Jennifer Leichliter

Dr. Jennifer Leichliter is a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Mainz, Germany) and a Guest Researcher in Applied and Analytical Paleontology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Her work focuses on isotopic analysis of fossils to reconstruct ancient diets and environments, with active projects on hominin meat consumption and vertebrate herbivory.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder (2018): Dissertation on Early Hominin Environments in Southern Africa
• M.A. in Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder (2011)
• B.A. in Anthropology (Magna cum laude), Colorado College (2008)

Research Focus: Dr. Leichliter specializes in stable isotope geochemistry (nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, zinc) applied to trophic ecology, hominin dietary behavior, and paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Her recent work develops enamel-bound nitrogen isotopes as a novel proxy for trophic positioning in fossil ecosystems.

Key Projects: She contributed to the ERC-funded project Investigating the Origins of Vertebrate Herbivory (2018–2021) and leads isotopic research for the Emmy Noether Group on Hominin Meat Consumption (2021–present). Her publications emphasize methodological advances in isotope analysis and applications to Plio-Pleistocene hominin sites.

Affiliations: Collaborates with the Martínez-García Group (Climate Geochemistry), Lüdecke Group, and others at Max Planck. Previously affiliated with Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig).