John Bunce
Guest
Abteilung für Verhalten, Ökologie und Kultur des Menschen
Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
E-Mail:
john_bunce@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de
Research interests
I’m an evolutionary anthropologist with broad interests. Currently I study how inter-ethnic interaction affects cultural dynamics and health. When two ethnic groups come into contact and individuals start interacting across the ethnic boundary, the distributions of certain ethnic-typical values, beliefs, and indicators of well-being in one or both groups often change. I’m interested in the complex processes that determine the nature, direction, and magnitude of such change. To explore these processes I use both mathematical models and long-term fieldwork among neighboring Mestizo and indigenous Matsigenka folks in Amazonian Peru. At MPI, I co-lead the Culture, Environment, and Health Research Group. In the previous episode of my academic life, I studied the ecology and genetics of color vision in Neotropical primates, chasing monkeys through the same forests where I now work with people.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
| 2009 | Ph.D., Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA Dissertation: Ecology and Genetics of Color Vision in Callicebus brunneus, a Neotropical Monkey (Advisor: Dr. Lynne Isbell) |
| 2004 | M.A., Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA |
| 2002 | B.S., Biology, Bates College, Lewiston, ME |
Research Interests
- Cultural change, nutrition, and health in indigenous Amazonian populations
- Empirical and theoretical study of cultural dynamics
- Behavior, ecology, and evolution of humans and non-human primates
- Ecology, genetics, and evolution of color vision in primates and other mammals
Academic Appointments
| 2018- | Senior Researcher, Dept. of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Inst. for Evolutionary Anthropology |
| 2016-18 | Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Inst. for Evolutionary Anthropology |
| 2015-16 | Visiting Assistant Professor, Dept. of Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington |
| 2012-15 | Postdoctoral Scholar, Dept. of Anthropology, University of California, Davis (Advisor: Dr. Richard McElreath) |
| 2012-13 | Investigador Afiliado, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú |
| 2012 | Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University |
| 2010 | Visiting Prof, Dept. of Folk Studies and Anthropology, Western Kentucky University |
| 2010-13 | Research Associate, Dept. of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University |
| 2009- | Research Associate, Dept. of Anthropology, UC Davis |
| 2008 | Associate-In (Lecturer), Dept. of Anthropology, UC Davis |
Grants and Awards
| 2012-15 | National Science Foundation: Ethnic Boundaries and Cultural Change in an Amazonian Population. BCS 1227152. PI John Bunce ($143,448) |
| 2008-09 | University of California Dissertation-Year Fellowship ($31,400) |
| 2008 | UC Davis Office of Graduate Studies Graduate Student Travel Award to XXII Congress of the International Primatological Society, Edinburgh, UK ($1,000) |
| 2007 | UC Davis Institute for Governmental Affairs Small Research Grant: Behavioral Genetics of Color Vision in a Wild Neotropical Monkey ($250) |
| 2004-05 | UC Davis Department of Anthropology Tuition Fellowship ($6,296) |
| 2004 | Leakey Foundation General Grant: Behavioral Genetics of Color Vision in a Wild Neotropical Monkey ($8,000 + $500 supplemental funding in 2007) |
| 2004 | Wenner-Gren Foundation Individual Research Grant: Behavioral Genetics of Color Vision for a Neotropical Monkey in the Wild ($25,000) |
| 2004 | Sigma Xi Society Grant-in-Aid of Research: Ecological Consequences of Trichromatic Color Vision for Callicebus brunneus, a New World Monkey ($2,000) |
| 2004 | UC Davis Dept. of Anthropology Summer Research Fellowship: Ecological Consequences of Trichromatic Color Vision for Callicebus brunneus, a New World Monkey ($3,000) |
| 2004 | UC Davis UCD and Humanities Graduate Research Award ($1,500) |
