MARY C. TOWNER
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis
University of California, Santa Barbara
735 State Street, Suite 300
Santa Barbara, California 93101-5504
phone: (805) 892-2527, fax: (805) 892-2510
e-mail: towner@nceas.ucsb.edu, website: www.nceas.ucsb.edu/~towner
Education
1999 Ph.D. Animal Behavior, University of California, Davis.
Dissertation title: “Linking human dispersal to resources and marriage: a dynamic state
variable model and life history data from Oakham, Massachusetts (1770-1870)”.
Advisors: Dr. Sarah Blaffer Hrdy and Dr. Monique Borgerhoff Mulder
1993 M.S. Animal Behavior, University of California, Davis
By examination. Advisor: Dr. Sarah Blaffer Hrdy
1991 B.A. Evolution, Behavior, and Ecology, University of California, San Diego
Senior Honor's Thesis: “Song repertoires in Melospiza melodia, the song sparrow”.
Advisor: Dr. Sandra Vehrencamp. With departmental distinction
Research Experience
1999-2002
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and
Synthesis (NCEAS, UC Santa Barbara). Member of the NCEAS working group “The
Evidence Project-Supporting Scientific Claims”. Independent projects include
applying an evidence approach to testing alternative hypotheses in human behavioral
ecology and studying the importance of delayed dispersal as a driving force in
shaping human social systems
1992-1998
Dissertation research on human dispersal from Oakham, Massachusetts using
historical records to reconstruct individual life histories and trace dispersers to their
destinations. Developed dynamic state variable model to identify assumptions and
predictions. Interdisciplinary framework including behavioral ecology, biological and
cultural anthropology, and historical demography. Advisors: Dr. Sarah Blaffer Hrdy
and Monique Borgerhoff Mulder (UC Davis)
1989-1996
Animal behavior research projects on threespined stickleback female mating
behavior (field assistant, UC Davis), song sparrow song repertoires (undergraduate
honor's thesis, UC San Diego), and lizard febrile responses (NSF Research
Experiences for Undergraduates, CSU Los Angeles)
TOWNER, p. 2
Teaching Experience
Instructor, UC Davis. The Evolutionary Biology of the Human Life Cycle, 39 students, Summer
1997. Student evaluations highlighted my enthusiasm, organization, and use of examples
Guest Instructor, UC Davis. The Evolutionary Biology of the Human Life Cycle, Winter 1997,
voluntary position. Gave four lectures, contributed to syllabus, course readings, and paper topics,
held appointments with students, and managed course grades. Advisor: Dr. Alexander Harcourt
Guest Lectures, UC Davis. Applied Multivariate Analysis, Spring 1997, Human Evolutionary
Biology, Fall 1996, and The Evolutionary Biology of the Human Life Cycle, Winter 1995
Teaching Assistant, UC Davis. Organized and led sections, developed homework assignments,
graded exams and papers, consulted with students in office hours, Fall 1991-Spring 1997
 Applied Multivariate Analysis (Psychology 207b), two quarters
 Human Evolutionary Biology (Anthropology 1), seven quarters
 The Evolutionary Biology of the Human Life Cycle (Anthropology 15), five quarters
Publications (in Anthropology)
Towner, MC. In Review. Linking Dispersal and Marriage in Humans: Life History Data from
Oakham, Massachusetts, USA (1750-1850). Evolution and Human Behavior
Towner, MC. 2001. Linking Dispersal and Resources in Humans: Life History Data from Oakham,
Massachusetts, USA (1750-1850). Human Nature 12:321-349
Towner, MC. 1999. A Dynamic Model of Human Dispersal in a Land-Based Economy. Behavioral
Ecology and Sociobiology 46:82-94
Dew, JL, TR Spoon, and MC Towner. 1994. Mating Systems: Anthropologists and Behavioral
Ecologists Combine Perspectives. Evolutionary Anthropology 3(4):111-112
Publications (in Animal Behavior)
Luttbeg, B, MC Towner, AC Wandesforde-Smith, MS Mangel, and SA Foster. 2001. StateDependent Mate-Assessment and Mate-Selection Behavior in Female Threespine Sticklebacks
(Gasterosteus aculeatus, Gasterosteiformes: Gasterosteidae). Ethology 107:545-558
Wilson, PL, MC Towner, and SL Vehrencamp. 2000. Survival and Song-Type Sharing in a
Sedentary Subspecies of the Song Sparrow. The Condor 102:355-363
Hallman, GM, CE Ortega, MC Towner, and AE Muchlinski. 1990. Effect of Bacterial Pyrogen on
Three Lizard Species. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 96(A):383-386
TOWNER, p. 3
Grants and Fellowships
1999 NCEAS Postdoctoral Fellowship, UC Santa Barbara (through June 2002)
1995 NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant, Cultural Anthropology Program ($10,270)
PI: Dr. Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Co-PI and author: Mary C. Towner
1995 Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research ($500)
1995 Tracy and Ruth Storer Zoology Fellowship, UC Davis
1994 NSF Research Training Group in Animal Behavior, Summer Fellow, UC Davis
1993 University of California, Davis Fellowship, UC Davis
1992 NSF Research Training Group in Animal Behavior, Summer Fellow, UC Davis
1991 Regents’ Fellowship in Animal Behavior, UC Davis
1989 NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates Fellowship, CSU Los Angeles
Presentations
2001 “Linking Dispersal and Resources in Humans: Life History Data from Oakham, MA (17501850)”, Animal Behavior Society annual meeting, Oregon State University
2000 “Linking Dispersal and Marriage in Humans: Life History Data from Oakham, MA, USA
(1770-1870)”, Animal Behavior Society annual meeting, Morehouse College
1997 “Who Migrated from an Early New England Farming Town?”, Human Behavior and
Evolution Society annual meeting, University of Arizona
1996 “Kinship and Social Connections in Migration to and from Oakham, Massachusetts”,
Animal Behavior Society annual meeting, Northern Arizona University
1996 “Human Migration in a Land-Based Economy: a Dynamic Model and a New England
Town”, the Department of Biology, Clark University
1995 “Human Migration in a Land-Based Economy: a Dynamic Model and a New England
Town”, the Evolutionary Ecology Group in Anthropology, University of Utah
1995 “A Dynamic Model of Human Dispersal in a Land-Based Economy”, Human Behavior and
Evolution Society annual meeting, UC Santa Barbara
1994 “Dispersal and Mating Systems in Humans”, Animal and Human Mating Systems
Workshop, funded by the NSF Research Training Group in Animal Behavior, UC Davis
Service
Animal Behavior Group, UC Davis: developed and organized Winter 1997 invited seminar series
titled “Methods and Quantitative Approaches in Animal Behavior”
Reviewer for Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Human Nature, and Journal of Personality
Member of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, the Animal Behavior Society, and La Leche
League, International