Meet Leakey Foundation scientist Habiba Chirchir and learn what changes in the skeletal anatomy of our ancestors tell us about their behavior. Habiba Chirchir is a biological anthropologist. Her research focuses on understanding the relationship between changes in skeletal anatomy and behavior by investigating trabecular and cortical bone. She conducts comparative analyses of anatomical features in fossil hominins, modern humans, other primates and non-primate mammals. She uses CT and X-ray imaging in her research. Habiba earned a BA from the University of Nairobi, an MA from New York University and PhD from George Washington University. Habiba’s work mostly involves data collection in museum laboratories. She has also participated in paleoanthropological fieldwork in East Africa and the UK. Habiba continues to investigate differences in bone density patterns in limb joints of a diverse group of mammals; research she started as a Peter Buck postdoctoral fellow in our program. Apart from research, Habiba teaches courses on Human Anatomy and Human Biology in the Department of Biological Sciences at Marshall University. She also is involved in student mentorship in her lab.
