The human microbiome has emerged as a critical new lens through which to examine diet, human-environment interaction, and health through time. Dr. Bader will discuss her community-collaborative research investigating the relationship between oral microbiome and diet in both ancestral and descendant Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest. She integrates lab-derived and community-held knowledge to assess adaptations of the ancestral oral microbiome to fisher-hunter-gatherer subsistence practices. With descendant community members, she explores how the oral microbiome has responded to more recent dietary changes. This work is contextualized within her ongoing efforts to Indigenize anthropological genomic research and and intersects with with broader discussions of Indigenous food sovereignty, health inequalities, and the biological impact of European colonization in Indigenous communities.
