Education
- PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 1996
About
I studied math, statistics and genetics as an undergraduate at the University of Washington, and continued there for a M.S. in Statistics. I worked as an applied statistician in the Department of Physical Anthropology at UW for a couple of years before going to UC-Berkeley in the early 1990's for more graduate school. My Ph.D. advisors at Berkeley were Glenys Thomson (Integrative Biology) and Terry Speed (Statistics). At UC-Davis I was a post-doctoral researcher in Evolution and Ecology for several years, supervised by John Gillespie and Chuck Langley.
Research Focus
I specialized early on in statistical population genetics, but over the years I've become a generalist, working with anthropologists and others on many kinds of data analysis projects. I spend much of my time helping students formalize their questions, and supervising their analytic and computing work. My current projects are varied, including geometric studies of lithic artifacts and hominid skeletal elements, and the analysis of camera-trap observations of tropical mammals. Computational Bayesian methods are common elements of my work, but on occasion I gladly take up pen, paper, and sit quietly at my desk doing math.
Johnson, C.L., T. Bolorbat, M.N. Grote, C.H. Paine, G. Lkhundev, D. Odsuren, A.M. Khatsenovich, M. Izuho, E.P. Rybin, B. Gunchinsuren, N. Zwyns (2026) An Increase in Small Flake Sharp-edge Productivity Across the Initial–Early Upper Paleolithic at Tolbor (Mongolia). Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology 9.
Snyder, T.J., M.N. Grote, E.A. Schach (2026) Precipitation variability, fertility, and metabolic stress over 5 millennia in the ancient Andes: A bioarchaeological path analysis. Science Advances 12: eadz1998.
Cruz y Celis Peniche, P., M.N. Grote (2025) Population-level effects of education and material conditions on religious change in Chiapas, Mexico. Religion, Brain and Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2025.2586089
Stamos, P.A., A.J. Chaudhari, M.N. Grote, T.D. Weaver (2025) Technical Note: Using Machine Learning to Predict Locomotor Behavior in Great Apes and Humans From Femur Metaphyseal Shape. American Journal of Biological Anthropology 187: e70066.
Adegboyega, M.T., M.N. Grote, T.D. Weaver (2025) Predicting the Position of Hip Bones Within the Pelvic Girdle: A Case Study of the Kebara 2 Neanderthal. American Journal of Biological Anthropology 186: e70014.
Johnson, C.L., T. Bolorbat, M.N. Grote, C.H. Paine, G. Lkhundev, D. Odsuren, M. Izuho, B. Gunchingsuren, N. Zwyns (2024) Analyzing blank cutting edge efficiency associated with the adoption of microblade technology: A case study from Tolbor-17, Mongolia. PLoS ONE 19(8): e0305136.
Monteza-Moreno, C.M., M.N. Grote, J.S. Hall, P.A. Jansen (2024) Tropical timber plantations as habitat for ground-dwelling mammals: A camera-trapping assessment in Central Panama. Biotropica 56: e13352.
Stahlschmidt, M.C., S.M. Mentzer, S. Heinrich, A. Cooper, M.N. Grote, P.J. McNeill, J.C.-B. Wilder, T.E. Steele (2023) Impact of a recent wildfire on tortoises at Cape Point, South Africa, and implications for the interpretation of heated bones in the archaeological record. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 15.
Reynolds, A.W., M.N. Grote, J.W. Myrick, D.R. Al-Hindi, R.L. Siford, M. Mastoras, M. Moller, B.M. Henn (2023) Persistence of matrilocal postmarital residence across multiple generations in southern Africa. Human Nature 34: 295–323.
Adegboyega, M.T., S. Jhanjar, M.N. Grote, T.D. Weaver (2023) Predicting the shape, size, and placement of adult human pubic symphyses. American Journal of Biological Anthropology 181: 182-194.
