Doctoral Candidates needed. The adaptive nature of culture. A cross-cultural analysis of the returns of Local Environmental Knowledge in three indigenous societies.

Duration of contract: March 2011- February 2015 Duration of field work: September 2011-March 2013 Researchers debate the role of culture in shaping human adaptive strategy. Some researchers suggest that the behavioural adaptations that explain the success of our species are partially cultural, i.e., cumulative and transmitted by social learning. Others find that cultural knowledge has often resulted in maladaptive practices, loss of technologies, and societies¿ collapse. Despite the importance of the debate, we lack empirical and comparative research on the mechanisms through which culture might shape human adaptation. Researchers working on this project will collect data to test a pathway through which cultural knowledge might enhance human adaptive strategy: the individual returns to culturally evolved and environment-specific knowledge. To carry out the study, four doctoral candidates are needed to serve as research associates.