Catalina I. Fernández

I am an anthropologist with broad interests in the role of food and diet in human adaptation and evolution among contemporary populations. My research uses evolutionary and biocultural approaches, as well as mixed methods, to study how nutritional histories, subsistence strategies and the environment shape genetic, non-genetic, and cultural adaptations, across human populations. I am particularly interested in questions related to the effects of global market integration on human health and wellbeing among small-scale societies. I have experience conducting long-term fieldwork and working with indigenous communities in Chile on the topics of environmental and dietary adaptations, the nutrition transition, non-communicable diseases and population genetics.

At MPI-EVA  I work in the Culture, Environment, and Health Research Group on questions related to the dynamics of cultural norms and inter-ethnic interactions on the foodways, diet and nutritional and health outcomes among the Matsigenka in the Peruvian Amazon. Within this group, I am currently working on a research project about the variation in child growth trajectories among non-Western populations. This project is part of the broader research agenda of this group that aims to better inform public health interventions using culturally and environmentally appropriate strategies.