SHASTA E. WEBB

Background

My name is Shasta Webb and I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, USA. I am originally from Santa Cruz, California, where most of my family still lives.

ACADEMICS

In 2013, I received my Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota under the supervision of Dr. Scott Legge. My undergraduate honours project explored human-non-human primate interactions with a focus on white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus imitator) in Costa Rica.

In 2016, I moved to Calgary, Alberta to begin a Master of Arts program in Biological Anthropology at the University of Calgary. Under the supervision of Dr. Amanda Melin, I completed my MA in 2017. My MA thesis focused on how wild, white-faced capuchin monkeys at Sector Santa Rosa—located in the Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica—cope with increased energy costs associated with pregnancy and lactation.

In late 2017, I began my PhD—also with Dr. Melin. My research focus shifted to questions of plasticity in how animals cope with seasonal environments. Specifically, I investigated the potential short-term roles the gut microbiota of capuchins may play in helping them cope with changing environmental resources. In my PhD research, I combined behavioural primatology methods in the field with metagenomics methods in the laboratory to explore host-microbe symbioses and their connection to plasticity and adaptation in wild animal systems. I began a postdoctoral position in the Department of Biology at University of Notre Dame in Dr. Elizabeth Archie’s research group in September 2022. My postdoctoral work investigates gut microbiota across the life course in a population of baboons from the Amboseli Baboon Research Project.

OUTSIDE ACADEMIA

Outside of research, I’m passionate about bicycling in essentially every form and CrossFit-style training. I am a (mostly) 4-season bike commuter in Calgary, Alberta and South Bend, Indiana and I spend the summers mountain biking and bikepacking whenever possible. In past summers, I have worked with Two Wheel View, a Calgary-based non-profit organization that uses bikes as tools to build resiliency in youth. I have led multiple youth bike tours for Two Wheel View in Alberta and British Columbia. I am also a sourdough bread baker, mild coffee nerd, enthusiastic birder, and baseball fanatic—topics I will happily chat about with interested folks.