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Dr Emily Emmott

@ehemmott.bsky.social

1.7K followers 1K following 85 posts

Associate Prof in Biological Anthropology, bringing Evolution to Public Health. Director of Education at UCL Anthropology. Profile: https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/30051

profiles.ucl.ac.uk

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Reposted by Dr Emily Emmott

Sheina Lew-Levy @sheinalew.bsky.social · 27d

@durhampsych.bsky.social current has 5 (FIVE!!) PhD studentships being advertised!

3 to work with me on children as agents of cultural evolution

2 to work with @drboothroyd.bsky.social on examining school-based body image interventions.

Please share and apply!

www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...

Fees and Funding - Durham University

www.durham.ac.uk

Reposted by Dr Emily Emmott

Abbey Page @abbeyepage.bsky.social · Sep 2

This is a great thing to do - I did it, loved it and it underpinned a Phil Trans B special issue 💜

If you want any advice DM me

Also my (with @drsarahmyers.bsky.social and @ehemmott.bsky.social successful application is on the EHBEA website to help guide you…. Just saying there’s still time 🕰️

EHBEA @ehbea.bsky.social · Sep 2

🚨 GRANT APPLICATION 🚨

Do not forget to apply for the workshop/event grant from EHBEA in case you are organising a scientific event 😉

DEADLINE: September 11th, 2025

EHBEA @ehbea.bsky.social · Jul 19

🚨GRANT APPLICATION🚨

Call for the WORKSHOP/EVENT GRANT from EHBEA is officially open!

If you are interested in organising a scientific workshop or an outreach event please check the link and apply!

DEADLINE: September 11th, 2025

www.cambridge.org/core/members...

Reposted by Dr Emily Emmott

Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · Aug 30

"It is crucial to make psychology inclusive of all the world's people but vitally important to do this in ways that are respectful, ethical & empirically accurate. I weigh the promises & pitfalls of research in small-scale societies & discuss how we can improve our research practices moving forward"

Psychology Within and Without the State | Annual Reviews

Psychological research in small-scale societies is crucial for what it stands to tell us about human psychological diversity. However, people in these communities, typically Indigenous communities in ...

www.annualreviews.org

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · Aug 28

There are lots of other findings in the paper🙂

It was nice to see findings align with evolutionary approaches to public health - that people don't live their lives prioritising health - but no space for discussion about this in the paper. Will leave that for another time!

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · Aug 28

It was clear in my interviews that parental experiences in pregnancy and birth were strongly influencing how parents viewed their children's BMI measurements being taken at school as part of the National Child Measurement Programme. Depersonalised care has long-term impact!

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · Aug 28

These participants often went to great length recalling their pregnancy/birth/postnatal experiences, where medical measurements were used bluntly to place them in "high risk" categories without careful consultation. This led to poor experiences & manifested as mistrust in healthcare + measurements.

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · Aug 28

BUT: If parents had negative experiences of medical measurements in the past, they rejected the usefulness of PH initiatives to measure children's BMI.

Like other parents, they viewed BMI as uncertain, but felt suspicion and discomfort around BMI being used as a diagnosis of "unhealthy weight."

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · Aug 28

Finding which I found most interesting:

Parents understood BMI as an imprecise measure.

Many parents nonetheless found it as a useful indicator to track children's growth. They accepted the uncertainty of BMI, combined it with other info, and used it to check children's physical growth.

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · Aug 28

New preprint!

"Parental beliefs and practices around child weight in London, England: insights from qualitative photo-elicitation interviews"

We explored how parents view child weight + weight-related behaviours, and discuss implications for public health practice.

doi.org/10.31235/osf...

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · Aug 14

Calling Medical Anthropologists - job at UCL Anthropology (cover for colleague who recently got ERC grant). Teaching to start in January 2026.

www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

UCL – University College London

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · Aug 11

It's so traumatising! Sorry if you've had to go through it too!

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · Aug 11

And you tell your GP and midwife how awful it is, but they just don't... get it.

They tell you to "go to A&E if you can't keep liquid down."

But this advice is totally pointless when you are constantly drinking and constantly vomiting. Should you go to A&E... all the time???

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · Aug 11

People often underestimate how awful pregnancy sickness is.

They think it's just vomiting.

It's not. It feels like your body is decomposing. You're in so much pain. You can't move. As this women says - it feels like you're going to die.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Severe pregnancy sickness leads to abortions in women, mum says

Sarah Spooner's husband once called an ambulance as she could not get off the floor due to the pain.

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · Aug 8

And here is a short blog about the paper, written for teens (but anyone can read it!): www.adolescentsociality.com/post/researc...

