Matthew Douglass
Assoc Prof Practice College of Ag Sci & Nat Res University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Contact
- Address
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149 Hardin Hall
Lincoln , NE 68503 - Phone
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(402) 270 7220
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mdouglass3@unl.edu
Dr. Douglass serves as the director of the UNL Master of Applied Science Program and is the primary coordinator for the Science for Educators Specialization. He teaches classes in earth science, climate science, and Great Plains history and prehistory at the University of Nebraska.
He is also a member of Technological Primates Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany and a faculty member for the Koobi Fora Research and Training Program, in remote northern Kenya, administered by The George Washington University and the National Museums of Kenya.
Dr. Douglass' research has focused on the archaeology and anthropology of stone tools in Africa, Australia, and the Great Plains of the United States with additional research investigating past and present human environmental interactions in these regions.
He directs a project on the unique socioecological contexts of Daasanach pastoralism in the east Turkana Basin of Kenya and is a team member studying human biology in the same region. These projects include research on human food and water insecurity, range management and environmental monitoring, human health, and GPS tracking of human and livestock mobility. Through this work he has involved cohorts of Nebraska teachers for immersive research and training experiences that ultimately result in K-12 curriculum units taught in classrooms throughout Nebraska. This work is completed in collaboration with Penn State University, the National Museums of Kenya, the Kenya Medical Research Institute, The George Washington University, Duke University, and Tufts University.
He also directs a related project documenting Daasanach stone tool production and use. The Daasanach represent one of the last populations on Earth to retain regular use of flake and core technology, which they utilize for a variety of everyday tasks. Through interviews and video documentation, his research documents indigenous perspectives onto one of humanity's most significant and endangered technological achievements. This project is conducted in collaboration with researchers at the University of the Algarve, the National Museums of Kenya, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Tufts University, and the University of Washington
Education
Ph.D. (2010) University of Auckland, Department of Anthropology
M.A. (2005) University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Department of Anthropology and Geography
B.A. (2002) University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Department of Anthropology and Geography
Affiliations:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Technological Primates Group)
University of Nebraska, Center for Great Plains Studies
Koobi Fora Research and Training Program Faculty
University of Nebraska, School of Natural Resources Courtesy Faculty
Recent and Current Grants
- Drinking water salinity in a hot-dry environment: Hydration, kidney function, and blood pressure. NIH R01 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Asher Rosinger, Herman Pontzer, et al. $3,351,469 2024–2029.
- Documenting the Last Lithic Technologists: A Study of Stone Tool Usage Among Daasanach Pastoralists of East Turkana, Kenya. Endangered Material Culture Program, British Museum. Matthew Douglass, Michael Moroto, Emmanuel Ndiema, Benjamin Davies, Jonathan Reeves, Lydia Luncz, Christine Haney. $107,809 (2023-2026)
- CNH2-S: Long Term Perspectives on Water Security, Food Security, and Land Management Among Daassanach Pastoralists of East Turkana, Northern Kenya. NSF. Matthew Douglass, Herman Pontzer, Asher Rosinger, Purity Kiura, and Larkin Powell. $748,870 (2019-2025).
- REU Site: Past and Present Human Environmental Dynamics in the Turkana Basin, Kenya. National Science Foundation. Braun, David, Asher Rosinger, Ashley Hammond, Andrew Barr, Matthew Douglass, et al. ($400,000) (2019-2024).
Recent Publications
(In Revision) Re-evaluating Stone Age Knapping Techniques from the Perspective of Modern Stone Tool Makers. Matthew J. Douglass, Jonathan S. Reeves, Christine E. Haney, Bernard A. Wood, Lydia Luncz, Michael Moroto Lomalinga, Benjamin Davies, Emmanuel K. Ndiema.. Nature Human Behaviour.
