| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| In revision | Downey, S. S., Tverskoi, D., Scaggs, S. A., Wu, X., Syed, Z., Lebowitz, J., Qin, R., Thurner, S. Signatures of adaptive self-organization detected in swidden societies worldwide. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. |
| In revision | Scaggs, S. A., Downey S. S. Graduated sanctions, common pool resource management, and the social organization of labor in swidden agriculture. PLoS One. |
| 2025* | Downey, S. S., Tverskoi, D., Scaggs, S. A., Wu, X., Syed, Z., Lebowitz, J., Qin, R., Thurner, S. Signatures of adaptive self-organization detected in swidden societies worldwide. bioRxiv,Cold Spring Harbor. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.04.668537 |
| 2025* | Scaggs, S.A., Wu, X., Syed, Z., Lebowitz, J., Qin, R., Downey, S. S. The Landscape Ecology of Swidden: A Global Comparison Indicates Swidden Landscape Mosaics Contribute to Vegetation Diversity at Intermediate Levels of Disturbance. bioRxiv,Cold Spring Harbor. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.03.05.6415 |
| 2025 | Rao, S., Scaggs, S. A., Asuan, A., Roque, A.D. Power outages and social vulnerability in the US Gulf Coast: multilevel Bayesian models of outage durations amid rising extreme weather Humanities and Social Sciences Communications,12(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05274-0 |
| 2025 | Tverskoi, D., Scaggs, S. A., Downey, S. S. A complex adaptive systems model of labor reciprocity and normative reasoning in swidden agriculture. Royal Society Open Science,12(5), 242197 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.242197 |
| 2024* | Tverskoi, D., Scaggs, S. A., Downey, S. S. A complex adaptive systems model of labor reciprocity and normative reasoning in swidden agriculture. bioRxiv,Cold Spring Harbor. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2024/12/15/2024.12.12.628215.full.pdf |
| 2023 | Ross, C. T., Hooper, P., Smith, J. E., [and 101 others, including Scaggs, S. A.] Reproductive Inequality in Humans and Other Mammals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,120(22) e2220124120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2220124120 |
| 2023 | Downey, S. S., Walker, M., Moschler, J., Penados, F., Peterman, W., Rongjun, Q., Scaggs, S. A., Song, S. An intermediate level of disturbance with customary agricultural practices increases species diversity in Maya community forests in Belize. Communications Earth and Environment,4(428). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01089-6 |
| 2022 | Piperata, B., Scaggs, S. A., Dufour, D., Adams, I. Measuring food security: An introduction to tools for human biologists and ecologists. American Journal of Human Biology,35(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23821 |
| 2021 | Scaggs, S. A., Gerkey, D., McLaughlin, K. Linking subsistence harvest diversity and productivity to adaptive capacity in an Alaskan food sharing network. American Journal of Human Biology. Special Issue: Anthropological Insights on Adaptation and Climate Change,33(4): e23573. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23573 |
| 2021 | Kawa, N., Arceno, M. A., Goeckner, R., Hunter, C., Rhue, S., Scaggs, S. A., Biwer, M., Downey, S., Field, J., Gremillion, K., McCorriston, J., Willow, A., Newton, E., Moritz, M. Training Wicked Scientists for a World of Wicked Problems. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications,8(189). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00871-1 |
| 2020 | Downey, S., Gerkey, D., Scaggs, S. A. The Milpa Game: a field experiment investigating the social and ecological dynamics of Q'eqchi' Maya swidden agriculture. Human Ecology,48(4). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-020-00169-x |
| 2020 | Moritz, M., Scaggs, S. A., Shapiro, C., Hinkelman, S. Comparative Study of Territoriality across Forager Societies. Human Ecology,48(2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-020-00141-9 |
| 2019 | Snopkowski, K., Demps, K., Scaggs, S. A., Griffiths, R., Fulk, K., May, S., Neagle, K., Downs, K., Eugster, M., Amend, T., Heath, J. Small Group Learning is Associated with Reduced Salivary Cortisol and Testosterone in Undergraduate Students. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning,19(5). https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v19i5.24230. |