Research: Is teenage angst universal? Comparing England and Japan

We are happy to announce that our research based on the "In My Life" photography project in England and Japan has just been published in the Journal of Adolescent Research.Below, lead author Dr Emily ...

www.adolescentsociality.com

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · Aug 8

New paper!

What do teens in England and Japan view as important, and what does that tell us about adolescence?

Straddling anthropology and psychology, a massive piece of work that took 8 years from conception to publication. And one of my favourite projects 🙂

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Adolescence as a Key Period of Identity Development and Connectedness: A Comparative Autophotography Study in England and Japan - Emily H. Emmott, Yasuo Ihara, Yudai Tokumasu, Mari Nozaki, Atsuko Sait...

Adolescence is identified as a key period for identity development, but anthropological literature hints at cross-cultural variations. Past research suggests Ja...

journals.sagepub.com

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · Aug 5

What a lovely memento!

Reposted by Dr Emily Emmott

Heart-Pages @heart-pages.bsky.social · Aug 5

Jane Lancaster, my doctoral adviser, was a giant in our field. She taught me one can be assertive and kind at the same time.
Her legacy of both research and mentorship spans across the globe.
Dr. Jane Lancaster, Pioneer in Human Evolutionary Sciences (1935-2025) share.google/TdRdZD6eD5nR...

In Memoriam: Dr. Jane Lancaster, Pioneer in Human Evolutionary Sciences (1935-2025) :: Anthropology | The University of New Mexico

Reposted by Dr Emily Emmott

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · Jul 23

The distance between what is in happening Gaza, fully backed with US dollars and political support, and the reaction of American politicians who by and large just don’t seem to care or support it is just completely brain-breaking.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/w...

Aid Groups Blame Israel’s Gaza Restrictions for ‘Mass Starvation’

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Dr Emily Emmott

Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · Jul 16

“Parenting is never perfect. Cultures raise children differently, shaping adults valued by their own standards. But one truth emerges: Learning to care for others should start long before having a baby”

www.sapiens.org/biology/to-r...

To Raise Children, We Must First Raise Parents

An anthropologist compares her early motherhood in London with child care experiences in a hunter-gatherer community of Central Africa.

www.sapiens.org

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · Jul 16

Thanks, I will flag this to the student/PI!

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · Jul 16

Have 15 mins spare? One of our MSc students from UCL Anthropology is investigating global attitudes to breastfeeding. Anyone can take part, from anywhere in the world!

Available in various languages (select on top-right dropdown box)

日本語バージョンもあります！

Click link to take part👉 tinyurl.com/2t4us4ss

Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management

The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.

Reposted by Dr Emily Emmott

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Jul 5

AI summaries kill search traffic. This has been an obvious consequence of Google's AI summary strategy since its inception.

Apparently the training data is so valuable that Google is willing to risk the neck of the goose that lays golden eggs.

Screenshot: thebullshitmachines.com/lesson-9-blu...

Screenshot from Modern-Day Oracles or Bullshit Machines (Bergstrom and West 2025).

People wandering through a desert mirage, with the text:

"We anticipate powerful, damaging spillover effects. If no one follows web links, there will be few incentives for people to create high-quality content in the first place.

Meanwhile large language models make it easy to produce low-quality content at the touch of a button. Quality human-created information may be swamped by AI-generated bullshit."

Reposted by Dr Emily Emmott

Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · Jul 4

A comparison of 2 industrialised populations (Italy, Singapore) with 2 indigenous populations (Tsimane, Bolivia & Orang Asli, Malaysia) suggests inflammaging - age-associated increase in chronic inflammation, considered a hallmark of aging - is a byproduct of industrialisation, not a human universal

Nonuniversality of inflammaging across human populations - Nature Aging

Analyzing readouts of inflammaging across four cohorts, Franck and colleagues identify strong variation and observe that inflammaging, in its known form, primarily emerges in industrialized—but not no...

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · May 28

So please, consider writing to your MP!

Find your MP Here: members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP?f...

Template letter: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Supporting statement from RCOG: www.rcog.org.uk/news/the-rco...

Proposed amendment: bills.parliament.uk/bills/3938/s...

Find your MP - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament

Enter your postcode, location, MPs name or job title to find the name and contact details of your local MP.

members.parliament.uk

Dr Emily Emmott @ehemmott.bsky.social · May 28

Laws are clumsy, but healthcare is complex - and they don't fit well together. A "one size fits all" approach doesn't work for healthcare, and prescriptive legislation will always lead to someone suffering unnecessarily. Today it's someone else's shocking story, but it could easily be yours or mine.