Karen Kramer

Karen Kramer is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Utah (since 2016) and an internationally recognized scholar in human behavioral ecology and demography. Her research integrates fieldwork among the Yucatec Maya of Mexico and the Savanna Pumé hunter-gatherers of Venezuela with comparative analyses across small-scale societies to illuminate how cooperative breeding, childhood, and reproductive strategies shape human life-history evolution.

Education

• PhD in Anthropology, University of New Mexico
• Postdoctoral fellowship in Demography, University of California, Berkeley

Research Interests

Professor Kramer’s work centers on the evolution of human sociality, with particular emphasis on:

• Behavioral ecology and life-history theory
• Demographic transitions and fertility variation
• Cooperative breeding and intergenerational transfers
• Gendered divisions of labor and female cooperation
• Childhood growth, adiposity, and health in subsistence societies
• Impacts of globalization, market integration, and climate change on rural livelihoods

Her current projects combine longitudinal ethnographic data with biometric and actigraphic measures to understand how children’s foraging, sleep, and social networks respond to rapid socio-ecological change.

Scientific Awards & Honors

• Distinguished Alumni Award, University of New Mexico, 2018

Funding & Grants

Kramer has served as Principal Investigator on numerous NSF-funded projects totaling over $2 million, including:

• “Shifting Landscapes: Climate Change, Modernizing Influences and Social Network Effects on Wealth and Health Outcomes among Maya Farmers” (2021-2025)
• “Children’s Economic Roles” (NSF, 2013–2016)
• “Risk Sensitive Decision Making among Maya Farmers” (NSF, 2016–2019)
• “Mobility and Spatial Reasoning from Middle Childhood through Adolescence” (NSF, 2016–2019)

Teaching & Mentorship

At Utah, she regularly teaches undergraduate and graduate courses such as Evolutionary Medicine, Evolution of Human Nature, and Ecological Aspects of Hunters & Gatherers, and mentors students in field projects across her three active field sites.