Susan L. Johnston

Susan L. Johnston
  • Professor of Anthropology
  • Department: Anthropology and Sociology
  • Institution: West Chester University of Pennsylvania
  • Email: SJohnston@wcupa.edu

Education

  • B.A., Human Ecology, University of Pennsylvania, 1974
  • B.S., Hahnemann University, 1981
  • Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, 1999

Research Interests

Ecology of health and diseasediet/nutrition and diseasefood ecologyfood systemsfood hungerfood insecurityhealth and population processesreproductive ecologyhuman adaptabilitygrowth and developmentwild plants as food and medicine

Opportunities

Work Study Positions Available: No

Grant Funded Positions Available: No

Course-Credit Research Opportunities Available: No

Volunteer Research Positions Available: No

Biography

I am a biological anthropologist. My areas of specialty/interest are human health and disease, including health transition; the anthropology of food and nutrition; human adaptability; child growth and development; and native North America (especially the Plains region). I employ a biocultural perspective when considering questions or issues in these areas. To date, my research has focused on health and lifestyle change among Blackfeet Indians in Montana, with an emphasis on chronic disease epidemiology, food/nutrition, and reproduction, and more recently on food insecurity in the US suburbs and on the teaching of evolution. I also am a certified physician assistant and worked in clinical practice and teaching in that field for a number of years prior to earning my doctorate in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1999. I have been at West Chester University since the fall 1999, and was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor in 2004 and promoted to Professor in 2008. In this department, I served as coordinator of the Anthropology Program and advisor to the Anthropology Club for a time, and have served as department chair from 2005-2008 and 2011 to the present. In 2008-2009 I was the Interim Associate Dean for Faculty Development and External Affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences. I take great interest in student advising and curriculum development and have done extensive work in these areas. Currently I am the Vice Chair of CAPC (Curriculum and Academic Policies Council). In 2013 I was awarded a three year National Science Foundation (NSF) TUES (Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM) grant to develop an innovative laboratory curriculum for biological anthropology targeted to improve students' understanding of evolution and the scientific process. I have worked with a team of WCU faculty from the departments of Biology and Psychology, as well as colleagues in biological anthropology at other universities, to develop, assess, and disseminate this curriculum.