| 2004 | University of California Marjorie and Charles Elliott Fellowship ($6,766) |
| 2004 | National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Honorable Mention |
| 2003 | Organization for Tropical Studies Francis Bossuyt Memorial Fellowship: Genotypic frequencies of trichromatic color vision in a wild population of Callicebus moloch ($1,500) |
| 2003 | Sigma Xi Society Grant-in-Aid of Research: The frequency of trichromatic color vision in a wild population of Callicebus moloch, a New World monkey ($2,212) |
| 2003 | UC Davis Department of Anthropology Summer Research Award: The frequency of trichromatic color vision in a wild population of Callicebus moloch, a New World monkey ($2,000) |
| 2002-03 | UC Davis Department of Anthropology Nonresident Tuition Fellowship ($11,132) |
| 2001 | Howard Hughes Student Travel Grant to the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA, USA, January 2002. |
| 2001 | Howard Hughes Independent Student Summer Research Grant: Locomotor and behavioral predictors of escape performance in prey fish |
| 2000 | Bates College Student Research Grant: The effects of soil type on litterfall quantity and composition for mid-elevation spruce-fir forests of the Northeastern United States |
| 1999 | Dana Scholar, Bates College, Lewiston, ME |
Membership in Professional Societies
- American Anthropological Association
- European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association
- Evolutionary Anthropology Society
- Cultural Evolution Society
Research Experience
| 2009- | Research on Cultural Change among Amazonian Indigenous Peoples. Long-term study of cultural change in a population of Mestizos and indigenous Matsigenka people living in lowland forests of the Madre de Dios region of Peru. Conducted 34 months of fieldwork examining the effects of inter-ethnic interactions on distributions of cultural norms and beliefs about ethnic identity, as well as nutrition and growth in Matsigenka and Mestizo communities in 2010-2019. Developed mathematical models of cultural evolution at minority-majority ethnic boundaries. |
| 2011 | Research on Disease/Treatment Perceptions among Mexican Immigrants, in collaboration with Dr. Norbert Ross (Vanderbilt University). Designed, conducted, and analyzed ethnographic interviews with immigrants from Mexico living in Nashville, TN, examining the effects of gender, parenthood, and residence time in the U.S. on perceptions of folk remedies and illness. |
| 2007-08 | Ph.D. Dissertation Laboratory Research in Primate Genetics in the Molecular Anthropology Laboratory of Dr. David Glenn Smith (UC Davis). Developed DNA extraction, amplification, and sequencing techniques for blood, saliva, and fecal samples collected from wild titi monkeys (Callicebus brunneus) in southeastern Peru. Produced first reported sequence characterization of Callicebus opsin alleles at the X-linked polymorphic gene locus contributing to variable trichromatic color vision in these monkeys. Developed a socio-ecologically-informed matrix population model of color vision gene evolution in primates. |
| 2003-06 | Ph.D. Dissertation Field Research in Primate Ecology entailing 23 months of fieldwork at the Estación Biológica de Cocha Cashu, Madre de Dios, Peru. Captured (via darting) and radio-collared wild titi monkeys (Callicebus brunneus) to facilitate an intensive nine-month behavioral study of the foraging ecology of five socially monogamous groups of these monkeys. Trained six Peruvian student co-workers and wrote a custom behavioral data collection program for hand-held computers in the field. Collected blood, saliva, and fecal samples for genetic analysis (above). |
Teaching Experience
| 2019 | External Instructor: II Curso Ciencias Sociales para la Conservación (Cocha Cashu Biological Station, San Diego Zoo Global - Perú, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú) La Conservación, Optimización, y Gente Indígena (seminar on conservation from the perspective of optimal foraging theory applied to indigenous Amazonians, for advanced undergraduate and Masters students in Peru) |