| 2017 | Scaggs, S. A., Fulk, K., Glass, D. J., Ziker, J. P. Framing charitable solicitation in a behavioral experiment: Cues derived from evolutionary theory of cooperation and anthropological economics. In Li, M., Tracer, D. P. (eds.) Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Fairness, Equity, and Justice, 153-178. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58993-0_10 |
Shane A. Scaggs
President’s Postdoctoral Scholar
Health and Environment Modeling Laboratory
Division of Biostatistics
The Ohio State University
scaggs.32@osu.edu
Research Interests
Ecological, Evolutionary, & Cultural Anthropology \(\times\) Complex Adaptive Systems \(\times\) Landscape, Community, & Theoretical Ecology \(\times\) Computational Social Science \(\times\) Bayesian Hierarchical Modeling
Professional Preparation
| 2025 | President’s Postdoctoral Scholar Health and Environment Modeling Laboratory, Division of Biostatistics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH |
| 2025 | Ph.D. in Anthropology (advisor: Dr. Sean Downey) Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Dissertation: “Rethinking the Socio-Ecology of Swidden Agriculture using Ecological Anthropology, Landscape and Community Ecology, and Complexity Theory” |
| 2018 | M.S. in Applied Anthropology (advisor: Dr. Drew Gerkey) School of Language, Culture, and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR Thesis: “Subsistence Harvest Diversity in Alaskan Food Sharing Networks” |
| 2016 | B.S. in Anthropology (advisor: Dr. John Ziker) Department of Anthropology, Boise State University, Boise, ID |
Publications
Contributions
Awards, Fellowships, and Funding Support
| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 2025 | The CAPS Award for Exceptional Policy Analysis in a Poster -- The Computational Social Science Society of the Americas. |
| 2025 | Outstanding Dissertation Award -- Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University. |
| 2024 | Presidential Fellowship -- The Ohio State University. |
| 2021 | Doctoral Dissertation Research: Subsistence Hunting in an Anthropogenic Swidden Landscape in Southern Belize -- Cultural Anthropology Program, National Science Foundation. Downey, S. S. (PI), Scaggs, S. A. (Co-PI). |
| 2019 | Daniel T. Hughes Memorial Fund -- Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University. |
| 2019 | Pre-Dissertation Field Research Grant -- Tinker Foundation, College of Latin American Studies, The Ohio State University. |
| 2018 | Graduate Research Fellowship -- Graduate Research Fellowship Program, National Science Foundation. |
| 2018 | Graduate Research and Writing Residency -- Spring Creek Project, Oregon State University. |
| 2015 | Special Undergraduate Recognition Award -- Evolutionary Anthropology Society, American Anthropological Association. |
Conference Proceedings
| Year | Presentation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Tverskoi, D., Scaggs, S., Downey, S. A Complex Adaptive Systems Model of Labour Reciprocity and Normative Reasoning in Swidden Agriculture. 13th Annual Meeting, The Computational Social Science Society of the Americas, Santa Fe, NM. Poster. |
| 2025 | Scaggs, S. A. Comparing the structure of swidden agricultural mosaics throughout the world's tropical forests. 94th Annual Meeting, American Association of Biological Anthropologists, Baltimore, MD. Poster. |
| 2024 | Scaggs, S. A. Intermediate-scale swidden disturbances increase forest diversity in Inidgenous Maya community forests. 84th Annual Meeting, Society for Applied Anthropology, Santa Fe, NM. Podium. |
| 2023 | Scaggs, S. A. Human Influences on the Structure of Central American Food Webs. 83rd Annual Meeting, Society for Applied Anthropology, Cincinnati, OH. Podium. |
| 2021 | Scaggs, S. A., Shen, A., Downey, S. S. The Importance of Humans in Neotropical Food Webs. Fall Forum 2021, Translational Data Analytics. Poster. |
| 2021 | Scaggs, S. A., Gerkey, D. Subsistence harvest diversity, social networks, and adaptive capacity to environmental change in Alaska. 90th Annual Meeting, American Association of Biological Anthropologists, Virtual. Invited Symposium. |
| 2019 | Scaggs, S. A. Playing 'The Milpa Game': Using field experpiments to investigate common pool resource dilemmas in Toledo District, Belize. 118th Annual Meeting, American Anthropological Association. Vancouver, BC. Podium. |
