Dr. Barbara Piperata

Contact Information

Dr. Barbara Piperata
Department of Anthropology
The Ohio State University
4054 Smith Laboratory
174 W. 18th Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210
614-292-2766 (tel)
614-292-4155 (fax)
piperata.1@osu.edu

Curriculum Vitae (pdf)

Research Interests

My research applies life history theory and takes a bio-cultural approach in understanding human ecology, reproduction and nutrition. All my research to date has been conducted in Latin America, with a particular focus on rural Amazonian populations. My recent research focused on human reproductive energetics among rural Amazonian women and sought to understand how women in this environment accommodated the additional energy demands of lactation. Taking a bio-cultural perspective, I am interested in the interplay between cultural beliefs and practices, human reproductive strategies and health outcomes. I am currently beginning a new research project among Quilombo populations in southern Brazil and rural Amazonian populations focused on the nutrition transition and the relationship between changes in economic strategies, work loads, dietary changes and overall nutritional status, including the concurrence of overweight/obesity and underweight in the same household. I plan to extent my research on the nutrition transition to studies of migrant and refugee populations in the United States in the future.

Publications

Dr. Barbara Piperata's publication entitled "Social Support During Breast-Feeding Helps Humans Have More Children" is available here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/139097.php

Piperata BA. Variation in maternal strategies during lactation: the role of the biosocial context. Forthcoming. American Journal of Human Biology.

Piperata BA. 2008. Forty days and forty nights: A biocultural perspective on postpartum practices in the Amazon. (pdf) Social Science and Medicine, 67:1094-1103.

Dufour DL, Piperata BA. 2008. Energy expenditure among farmers in developing countries: What do we know? (pdf) American Journal of Human Biology 20:249-258.

Piperata BA. 2007. The nutritional status of Ribeirinhos in Brazil and the nutrition transition.  (pdf) American Journal of Physical Anthropology 133:868-878.

Piperata BA, Dufour DL. 2007. Diet, energy expenditure and body composition of lactating Ribeirinha women in the Brazilian Amazon. (pdf) American Journal of Human Biology 19:722-34.

Dufour DL and Piperata BA. 2004. Rural-to-urban migration in Latin America: An update and thoughts on the model. (pdf) American Journal of Human Biology, 16:395-404. 

Piperata BA, Dufour DL, Reina JC, Spurr GB. 2001. Anthropometric characteristics of pregnant women in Cali, Colombia and their relation to infant birth weight. (pdf) American Journal of Human Biology 14:29-38.

 

Teaching Schedule

Autumn 2009	302 Introduction to Medical Anthropology 601.04 Global Perspectives on Women's Health
Winter 2010	Not Teaching
Spring 2010	301 Modern Human Variation H597.05Global Food Crisis

Current Grad Students

Sofia Ivanova

 

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