| 2015-16 | Visiting Assistant Professor: Department of Anthropology, Indiana University. HUBI B400 Complex Problems of Humanity: Controversies in Human Adaptation (senior-year core course in IU Human Biology Program) ANTH B200 Introduction to Bioanthropology (introductory-level undergraduate) ANTH B260 Biocultural Medical Anthropology (mid-level undergraduate) |
| 2012 | Lecturer: Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University. ANTH 103 Introduction to Biological Anthropology (introductory-level undergraduate, spring semester and summer session) |
| 2010 | Visiting Professor: Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology, Western Kentucky University. ANTH 366 Primate Ecology and Behavior (advanced undergraduate) |
| 2008 | Course Instructor: Associate-In, Dept. of Anthropology, UC Davis. ANT 1 Human Evolutionary Biology (introductory-level undergraduate) |
| 2002-08 | Graduate Teaching Assistant: Dept. of Anthropology, UC Davis. Undergraduate anthropology courses: ANT 1 Human Evolutionary Biology (4 quarters) ANT 15 Evolutionary Biology of the Human Life Cycle (1 quarter) ANT 151 Primate Evolution (2 quarters) ANT 152 Human Evolution (1 quarter) ANT 158 Biological and Evolutionary Bases of Sex Differences (1 quarter) |
Professional Service
- Manuscript Reviewer for American Journal of Human Biology, American Journal of Primatology, American Naturalist, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Behaviour, Current Anthropology, Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Human Sciences, Folia Primatologica, Games, Human Ecology, Human Nature, International Journal of Primatology, Molecular Ecology Resources, Nature Sustainability, PLOS One, Primates, Societies
- Grant Reviewer for U.S. National Science Foundation (Cultural Anthropology Program) and the Leakey Foundation
Languages and Computer Programming
- English (native), Spanish (advanced written and oral certification in School of Linguistics, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru, 2011), Matsigenka (conversational), German (basic)
- R, Stan, Mathematica
Publications
Artikel
Ross, C., Hooper, P. L., Smith, J. E., Jaeggi, A. V., Smith, E. A., Gavrilets, S., Zohora, F. t., Ziker, J., Xygalatas, D., Wroblewski, E. E., Wood, B. M., Winterhalder, B., Willführ, K. P., Willard, A. K., Walker, K., von Rueden, C., Voland, E., Valeggia, C., Vaitla, B., Urlacher, S., Towner, M., Sum, C.-Y., Sugiyama, L. S., Strier, K. B., Starkweather, K., Major-Smith, D., Shenk, M., Sear, R., Seabright, E., Schacht, R., Scelza, B., Scaggs, S., Salerno, J., Revilla-Minaya, C., Redhead, D., Pusey, A., Purzycki, B. G., Power, E. A., Pisor, A. C., Pettay, J., Perry, S., Page, A. E., Pacheco-Cobos, L., Oths, K., Oh, S.-Y., Nolin, D., Nettle, D., Moya, C., Migliano, A. B., Mertens, K. J., McNamara, R. A., McElreath, R., Mattison, S., Massengill, E., Marlowe, F., Madimenos, F., Macfarlan, S., Lummaa, V., Lizarralde, R., Liu, R., Liebert, M. A., Lew-Levy, S., Leslie, P., Lanning, J., Kramer, K., Koster, J., Kaplan, H. S., Jamsranjav, B., Hurtado, A. M., Hill, K., Hewlett, B., Helle, S., Headland, T., Headland, J., Gurven, M., Grimalda, G., Greaves, R., Golden, C. D., Godoy, I., Gibson, M., Mouden, C. E., Dyble, M., Draper, P., Downey, S., DeMarco, A. L., Davis, H. E., Crabtree, S., Cortez, C., Colleran, H., Cohen, E., Clark, G., Clark, J., Caudell, M. A., Carminito, C. E., Bunce, J. A., Boyette, A. H., Bowles, S., Blumenfield, T., Beheim, B. A., Beckerman, S., Atkinson, Q., Apicella, C., Alam, N., & Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (2023). Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(22): 2220124120. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2021). Cultural diversity in unequal societies sustained through cross-cultural competence and identity valuation. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 8: 238. |
|