(In Revision) Multi-Scale Remote Sensing Reveals Vegetation Greenness Differences in Abandoned Pastoral Settlements and their Surrounding Landscapes in Northern Kenya. Paul Akpejeluh, Daniel R Uden, Matthew Douglass, Brian Wardlow, Benjamin Davies, Rahab N Kinyanjui, Emmanuel Ndiema, David Braun. Rangeland Ecology & Management.
(In Review) Historic drought in northern Kenya shifts diet and mobility away from traditional pastoralism as resource security and nutrition falter. Asher Y. Rosinger, Matthew Douglass, Amanda McGrosky, Kedir Roba, Natalie Meriwether, Hannah Jacobson, Benjamin Davies, Leslie Ford, Faith Wambua, Elena Hinz, Srishti Sadhir, Anna Tavormina, Grace Khosi, Tiffany-Chrissy Mbeng, Lilian Baker, Alison Sherwood, Suha Arshad, Nicole Bobbie1, Carie Musumeci, Zoe Farrar, Zee Nguyen, Gabrielle Berger, Kiera Papa, Erica Morse, M Todd, Natalie Kitts, Tom Otube, Maria Bossert, David R Braun, Rosemary Nzunza, Emmanuel Ndiema, Herman Pontzer. Global Environmental Change.
(In Review) High water turnover, hydration status and heat stress across the life course in an arid/semi-arid climate. Amanda McGrosky, Leslie Ford, Elena Hinz, Srishti Sadhir, Faith Wambua, David R. Braun, Matthew Douglass, Emmanuel Ndiema, Rosemary Nzunza, Asher Y. Rosinger, Herman Pontzer. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health.
(Accepted) Modern stone tool users emphasize mass and edge length in the selection of cutting tools. Reeves, Jonathan and Douglass, Matthew and Haney, Christine and LaBrasciano, Emily and Suchomel, Lucy and Ndiema, Emmanuel and Luncz, Lydia. Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
(2025) Drinking water NaCl associated with hypertension and albuminuria: A panel study. Asher Rosinger, Amanda McGrosky, Hannah Jacobson, Elena Hinz, Srishti Sadhir, Faith Wambua, Tom Otube, Lilian Baker, Alison Sherwood, Tiffany-Chrissy Mbeng, Lauren Broyles, Carey Musumeci, Natalie Meriwether, Nicole Bobbie, Zoë Farrar, Madeleine Todd, Zee Nguyen, Gabriella Berger, Leslie Ford, David Braun, Matthew Douglass, Michael Hunter, William Farquhar, W. Larry Kenney, Jeff Sands, Rosemary Nzunza, Emmanuel Ndiema, and Herman Pontzer. Hypertension..
(2025) Chronic Stress and Severe Water Insecurity During the Historic 2022 Drought in Northern Kenya Were Associated With Inflammation Among Daasanach Seminomadic Pastoralists. Roba KT, Jacobson H, McGrosky A, Sadhir S, Ford LB, Pfaff M, Kim EY, Nzunza R, Douglass M, Braun DR, Ndiema E. American Journal of Human Biology.
(2024) Understanding cutting edge selection from the perspective of modern stone tool users. Reeves, Jonathan and Douglass, Matthew and Haney, Christine and LaBrasciano, Emily and Suchomel, Lucy and Ndiema, Emmanuel and Luncz, Lydia, (May 31, 2024). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4850287 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4850287
(2024) Mobility ideation due to water problems during historic 2022 drought associated with water and food insecurity and fingernail cortisol concentration in Northern Kenya. Asher Y. Rosinger, Justin Stoler, Leslie B. Ford, Amanda McGrosky, Srishti Sadhir, Matthew Ulrich, Madeleine Todd, Nicole Bobbie, Rosemary Nzunza, David R. Braun, Emmanuel K. Ndiema, Matthew J. Douglass, Herman Pontzer. Social Science and Medicine.
(2023) Matthew J. Douglass, Simon J. Holdaway, and LuAnn Wandsnider. Surface Artifact Scatters, Data Collection, and Significance: Case Studies from Australia and North America. Advances in Archaeological Practice.