Sam Patterson

Biography

Sam Patterson is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology. Patterson is a biological anthropologist who studies nonhuman primates in their natural environments. They have primarily conducted research on wild olive baboons in Kenya and the free ranging rhesus macaques of Cayo Santiago in Puerto Rico. Patterson’s research incorporates both field and laboratory components, with a strong evolutionary and quantitative approach.

Patterson’s research and teaching focus on how social and ecological environments across the life course shape outcomes like health, behavior, and evolutionary fitness. They are particularly interested in how early life adversity and social relationships impact growth, social bonds, reproduction, and aging health. Patterson is also interested in the evolution of sociality, the evolution of developmental plasticity, and mechanisms underlying intergenerational effects of adversity.

Their work has been published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Philosophical Transactions B, Integrative and comparative biology, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, and other scholarly journals.