Broesch, T., Crittenden, A. N., Beheim, B. A., Blackwell, A. D., Bunce, J. A., Colleran, H., Hagel, K., Kline, M., McElreath, R., Nelson, R. G., Pisor, A. C., Prall, S., Pretelli, I., Purzycki, B., Quinn, E. A., Ross, C., Scelza, B., Starkweather, K. E., Stieglitz, J., & Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (2020). Navigating cross-cultural research: Methodological and ethical considerations. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 287: 20201245. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2020). Field evidence for two paths to cross-cultural competence: Implications for cultural dynamics. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 2: e3. |
|
Ross, C., Borgerhoff Mulder, M., Oh, S.-Y., Bowles, S., Beheim, B. A., Bunce, J. A., Caudell, M., Clark, G., Colleran, H., Cortez, C., Draper, P., Greaves, R. D., Gurven, M., Headland, T., Headland, J., Hill, K., Hewlett, B., Kaplan, H. S., Koster, J., Kramer, K., Marlowe, F., McElreath, R., Nolin, D., Quinlan, M., Quinlan, R., Revilla-Minaya, C., Scelza, B., Schacht, R., Shenk, M., Uehara, R., Voland, E., Willführ, K., Winterhalder, B., & Ziker, J. (2018). Greater wealth inequality, less polygyny: Rethinking the polygyny threshold model. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 15(144): 20180035. |
|
Bunce, J. A., & McElreath, R. (2018). Sustainability of minority culture when inter-ethnic interaction is profitable. Nature Human Behaviour, 2(3), 205-212. |
|
Bunce, J. A., & McElreath, R. (2017). Interethnic interaction, strategic bargaining power, and the dynamics of cultural norms: A field study in an Amazonian population. Human Nature, 28(4), 434-456. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2015). Incorporating ecology and social system into formal hypotheses to guide field studies of color vision in primates. American Journal of Primatology, 77(5), 516-526. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2014). Creating one's own postdoc position: An NSF-funded investigation of cultural change in Amazonia. Anthropology News, 55(7), e18-e19. |
|
Bunce, J. A., Isbell, L. A., Grote, M. N., & Jacobs, G. H. (2011). Color vision variation and foraging behavior in wild neotropical titi monkeys (Callicebus brunneus): Possible mediating roles for spatial memory and reproductive status. International Journal of Primatology, 32(5), 1058-1075. |
|
Bunce, J. A., Isbell, L. A., Neitz, M., Bonci, D., Surridge, A. K., Jacobs, G. H., & Smiths, D. G. (2011). Characterization of opsin gene alleles affecting color vision in a wild population of titi monkeys (Callicebus brunneus). American Journal of Primatology, 73(2), 189-196. |
|
O'Steen, S., Eby, S. L., & Bunce, J. A. (2010). Dynamically honest displays: Courtship locomotor performance indicates survival in guppies. Functional Ecology, 24(5), 1045-1053. |
Open AccessBuchkapitel
Bunce, J. A., & McElreath, R. (2023). Ethnicity and cultural dynamics. In J. J. Tehrani, J. Kendal, & R. Kendal ( |
|
Bunce, J. A., & Revilla Minaya, C. (2022). Una experiencia contemporánea matsigenka de una epidemia local = A contemporary Matsigenka experience with a local epidemic. In O. Espinosa, & E. Fabiano ( |
Meeting Abstracts
Bunce, J. A., & Isbell, L. A. (2008). Does colour vision explain variation in foraging behaviour for wild titi monkeys (Callicebus brunneus)? Primate Eye, 96, 55. |
|
Bunce, J. A., Eby, S., & O'Steen, S. (2001). Does c-start performance predict survival of prey encountering predators? American Zoologist, 41(6), 1401. |
|
O'Steen, S., Eby, S., & Bunce, J. A. (2001). Sex and speed: Do courtship locomotor skills predict skills when escaping predators? American Zoologist, 41(6), 1544-1545. |
Preprint
Bunce, J. A., & McElreath, R. (2022). Ethnicity and cultural dynamics. SocArXiv. |
Vorträge
Bunce, J. A. (2018). Boarding schools and cultural dynamics in a multi-ethnic Amazonian population. Talk presented at Cultural Evolution Society Meeting. Tempe, Arizona. 2018-10-22 - 2018-10-24. |
|
