Faculty Portrait

Contact Information

Name: Nandini Singh, PhD

Title: Associate Professor

Office Location: Mendocino Hall 4020

Email: nandini.singh@csus.edu

Office Phone: (916) 278-5446

Mailing Address: Department of Anthropology, California State University, Sacramento, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819-6106

Office Hours: Academic year 2023-24: Mons & Weds 10:30-12/noon

Courses I Teach

ANTH 1: Introduction to Biological Anthropology
ANTH 1A: Biological Anthropology Laboratory
ANTH 155: Fundamentals of Biological Anthropology
ANTH 151: Human Paleontology
ANTH 202: Graduate seminar in Biological Anthropology 

 

In addition to the courses listed above, I routinely do Independent Studies with undergraduate (ANTH 199) and graduate (ANTH 299) students.

Opportunities for Students

Graduate: I am currently looking for graduate students to assist on my projects. If you are interested in working on topics related to skull development and evolution using quantitative data, please take a look at our graduate program in Anthropology. You can also e-mail me. 

Undergraduate: I am always looking for research assistants to help with data management and quantitative analyses. If you are interested in gaining some research experience, please get in touch.

Education and Training

  • Postdoctoral Researcher - Department. of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, 2017

  • Marie-Curie Research Scholar - Paleoanthropology, University of Tuebingen, Germany, 2012

  • PhD in Evolutionary Anthropology - Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and University of Tuebingen, 2010

  • MSc in Human Evolution and Behavior, University College London, 2004

  • BA in Anthropology & Women’s Studies, Deptartment Anthropology, Knox College, 2002

Publications

To view my CV, please click here

To view my current publications, please click here

Research Interests

Evolutionary-developmental biology, skeletal biology, craniofacial evolution, genotype-phenotype relationship and 3D geometric morphometrics. Dr. Nandini Singh is a physical anthropologist, with a specialty in human and non-human ape skull development and evolution. 

I use an interdisciplinary approach to address questions concerning the developmental mechanisms that drive morphological evolution in hominoids. I combine evolutionary concepts such as morphological integration and heterochrony with biomedical research to investigate key developmental pathways that are implicated in the formation and patterning of the mammalian skull, and which when disrupted, cause severe midfacial and forebrain anomalies. Such an approach is important for understanding the underlying mechanisms that contribute to genotypic and phenotypic variation at both the individual and species level, including in traits associated with craniofacial anomalies.  

I am also interested, and currently working on, the effects of selection on cranial morphology as it relates to the process of domestication. I use advanced imaging, 3D geometric morphometrics and multivariate statistical techniques to quantify and analyze morphological data generated through experimental manipulation of model organisms.

 

Current Projects and Research

  1. Co-evolution of morphology and behavior

    • The objective of this research is to determine the effects of selected behaviors, such as tameness and/or defensive aggression, on craniofacial morphology as it relates to domestication and self-domestication. 

  2. Trisomy and the midface

    • In collaboration with Dr. Joan Richstmeier (Pennsylvania State University) and Dr. Roger Reeves (Johns Hopkins Medical School), this project entails examining and comparing the craniofacial features of mice genetically engineered to mimic the human condition of Down syndrime (DS), with their unaffected littermates.