Nicholas Holowka, PhD
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Education
PhD. Anthropology, Stony Brook University. 2015. MA. Human Skeletal Biology. New York University. 2010. BA. Anthropology, Wesleyan University. 2007. Bio Nick joint the Department of Anthropology and started the Hominin Movement Lab in 2020. His research is focused mainly on the evolution of human bipedalism, and the consequences of this process for human musculoskeletal health. He has conducted research in both lab and field setting with humans and non-human primates. At UB he teaches courses on human evolution, evolutionary medicine, and primate comparative anatomy. Nick is a devoted long distance runner (when he's not injured), and loves spending time in the great outdoors, especially the Adirondacks, which he believes is heaven on earth. |
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Graduate Students
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Zacchariah Apolito
Zacchariah is a Ph.D. student in the Anthropology Department at University at Buffalo. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Geology from SUNY New Paltz and a Graduate Certificate in Human Origins at Stony Brook University through the Turkana Basin Institute field school. Previously, he has worked professionally as a Geologist in Engineering. His research interests are evolutionary biomechanics, functional morphology, and hominin evolution. Currently, he is working on his Master’s thesis investigating why humans retained frontal plane mobility in the ankle from early arboreal primates by exploring the biomechanical demands of walking across an uneven surface. |
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Kevin Palmisano
Kevin joined the Hominin Movement Laboratory in the fall of 2021, while starting his master’s in Anthropology. Prior to attending UB, Kevin earned a B.A. in Physics, and minors in Mathematics and Anthropology at SUNY Geneseo, graduating in May 2019. After graduating from Geneseo, Kevin worked for the Laboratory for Laser Energetics associated with the University of Rochester, as a Laboratory Engineer whose primary mission is to research Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). Now, his research interests lie in Human Evolution and specifically the biomechanics and evolution of foraging strategies such as the emergence of throwing in hominins and the adaptations that enable it. Kevin plans to continue his research as a PhD. student in the fall. In Kevin’s free time he enjoys reading fantasy, rock climbing, and crocheting among other things. |
Undergraduate Students
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Caleb Massimi
Caleb graduated from UB after the fall semester of 2022 and has been a part of the lab since Fall of 2021. He received a BA in Biological Sciences but really enjoys learning in all aspects of science and wishes he could have minored in anthropology. Some things he likes to do are traveling, longboarding, sailing(hoping to sail from California to Hawaii with my best friend), and spending time outdoors. |
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Ronak Fansiwala
Ronak is an undergraduate student with a sociology major and a triple minor in law, psychology, and communication at the University at Buffalo. He is a high achieving student with a passion for learning the foundation of the legal system and the evolution of society. When he is not aiding in laboratory research, he interns at Lazroe Law Firm in downtown Buffalo where he conducts legal analysis on a broad range of areas and presents it to his attorneys for case preparations. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with family, going to the gym, and reading. |