| 2018 | Scaggs, S. A. Subsistence harvest productivity and biodiversity in Alaskan social networks. 117th Annual Meeting, American Anthropological Association. San Jose, CA. Podium. |
| 2018 | Scaggs, S. A. Exponential random graph modeling of productivity, diversity, and reciprocity in Alaskan food sharing networks. 5th Annual Northwest Evolution, Ecology, and Human Behavior Symposium. Boise, ID. Poster. |
| 2017 | Scaggs, S. A., Gerkey, D. Dynamic Change, Social Networks, and Harvests: Levels of Resilience in Alaska. 29th Annual Meeting, Human Behavior and Evolution Society. Poster. |
| 2017 | Snopkowski, K., Demps, K., Scaggs, S. A., Griffiths, R. Fulk, K. S., May, S., Neagle, K., Downs, K., Eugster, M., Amend, T .Stress: The effects of social and solitary learning on salivary hormones. 29th Annual Meeting, Human Behavior and Evolution Society. Boise, ID. Poster. |
| 2016 | Scaggs, S. A. The Solicitation of Charitable Donations: Experimental Evidence from Behavioral Economic Games. Boise State University Undergraduate Research Conference. Podium. |
| 2016 | Scaggs, S. A., Glass, D. J. Understanding Charitable Donations. Boise State University Advancement Team. Invited Talk. |
| 2016 | Snopkowski, K., Demps, K., Scaggs, S. A., Griffiths, R. Fulk, K. S., May, S., Neagle, K., Downs, K., Eugster, M., Amend, T. Endocrine stress response in college students to solitary and group learning. 4th Northwest Evolution, Ecology, and Human Behavior Symposium. Boise, ID. Poster. |
| 2016 | Scaggs, S. A., Glass, D. J., Ziker, J. Four Pathways to Generosity. 4th Northwest Evolution, Ecology, and Human Behavior Symposium. Boise, ID. Poster. |
| 2015 | Scaggs, S. A., Glass, D. J. Four Pathways to Generosity: Evolutionary Mechanisms Differentially Affect Charitable Donations. 114th Annual Meeting, American Anthropological Association. Denver, CO. Podium. |
Professional Development
| 2024 | Complex Systems Summer School Santa Fe Institute – Santa Fe, NM |
Teaching Experience
| Term | Course | Institution | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2023 | Data Science for Anthropology | Ohio State University | 8000 |
| Summer 2022 | Introduction to Cultural Anthropology | Ohio State University | 2000 |
| Spring 2018 | Human Evolution | Oregon State University | 4000 |
| Winter 2018 | Anthropology, Health, and Environment | Oregon State University | 3000 |
| Autumn 2017 | Comparative Cultures | Oregon State University | 2000 |
| Spring 2017 | Human Evolution | Oregon State University | 4000 |
| Winter 2017 | Comparative Cultures | Oregon State University | 2000 |
| Autumn 2016 | Comparative Cultures | Oregon State University | 2000 |
Service and Outreach
| Year | Role |
|---|---|
| 2022-2025 | Reviewer. Human Ecology. |
| 2023 | Reviewer. NSF Arctic Social Sciences Program. |
| 2023 | Session Chair, "Cultural practices and social organization shape community responses to environmental and ecological shocks ", Society for Applied Anthropology, Cincinnati, OH. |
| 2020-2023 | Founder. Social Ecological Networks Groups (SENG). A collective learning and research group focused on using R and Python to study Social Ecological Networks. https://seng.netlify.app |
| 2020 - 2021 | Podcast host, "A Story of Us, Ohio State Anthropology Public Outreach Program |
| 2019 | Session Chair, "Precariously in Place: Ecological Knowledge and Navigating Climate Change", Anthropology and Environment Society, 118th American Anthropological Association Meeting, Vancouver, BC |
| 2017 | Conference Volunteer, 29th Human Behavior and Evolution Society Meeting, Boise, ID |
| 2016 | Symposium Volunteer, 4th Northwest Evolution, Ecology, and Human Behavior Symposium, Boise, ID |
| 2015 | Symposium Volunteer, 3rd Northwest Evolution, Ecology, and Human Behavior Symposium, Boise, ID |
| 2015 | Volunteer Field Assistant, Golden eagle banding and nestling survey, Boise State University, Department of Biological Sciences |
| 2015 | Volunteer Field Assistant, Barn owl banding and nestling survey, Boise State University, Department of Biological Sciences |
| 2015 | Conference Volunteer, 81st American Physical Anthropology Assocation Meeting, Portland, OR |
| 2012 | Conference Volunteer, 114th American Anthropological Association Meeting, Denver, CO |