About Us

The Plan

Abbey planned on an Anthropology Field Trip (more below) from February to December. Wallace didn't want to miss out on the adventure and found a way to complete the research team. They are going to live with a hunter-gatherer population in the Jungle for the next 9 months.


Abbey - Researcher 


I have been doing my Ph.D. at UCL for 18 months now in Evolutionary Anthropology, focusing on hunter-gatherer studies. I am now (apparently) ready to explore the anthropological world and conduct my first major research with the Agta in the Philippines. Over the next 10 months, I will be finding out about family trees, following children and carrying around more spit than I care to think about. 


My particular research is about childcare, family structure and how this affects both mothers and children. I am interested in communal childcare behaviors because it is one of a multitude of behavioral adaptations which were essential for human survival prior to the evolution of agriculture around 10,000 years ago. If you want to know more about the approach it's called human behavioral ecology


As it goes, I am pretty lucky to be able to drag my other half half-way around the world with me for this big adventure...

Wallace - Curious Geek



I am a telecom engineer, I like to make things and love photography too. As a keen traveler, and after the Burning Man of last summer this is a logical next move. Going to camp in the wild and experience life with hunter-gatherers is a dream. To feel what is like to live closer to nature and maybe a bit freer too. I hope to take the opportunity of a fresh start to change a bit the way I live. I plan to try and speak Agta, maybe hunt with a bow or a speargun, make some drawings and music...but I prefer to keep the surprises for later :)



Hunter-Gatherers Resilience Project
When Homo sapiens emerged 200,000 years ago it was as hunters and gatherers; heavily nomadic and small groups with little no land, livestock and no sense of property or wealth. This is how we spent 99% of our existence on this planet yet the number of hunter-gatherer groups worldwide is now less than 50. This project will explore the key areas of humanity's diversity and general resilience in a period of rapid natural, social and technological change.




This project is based not only with a hunter-gather population in the Philippines (Agta) but also studies groups in Congo (Mbendjele), Malaysia(Batek) and Thailand (Maniq) and the Philippines (Agta). Using approaches from behavioral ecology, life history theory, theories of cooperation, cultural transmission and genetics we are exploring how variation in life history traits, cooperative behavior, childcare and family structure, kinship systems, and health-related behaviors differentially contribute to hunter-gatherer resilience in the past, present and future.

3 comments:

  1. Abbey -- Wishing you and Wallace the very best of luck. I'm proud of you!
    teagan

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  2. dear, How was your trip? not too much longer? Have a nice discover together. Love Maman

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  3. Hi, thanks for the comments!
    Maman, our trip was great just sorted visa and local phone and went for a massage at the end of afternoon, very relaxing. Flying again tomorrow to Cagayan and hopefully Palanan. Love, W.

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