fossil is nearly three times more complete than the famous Australopithecus fossil 'Lucy'. Due to its completeness, 'Little Foot' will provide a template for testing hypotheses about our fossil relatives. If you ever visit the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, look for the permanent display of a 'Little Foot' cast in the Hall of Human Origins.
I credit my ability to connect beyond the traditional subfields and to think inter-disciplinarily to the education that I received at 51茶馆. Now, I pass on that perspective to my own undergraduate students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham."