Brigitte Holt

Brigitte Holt is a Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research focuses on human evolution, biocultural adaptation, and the relationship between physical activity and skeletal robusticity in past populations. She leads the Holt/Noli Lab, which explores topics such as Ice Age human behavior, Medieval Italian coastal communities (San Paragorio Project), and bone strength in Bolivian foragers (Tsimane Project).

Education: BA and MA in Anthropology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, PhD in Biological Anthropology from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Research Highlights:

• Investigates how socio-economic transitions (e.g., agriculture adoption, industrialization) affect limb robusticity patterns.
• Examines postcranial morphology in Noli Medieval skeletons to understand fishing-related activities and childhood health.
• NSF-funded Tsimane Project links bone structure to physical activity in tropical lowland foragers.

Grants: National Science Foundation Award #1748282 (Tsimane Project).

Advising:

• Graduate Students: Tabitha Dorshorst (functional skeletal morphology), Claire Gold (diet and health in Medieval populations).
• Undergraduate Researchers: Mentors students in osteoarthritis studies, aging trends, and skeletal analysis.

Labs/Teams: Director of the Holt/Noli Lab, collaborating with international researchers like Dr. Jonathan Stieglitz (University of Toulouse).