Benjamin Campbell

Associate Professor

Degree(s)

PhD, Biological Anthropology, Harvard University, 1990
MA, Anthropology, Harvard University, 1986
MA, Zoology, Indiana University, 1983
BA, Biology, Indiana University, 1982

Courses Taught

Anthro 203 - Indigenous Religion
Anthro 301 - Human Evolution and Variation
Anthro 404 - Hormones and Behavior
Anthro 406: Evolutionary Biology & Human Diseases
Anthro 407 - Neuroanthropology
Anthro 446: Child in Different Cultures

Research

My research falls in with life history; the evolutionary study of the human life course.  I focus on steroid hormones as a critical link between energetics, the brain and the timing of childhood growth, pubertal maturation, and senescence. In the first phase of my career I did fieldwork in Africa, including time with the Turkana and Ariaal pastoralists of northern Kenya. I focused on the impact of ecological factors on hormones (mostly testosterone) and the male life course.  More recently, I have shifted my attention to adrenarche (the onset of adrenal DHEAS production) and its role in middle childhood.   I have published a series of theoretical papers suggest that the primary impact of DHEAS is to promote brain development in humans and the great apes. I am now looking for collaborators with which to test this hypothesis.  In addition to my core research, I have also supervised graduate students on topics ranging from primate growth, development and reproduction, to the understanding of evolution among museum patrons and college students.

Link to my ResearchGate site
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Benjamin-Campbell-5

Other Relevant Activities

Co-organizer, Human Migration Conference, University of Kansas, March 1 & 2, 2010

Selected Publications

Campbell, B. C. San Trance Dance: Lived Experience and Neurological Mechanism. Religion, Brain & Behavior.
Campbell, B. C. (2021, May). Commentary on Adrenarche and Middle Childhood. Journal of Neurobiology and Physiology, 3(2), 24-28.
Campbell, B. C. (2020, February). DHEAS & Human Development: An Evolutionary Perspective. Frontiers in Paediatric Endocrinology, 11, 101.
Farooqi, N. A., Scotti, M., Yu, A., Lew, J., Monnier, P., Botteron, K. N., Campbell, B. C., Booij, L., Herba, C. M., Seguin, J. R., Castellanos-Ryan, N., McCraken, J. T., & Nguyen, V. T. (2019). Sex-specific contribution of DHEA-Cortisol ratio to Prefrontal-hippocampal structural development, cognitive abilities and personality traits. Journal of NeuroEndocrinology, 31, e12682.
Dunk, R., Petto, A., Mayer, G., Campbell, B., & (2015). Seasonality of Conceptions in Captive Rhesus Macaques. International Journal of Primatology, 36, 855-860.
Barone, L., Andrew, P., & Campbell, B. C. (2014). Predictors of Evolution Acceptance in a Musem Population. Evolution, Education and OutReach, 7, 23.
Campbell, B. C. (2012). Stone Age Body Image: Male Embodiment and Vitality in Subsistence Societies. Downey, G., & Lende, D. (Eds.). The Encultured Brain: An Introduction To Neuroanthropology, 237-259.
Campbell, B. C. (2011). Adrenarche and Middle Childhood. Human Nature, 22, 327-349.
Campbell, B. C., Gray, P. B., & Radak, J. (2011). In the Company of Men: Quality of Life and Social Support Among the Ariaal of Northern Kenya. Cross-Cultural Journal of Gerontology, 26, 221-237.