Alexander Prucha
Alexander Průcha is interested in using the fossil record to interpret ancient hominids’ biomechanics and behavior. In particular he is interested in understanding whether quintessential human and ape traits are ancestral or derived, and how these traits would be reflected in humans’ last common ancestor with chimpanzees. He has a background in osteology and is fascinated by the effect of intra-species variation on established views of hominid evolutionary relationships.
2016 Paleontological excavation: Baza-1, Granada, Spain
2013-2014 Human Evolution Research Center, UC Berkeley Department of Integrative Biology, undergraduate student assistant and library employee, supervised by Dr. Tim D. White
2012-2013 Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, UC Berkeley, student researcher in agricultural genetics and crop mildew defense, supervised by Dr. Mary Wildermuth
2009-2012 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, student researcher in breast cancer biomarkers, supervised by Drs. Kevin C. Weng and Fanqing Chen
2010-2014 Regents’ and Chancellors’ Scholar, UC Berkeley
2014 Student keynote speaker, Integrative Biology commencement ceremony, UC Berkeley
2016 Honorable Mention: National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellows Program (NSF GRFP), "Improving the reliability of hominin phylogeny reconstruction"
B.A., Integrative Biology – Human Biology & Health Sciences, University of California at Berkeley, 2014
Year Entered GW Program: 2015
Advisor: Sergio Almécija