Sonia Zarrillo

Sonia Zarrillo is an Honorary Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver campus), affiliated with the Faculty of Arts. She is also a Postdoctoral Fellow and Director of the Ancient Agriculture and Paleoethnobotany Laboratory at UCLA's Cotsen Institute, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, and has held roles at institutions like the University of Calgary and Universidad San Francisco de Quito. Her research focuses on paleoethnobotany, human-environment interactions, and the origins of agriculture in the Central Andes and North American Plains.

Her expertise includes starch residue analysis, microscopy, and interdisciplinary approaches to studying plant domestication. Key research areas include the domestication of cacao in the Amazon, high-altitude Paleindian settlements in the Andes, and early maize cultivation in Ecuador. Zarrillo has received numerous awards, including the J.B. Hyne Research Innovation Award and Barbara Lawrence Award, recognizing her contributions to archaeology and ethnobiology.

Her publications span peer-reviewed journals like Nature Ecology and Evolution and Science, addressing topics such as cacao use in Amazonia, Andean colonization, and chili pepper domestication. She has also contributed to public outreach through articles in Natural History magazine and the Nature Ecology and Evolution blog.