I am an anthropologist interested in the interface of biology and culture, and as a result my work is  implicitly transdisciplinary. I use a theoretical perspective grounded in a branch of evolutionary ecology called life history theory to focus on five main research areas:

• Parental investment and child development in a cross-cultural, socioecological perspective

• Family and household demography

• Health, and especially the relationship between access to resources and health outcomes among indigenous and minority peoples

• The HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa

• The effects of economic development, globalization, market incorporation, and integration into national level political, economic, and social institutions on indigenous and minority peoples in North America, Africa, and elsewhere

I have conducted extensive research on these issues in Botswana and in New Mexico. You can learn more about the people I work with in Botswana and my research by looking at my website on the Okavango Delta Peoples of Botswana , at a list of my recent publications, or at my CV.

I have been a guest on the NPR show "The Connection" discussing my research. You can listen online. My work  was also featured in an article in the New York Times Science Times section.

I have a PhD in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico. I spent three years as a Mellon Post-doctoral Fellow in anthropological demography and epidemiology at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health in Australia. I have been involved in collaboration with faculty from the University of Botswana and the Division of Community Medicine at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.

I teach Biocultural/EvolutionaryAnthropology at Cal State Fullerton, and if you are a student of mine you may access course materials through Blackboard.

Thanks for visiting, and please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments.

In case you missed them up above, here are helpful links:

Okavango Delta Peoples of Botswana

AIDS in Africa Online Resources

African Conservation Organization Links

© 2007 John Bock. All rights reserved. No image or text from this site may be reproduced by any means nor used for any purpose without express written permission.