Maria Nieves-Colón

She/her/hers

[email protected]

612-625-4092

Anthropology

395 Humphrey Center

301 19th Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Curriculum Vitae

Collegiate Affiliation

Anthropology

Links

My Lab Website

I am an anthropological geneticist who uses ancient DNA and modern genomics tools to examine human population history in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Educational Background & Specialties

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Educational Background

Ph.D.: Anthropology, Arizona State University, 2017
M.A.: Anthropology, Arizona State University, 2012
B.A.: Anthropology & History of the Americas, University of Puerto Rico, 2009

Specialties

Latin America and the Caribbean
Ancient DNA
Anthropological genetics
Migration and admixture
Human population history

Publications

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Publications

Nieves-Colón MA, Badillo Rivera KM, Sandoval K, Villanueva Dávalos V, et al. (2022). Clotting factor genes are associated with preeclampsia in high-altitude pregnant women in the Peruvian Andes. American Journal of Human Genetics, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2022.04.014.
Ávila-Arcos MC, de la Fuente Castro C, Nieves-Colón, MA, Raghavan M (2022). Recomendations for Sustainable Ancient DNA Research in the Global South: Voices from a New Generation of Paleogenomicists. Frontiers in Genetics.
Nieves-Colón MA (2022). Anthropological genetic insights on Caribbean population history. Evolutionary Anthropology, DOI: 10.1002/evan.21935.
Nieves-Colón MA, Pestle WJ, Reynolds AW, Llamas B, de la Fuente C, Fowler, K, Skerry K, Crespo-Torres E, Bustamante CD, Stone AC (2020). Ancient DNA Reconstructs the Genetic Legacies of Precontact Puerto Rico Communities. Molecular Biology & Evolution, 37, 611–626.
Nieves-Colón MA (2019). Ancient DNA and Caribbean Archaeology. The SAA Archaeological Record, 19, 26-31.
Nieves-Colón MA, Ozga AT, Pestle WJ, Cucina A, Tiesler V, Stanton T, Stone AC. (2018). Comparison of two ancient DNA extraction protocols for skeletal remains from tropical environments.. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 16, 824-836.

Activities

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Activities

Professional

National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow: Joint affiliation with National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO-CINVESTAV), Irapuato, MX. 2017 - 2019
Senior Scientist: Astrea Forensics / Claret Bioscience LLC. 2019 - 2020
Affiliated Researcher: Arizona State University. 2019 - 2020

Outreach

STEM Guest Speaker program, John F Kennedy High School 2020 -
El uso del ADN antiguo en el estudio de la historia humana: Video short for National Museum of Anthropology and History, Mexico City (https://youtu.be/TJeDloexsS8) En español. 2019 -

Research

Population history of present-day Caribbean islanders: My research integrates genomics and anthropological perspectives to elucidate the population history of present-day Caribbean communities. Specifically, I am interested in examining how post-colonial processes of migration and admixture shaped the ancestry, culture and health of historically underrepresented or marginalized island groups. Currently I am combining high-resolution genome wide array data and ethnohistorical sources to investigate ancestry and identity among Afro-Caribbean communities in the Lesser Antilles. This research is in collaboration with Jada Benn-Torres (Vanderbilt University) and Andres Moreno-Estrada (LANGEBIO-CINVESTAV)..

Awards

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Awards

National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2017 - 2019
National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant, 2016 - 2018
Rust Family Foundation Grant for Archaeological Research, 2016 - 2017, 2022-2023
AABA Cobb Professional Development Grant, 2022

Courses

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Courses

ANTH4002/5002: Epidemics in Human Evolution
ANTH8310: Topics in Biological Anthropology: Molecular Anthropology
ANTH1001: Human Evolution
ANTH8990: Topics Anthropology: Critical Seminar in Anthropology of Race and Racism
ANTH3310: Fundamentals of Anthropological Genetics
ANTH1905: Human Evolution in Popular Media