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Schroeder Lab

Logo of the University of Toronto Mississauga
3D scan image of Australopithecus sediba
Image of hominin teeth
Image of scanning using an Artec Spider

Current Lab members

Lavania Nagendran

PhD candidate

Lavania joined the Schroeder Lab in 2019, following an MSc from the University of Toronto. She is interested in identifying hybridization in human evolution when genetic data is irretrievable. Her research involves examining the skeletal patterns (morphological integration, fluctuating asymmetry) of coyote hybrids and their parental populations. 

Image of Lavania Nagendran

Dr. mark conaway

postdoctoral

fellow

Mark is a morphometrician and biological anthropologist researching morphological integration, with a focus on the primate postcranium. His research interests extend also to critical measurement/landmarking theory and its applications to geometric morphometrics, as well as simulation of integration statistics. Mark joined the Schroeder Lab in August 2023.

nomawethu hlazo

phd candidate

Nomawethu is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cape Town, under the primary supervision of Prof. Rebecca Rogers Ackermann. She has an MSc in Archaeology (distinction) from the University of Cape Town. Her research focuses on the evolution of the genus Paranthropus, specifically the evolutionary processes responsible for its diversification.

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Klara komza

phd candidate

Klara Komza is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto. She joined the Schroeder lab in 2019 after having completed an MSc in Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Kent. She is interested in the evolution of bipedalism, with an emphasis on Plio-Pleistocene hominins. Her research focuses on foot functional morphology and quantitative genetic methods. She is co-supervised by Dr. Bence Viola.

Image of Klara Komza

MadeLIne Mccuaig

 phd student

Madeline joined the Schroeder lab in 2018 after completing an MSc at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on bioarchaeology, evolutionary process, and skeletal variation, specifically how patterns of variation differ across different elements of the human skeleton.

Image of Madeline McCuaig

SArah Friesen

Phd candidate

Sarah Friesen is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto. She joined the Schroeder lab in 2022 and she has an MSc in Archaeological Science from Lakehead University. Her research interests are in shape variation, morphological integration, and the evolutionary processes that have shaped locomotor adaptations in the great ape and hominin foot.

Sarah Friesen photo.jpg
3D scan image of macaque cranium with measurements

ALumni

Undergraduate research students

  • Megat Mohd Hamka (2019) - BSc (Hons) Biology and Anthropology with distinction

  • Samantha Bulchand (2020) - BSc (Hons) Neuroscience and Biological Anthropology with distinction

  • Cathy Tran (2021) - BSc (Hons) Forensic Anthropology and Biological Anthropology with high distinction (recipient of UTM Founders Gold Member)

  • Gabriel Boily-Porter (2021) - BSc (Hons) Biological Anthropology

  • Luca Del Giacco (2023) - BSc (Hons) Forensic Anthropology

  • Landunika Tennakoon Mudiyansel (2023) - BSc (Hons) Biological Anthropology

Graduate students

Natasa Zdjelar (MSc 2020)

Image of Natasa Zdjelar

Preston Walberg (MA 2021)

Image of Preston Walberg

Amanda Darvi (MSc 2023)

Brittany Sparrow (MSc 2023)

Image of Brittany Sparrow
Image 3D scan of hominin mandible
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