Alumni Spotlight Winter 2023
Michaela Howells (PhDÌýAnthropology 2013)
Dr. Howells is a biological anthropologist and human biologist specializing in the influence of culture on health outcomes and associated biological adaptations. She is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Her current work focuses on the impact of natural disasters and climate change on maternal and child health. Her research interests include social determinants of health, One Health, stigma, reproductive justice, and health equity and aims to identify barriers to health care surrounding race, natural disasters, place-based violence, civil status, prenatal care, menstrual equity, and HIV/AIDS. She is the Director of the UNCW GAPS (Growth Adaptation Pregnancy Stress) Lab and has conducted collaborative research in the South Pacific, Southeastern Asia, East and West Africa, Central and South America, and the American Southeast.