Biography
I received my PhD in Evolutionary Anthropology in 2018 from Arizona State University as an affiliated student with the Institute of Human Origins. Previously, I had completed a BA in Biology at Stockton University (2009-2012) and an MA (2012-2014) in Evolutionary Anthropology at Arizona State University. Before joining the University of Cambridge, I was the Darwin Postdoctoral Fellow in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (2018-2020) and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University at Albany (2020-2024).
Research
My research focuses on the discovery and analysis of fossil hominoids (apes and humans) and their associated faunal and palaeoecological context in eastern Africa. I currently direct the Lothagam Research Project (West Turkana, Kenya), where our team is investigating fossil deposits spanning the period of hominin origins. In addition, I conduct field and lab work on other fossils sites in Ethiopia and Kenya in collaboration with the Hadar Research Project, Ledi-Geraru Research Project, Lake Victoria Prehistory Project, Napudet Research Project, Omo Group Research Expedition, Turkana Miocene Project, and Woranso-Mille Paleoanthropological Research Project.
Key Publications
Rowan, J., Lorenzen, E. D., Bibi, F. In Press. Evolutionary biogeography of African antelopes: Implications for Paranthropus. In: P. J. Constantino, K. E. Reed, B. A. Wood (eds) The Forgotten Lineage(s): Paleobiology of Paranthropus (chapter in forthcoming book by Springer).
Faith, J. T., Rowan, J., Du, A. 2024. Late Cenozoic faunal and ecosystem change in Africa. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 52:1.
Rowan, J., Wood, B. A. 2024. Dart and the Taung juvenile: Making sense of a century-old record of hominin evolution in Africa. Biology Letters.
Rowan, J., Du, A., Lundgren, E. J., Faith, J. T., Beaudrot, L., Campisano, C. J., Joordens, J., Lazagabaster, I. A., Locke, E. M., Smail, I. E., Reed, K. E., Kamilar, J. M. 2024. Long-term biotic homogenization in the East African Rift System over the last 6 Myr of hominin evolution. Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Other Professional Activities
2021-Present, SVP Annual Meeting Program Committee (3-year term), Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
2020-Present, Regional Coordinator, Africa (5-year term), NOW (New and Old Worlds) Fossil Mammal Database
2020-Present, Human Evolutionary Biology (M.Sc.) Program Committee, Turkana University College