Contact Information

Phone: 610-436-2657

List of Publications

  • *2010. SL Johnston. Eating with the Blackfeet: Who’s been eating whose food? In: Adventures in Eating: Anthropological Tales of Dining Around the World, edited by H Haines and CA Sammells. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, pp. 223-242. 2010. SL Johnston. Entries on ‘Toasting’ and ‘Television’. In: RE Black (ed): Alcohol in Popular Culture: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. *2007. SL Johnston. Plate half-empty or half-full? Dietary continuity and change among the Blackfeet. Ecology of Food and Nutrition 46:361-376. *2003. SL Johnston. Menopause in Blackfeet women: A Lifespan Perspective. Collegium Antropologicum 27:57-66. *2002. SL Johnston. Native American traditional and alternative medicine. In: “Global Perspectives on Complementary and Alternative Medicine,” edited by HE Sheehan and BP Brenton, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 583:195-213. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. *2001. SL Johnston. Food choice is shaped by accessibility: How sources of food have changed over time for the Blackfeet. Nutritional Anthropology 24:3-9. *2001. SL Johnston. Associations with age at natural menopause in Blackfeet women. American Journal of Human Biology 13:512-520. *1997. R Huss-Ashmore and SL Johnston. Wild plants as famine foods: Food choice under conditions of scarcity. In Food Preferences and Taste: Continuity and Change, edited by H Macbeth. Proceedings of the ICAF (Europe) Workshop on Food Preference and Taste, Oxford, UK, 1993. London: Berghahn, pp. 83-100. *1994. R Huss-Ashmore and SL Johnston. Famine foods: Wild plants as cultural adaptations to food stress. In Eating on the Wild Side: The Pharmacologic, Ecologic and Social Implications of Using Non-cultigens, edited by NL Etkin. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, pp. 62-82. *1991. PB Buccelli, BE Hall, SL Johnston, G Sherzer, and H Kushner. The impact of AIDS on recruitment in the health professions. Journal of Allied Health 20:95?106. 1989. SL Johnston. Clinical Education and Evaluation. In Physician Assistants for the Future. Alexandria: Association of Physician Assistant Programs. *1976. I Waldron and S Johnston. Why do women live longer than men? Journal of Human Stress 2:19-30. 2015. SL Johnston, M Knabb, J Auld, L Rieser-Danner. Changing student misconceptions about evolution through an innovative laboratory curriculum in biological anthropology. American Journal of Human Biology 27:272-273. 2014. SL Johnston. Impact of exercise prior to meal ingestion on metabolism: adaptive implications. American Journal of Human Biology 26:270. 2013. SL Johnston. Impact of coffee intake or exercise prior to first meal on metabolic response: implications for adaptation. American Journal of Human Biology 25:261-262. 2012. SL Johnston. Impact of meal timing and frequency on nutrient utilization and metabolism: adaptive implications. American Journal of Human Biology 24:230. 2011. SL Johnston. Evolutionary dimensions of human meal patterns. American Journal of Human Biology 23:262-263. 2010. SL Johnston. Tobacco use among Blackfeet women. American Journal of Human Biology 22:258. 2009. SL Johnston. Patterns of breastfeeding by Blackfeet women. American Journal of Human Biology 21:257-258. 2008. SL Johnston. Contraceptive and non-contraceptive hormone use among Blackfeet women. American Journal of Human Biology 20:222-223. 2008. SL Johnston. Menstrual cycle characteristics in Blackfeet women. American Journal of Physical Anthropology Supplement 46:126. 2007. SL Johnston. Relationship of childhood socioeconomic conditions and cohort (historical microenvironments) to adult nutritional status in Blackfeet women. American Journal of Physical Anthropology Supplement 44:137-138 2006. SL Johnston. Childhood socioeconomic conditions and adult nutritional and reproductive status in Blackfeet women. American Journal of Human Biology 18:259-260 2005. SL Johnston. Reproductive factors associated with cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in Blackfeet women. American Journal of Human Biology 17:245 2004. SL Johnston. Modeling the effects of social and economic change on health and nutritional status: historical microenvironments. American Journal of Physical Anthropology Supplement 38:121-122 2003. SL Johnston. Socioeconomic and age variability in nutrient intakes of Blackfeet women. American Journal of Human Biology 15:268-269. 2003. SL Johnston. Twinning in relation to fertility and other reproductive outcomes in Blackfeet women. American Journal of Physical Anthropology Supplement 36:123-124. 2002. SL Johnston. Sociocultural and behavioral influences on arterial blood pressure among Blackfeet women. American Journal of Human Biology 14:117. 2002. SL Johnston. Associations with blood pressure in Blackfeet women. American Journal of Physical Anthropology Supplement 34:91 2001. SL Johnston. Effect of timing of first birth in relation to menarche on adult body composition in Blackfeet women. American Journal of Human Biology 13:126. 2000. SL Johnston. Seasonality of births and conceptions in Blackfeet women. American Journal of Human Biology 12:290. 1999. SL Johnston. Characteristics of tobacco use by Blackfeet women, Montana. Cancer Research Therapy and Control 8:308. 1999. SL Johnston. Body size and composition in four cohorts of Blackfeet women. American Journal of Human Biology 11:116. 1998. SL Johnston. Characteristics of the reproductive span and menstrual cycle in Blackfeet women. American Journal of Human Biology 10:127. 1997. SL Johnston. Reproductive outcomes among four generations of Blackfeet women. American Journal of Human Biology 9:134. 1994. SL Johnston and R Huss-Ashmore. Plant secondary compounds in famine foods of native North America. American Journal of Human Biology 6:125. 1993. SL Johnston. Cancer morbidity and mortality among Native Americans of Montana and Wyoming. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Supplement 16:119.