Dr.
Nicole D. S. Grunstra
Sep 2019 – present Postdoctoral Fellow at the Konrad
Lorenz Institute (KLI) for Evolution and Cognition Research in Klosterneuburg (AT).
Jan 2019 – present
Affiliated scientist in the Mammal Collection at the Natural History Museum Vienna.
Feb
2018 – Aug 2019 Postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Theoretical Biology at the University of Vienna (AT).
Feb 2018 Doctor of Philosophy in Biological Anthropology at the University of Cambridge (UK).
Jan 2016 – Feb 2018 Postgraduate researcher in the Department of Theoretical Biology at the
University of Vienna (AT).
Aug – Dec 2012 Visiting Scholar in the Department of Integrative
Biology at the University of California, Berkeley (USA).
Sep 2009 Master of Science in
Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxord (UK).
Jun 2008 Bachelor of Arts in Science & Social Science (interdepartmental major in anthropology, psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and linguistics at University College Utrecht), University of Utrecht (NL).
Grunstra, N.D.S., Zachos, F.E., Herdina, A.N.,
Pavličev, M., Fischer, B., & Mitteroecker, P. (2019). Humans as inverted bats: A comparative approach to the obstetric
conundrum. American Journal of Human Biology, 31(2), e23227. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23227
Grunstra, N.D.S., Mitteroecker, P., & Foley, R.A. (2018). A multivariate ecogeographic
analysis of macaque craniodental variation. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 166(2), 386-400. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23439
Grunstra, N.D.S. (2018). What’s in a Tooth? Signals of Ecogeography and Phylogeny in the Dentition of Macaques (Cercopithecidae: Macaca). Doctoral dissertation, University of Cambridge, UK. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.18511
Additional projects within this research framework include pelvic morphology in bats (Chiroptera), finite element analysis (FEA) of the pelvic floor, and a comparative study of mammalian pubic symphysis morphology.
During my earlier postdoctoral research (Dept. Theoretical Biology, University of Vienna), I used digital imaging techniques and 3D geometric morphometrics to investigate phylogenetic signal and ontogenetic patterns in primate cranial morphology by means of a novel decomposition of shape.
My PhD in biological anthropology (University of Cambridge, UK, under the supervision of Robert Foley) focused on the ecomorphology and variational constraints of the craniodental phenotype of macaques (Primates: Macaca), for which I used traditional morphometrics, multivariate statistics, and phylogenetic comparative methods.
Contact
nicolegrunstra[at]gmail.comhttps://www.kli.ac.at/en/people/current_fellows/view/260
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nicole_Grunstra
Collaborators
Dept.
Theoretical Biology, University of Vienna: Barbara Fischer, Philipp Mitteroecker, Mihaela Pavličev, Katya Stansfield, and
Silvester Bartsch.
Mammal Collection, NHM Wien: Frank Zachos.
Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University
of Zürich: Martin Häusler and Nicole Webb.
Dept. Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University
of Texas at Austin (USA): Krishna Kumar.
Other
I have received 14 national and international grants, including a Wenner-Gren Post-PhD Research Grant ($18,805) in 2019 (US), the Ernst Mach grant (€8,460) for postgraduate research in Austria (OeAD, Austria) in 2015, and a study-abroad grant (€10,000) from the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds for talented young researchers in 2010 (Netherlands).Since 2019, I have been on the editorial board of the international journal Mammalian Biology as a Subject Editor.
