A Q&A with Anthropology’s J. Michael Plavcan

J. Michael Plavcan, Ph.D.

J. Michael Plavcan, Ph.D. 
Professor
Department of Anthropology,
Co-Editor of the Journal of Human Evolution

In this conversation, Plavcan shares his love for exploring worlds that have long disappeared, the importance of continuously questioning and discovering, his adventures as a newlywed, and that chatting with your professors outside of class can sometimes be the most important way to learn.

Q: Tell us a little about your research and/or academic passions. What excites you about these projects?

My training is in comparative anatomy and paleontology, focusing on the evolution of humans and non-human primates. I have done a lot of research on sex-differences in primates and humans, and how we can make inferences about behavior in extinct species (it isn’t easy).

I have done comparative work on the teeth, skulls and long bones of primates, with a lot of it using 3-D images of bones. I am currently the senior editor of the Journal of Human Evolution, which keeps me very busy when I am not teaching and doing research. The editorial job is a lot of work, but hugely rewarding because I not only keep up with the latest developments in the field, but also help people get their research published.

My most recent work has focused on human evolution and paleontology in Kenya. This has been an extraordinary opportunity and I am deeply grateful to the people I work with, and to the university for accommodating the travel that takes me across the world.

We are now working on our third major set of expeditions over a period of 10 years in the Turkana Basin, in the far Northwest of Kenya. Our newest expeditions have been amazing. We recently found a skull and skeleton of one of the earliest modern humans, along with a very large number of fossils and tools.

The site is enormous (50 square miles) and is giving us data on not only what people back then looked like, but also the environment that they lived in, the tools they made, and potentially the way they lived. 

This year, at another site, we found a fossil of a child of an australopithecine – a close human relative that lived about three and half million years ago and walked on two legs like us, but had a small brain and something of a muzzle.

The work is exciting, not only because the science is amazing, but it also involves working with people and colleagues from around the world.

I have enjoyed learning to speak Swahili, and how to work with and make friends with people from a different culture. The work is in an exotic location by our standards here. It is hot, dusty and difficult, but I truly love being out there.

It is magical to me, especially in learning about worlds that have long disappeared.

Q: How long have you been at Fulbright College? What have you enjoyed most about your time here?

I have been at Fulbright College since 2001, in the Department of Anthropology. The most enjoyable part of being here is being able to talk to students one on one not only about what I do, but also about their own stories and what they have learned.

I know I can intimidate students at first (I am tall and large and have deep booming voice to start with), but students relax once they sit down and start to chat in my office.

I love conveying my own enthusiasm about my subjects (and anything else I am interested in) to students. I get a huge kick when I meet students who have graduated, but stop me and tell me about the class they took.

My last encounter was while kayaking down the Buffalo River with my wife on our honeymoon, earlier this year! We were floating in the wilderness among the bluffs and trees, and out of the blue I hear “Dr. Plavcan, is that you?” Moments like that are priceless.

Q: What do you most hope your students remember from their classes or interactions with you?

I hope that the students learn to see the world around them and their place in it in a broader context. I hope that they learn that science is a process and a way of learning about the world.

I hope that they graduate knowing more than they did when they came in, and at the same time knowing how little we really know so that they keep on learning and questioning and exploring.

Q: What do you like to do during your time outside of the university?

On my job, I love working the in the field. When I am not working, I love working with my wife on our gardens, kayaking, hiking and exploring.

I play guitar, enjoy cooking, watching movies, reading and building things. My wife and I recently built a large koi pond and Japanese garden in our back yard, along with a pergola.

Q: What’s up next on the horizon for you?

I really just crossed over a horizon. My field work is truly exciting. I am looking forward to devoting more time to it as I roll off of my duties as an editor for a scientific journal.

I have a long list of publications that I want to get out, but have not been able to because of my duties as an editor.

In my personal life, I am newly married and am enjoying exploring the world at home and outside with my wife.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to add or let readers know?

The only bit of advice for students beyond the usual (study, learn, etc.) is to have the courage to meet and talk to professors casually.

We are ordinary people with interests and experiences and views that are eccentric, yes, but also marvelous.

Most professors are really happy to talk about their interests, and talking outside of class is probably the best way to learn about things you never even knew existed in the first place, and you might find that you learn more chatting in an office than you ever will in a class.