Keynote:
Dr. Robert J. Losey

A professor in the University of Alberta’s Anthropology Department, Robert Losey has travelled across the North American and Siberian Arctic and the prairies of Saskatchewan for his field research. Through his research, Losey studies the archaeology of human–animal relationships, his recent work focusing on the domestication of dogs and reindeer. In 2022, he and a team of researchers studied the impact that domestication — and access to human scrap food — had on the evolution of canines in the Arctic. His work studying the distant ancestors of modern dogs has also dealt with topics such as the impact that trade and migration has had on the species, and the genetic legacy of prehistoric dogs.
 

Beyond his extensive zooarchaeological research, Losey is also interested in the fields of ethnoarchaeology and the broader field of human–animal studies, and has studied additional Arctic species. In one 2023 paper, Losey and his colleagues investigate seal hunting in the Holocene in Siberia’s Lake Baikal by comparing samples dating back up to 9,000 years with modern seal bodies and bones.
 

Losey graduated with a bachelor of science in anthropology from Kansas State University before moving across the United States to study at the University of Oregon. There he earned his masters of science and PhD in archaeology. Later, Losey joined the U of A as an associate professor and then, in 2019, became a full professor, and is currently teaching numerous graduate and undergraduate courses.

Website: Robert J Losey - Directory @ U Alberta