About Me
I am an anthropological geneticist studying for the PhD in Biological Anthropology at the Center for the Study of Human Origins in the Dept. of Anthropology, New York University which is a part of the New York Consortium in Evoutionary Primatology (NYCEP). I am a member of the NYU Molecular Primatology lab and Prof. Todd Disotell is my advisor. I have a B.S. in Evolutionary Anthropology from Rutgers University and an M.Phil in Biological Anthropology from Cambridge University.
I am interested in all aspects of primate and human evolution. However, my focus is anthropological genetics including molecular and population genetics, phylogenetics and bioinformatics. Most of my research experience to date has focused on the genetics of Melanesian populations (in collaboration with Andy Merriwether and Jonathan and Francoise Friedlaender). Amongst other things I have also worked on the genetics of coat color and fiber type characteristics of alpacas with Andy Merriwether (who is an alpaca farmer and researcher).
The best part of anthropology is certainly traveling the world for fieldwork. I have not done any genetics-related fieldwork, however I have been fortunate enough to have done paleoanthropological fieldwork in Kenya. My first experience in the field was as a student of the Koobi Fora Field School while an undergraduate at Rutgers University. The field school was amazing and as an added bonus I met my wife Jennifer on the trip. This past summer I returned to Kenya to help Tom Plummer on the Homa Peninsula and Will Harcourt-Smith, Holly Dunsworth and Kieran McNulty on Rusinga Island. On the Homa Peninsula we were looking for Plio-Pleistocene hominins and artifacts while on Rusinga were were looking for Miocene apes and other interesting fauna. I had a great time on both sites! You can see some pictures from the trips here.
For more information on my background and research experience see my CV.
Publications
Hodgson, J.A., Sterner, K.N., Matthews, L.J., Burrell, A.S., Jani, R.A., Raaum, R.L., Stewart, C.B. & Disotell, T.R. 2009. Successive radiations, not stasis, in the South American primate fauna. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 106(14): 5534-5539.
Hodgson, J.A. & Disotell, T.R. 2008. No evidence of a Neanderthal contribution to modern human diversity. Genome Biology 9: 206, doi: 10.1186/gb-2008-9-2-206
Friedlaender, J.S., Friedlaender, F.R., Reed, F.A., Kidd, K.K., Kidd, J.R., Chambers, G.K., Lea, R.A., Loo, J.H., Koki, G., Hodgson, J.A., Merriwether, D.A., & Weber, J.L. 2008. The Genetic Structure of Pacific Islanders. PLoS Genetics. 4 (1): e19, doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.0040019
Friedlaender, J.S., Friedlaender, F.R., Hodgson, J.A., Stoltz, M., Koki, G., Horvat, G., Zhadanov, S., Schurr, T.G. & Merriwether, D.A. 2007. Melanesian mtDNA Complexity. PLoS ONE 2: e248, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000248
Friedlaender, J.S., Friedlaender, F.R., Hodgson, J.A., McGrath, S., Stoltz, M., Koki, G., Schurr, T.G. & Merriwether, D.A. 2007. Mitochondrial DNA variation in Northern Island Melanesia. in Genes, Language, and Culture History in the Southwest Pacific. J.S. Friedlaender, ed. pp. 61-80. Oxford University Press, New York, NY.
Merriwether, D.A., Hodgson, J.A., Friedlaender, F.R., Allaby, R., Cerchio, S, Koki, G. & Friedlaender, J.S. 2005. Ancient mitochondrial M haplogroups in the Southwest Pacific. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 102: 13034-9