Bunce, J. A., & Candea, M. (2018). Is quantity just a matter of quality. (One of two principal invited speakers for Inaugural Layton Dialogue). Talk presented at Inaugural Layton Dialogue 2018. Department of Anthropology, Durham University, UK. 2018-12-12. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2017). Educación inter-étnica, poder de negociación, y cambio cultural en una frontera étnica Matsigenka-Mestiza en las tierras bajas del Perú. Talk presented at 11th Sesquiannual Conference of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America (SALSA). Lima, Peru. 2017-07-20 - 2017-07-23. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2017). Why do some ethnic minorities assimilate and others colonize? Theoretical and empirical evidence for five mechanisms influencing cultural dynamics at ethnic boundaries. Talk presented at 116th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Washington, DC. 2017-11-29 - 2017-12-03. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2016). An evolutionary perspective on cultural change at an Amazonian ethnic boundary. Talk presented at Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Minority Languages and Cultures Seminar Series of the Indiana University. Bloomington, IN. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2016). Cultural change at an Amazonian ethnic boundary: Insights from evolutionary models and ethnography. Talk presented at Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology Seminar Series of the University of Washington. Seattle, WA. |
|
Bunce, J. A., & McElreath, R. (2015). Cross-cultural perceptions of norm distributions at an Amazonian ethnic boundary: Causes and consequences of cultural dynamics. Talk presented at Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Denver, CO. 2015-11-17 - 2015-11-22. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2015). An evolutionary model of ethnic boundaries and the persistence of indigenous culture. Talk presented at Annual Meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society. Columbia, MO. 2015-05-27 - 2015-05-30. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2015). Cultural change at an Amazonian ethnic boundary: Insights from evolutionary models and fieldwork. Talk presented at Department of Anthropology Seminar Series of the Indiana University. Bloomington, IN. |
|
Bunce, J. A., & McElreath, R. (2014). Ethnic boundaries, norms, and cultural change in an Amazonian population. Talk presented at Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Washington, DC. 2014-12-02 - 2014-12-07. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2014). Neotropical primate color vision: On the trail of an elusive selective advantage. Talk presented at Department of Biology of the Vanderbilt University. Nashville, Tennesssee. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2010). Ecology and genetics of color vision in a neotropical monkey. Talk presented at Department of Psychology Neuroscience Seminar Series of the Vanderbilt University. Nashville, Tennesse. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2009). The ecology, genetics, and evolution of color vision in a neotropical monkey (Callicebus brunneus). Talk presented at Department of Anthropology of the University of California. Santa Cruz, California. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2008). Does colour vision explain variation in foraging behaviour for wild titi monkeys (Callicebus brunneus)?. Talk presented at XXII Congress of the International Primatological Society. Edingburgh, UK. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2007). Ecological genetics of color vision in a neotropical monkey. Talk presented at Evolutionary Genetics Group in the Zoology Department, University of Cambridge. Cambridge, UK. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2007). La ecología de la visión de color para callicebus brunneus en el parque nacional del manu. Talk presented at Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM). Lima, Peru. |
|
Bunce, J. A. (2006). La ecología de la visión de color de un mono del nuevo mundo. Talk presented at Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina (UNALM). Lima, Peru. |
|
Bunce, J. A., Eby, S., & O'Steen, S. (2002). Does c-start performance predict survival of prey encountering predators?. Talk presented at Annual Meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Anaheim, CA, USA. 2002-01-02 - 2002-01-06. |
Hochschulschriften
Bunce, J. A. (2009). Ecology and genetics of color vision in Callicebus brunneus, a Neotropical monkey. PhD Thesis, University of California, Davis, CA. |