Pioneering paleoecology - Dr. Kaye Reed

By Kelsey O'Neill

When we discussed female paleoanthropologists it was the same time a major science story was breaking. Homo naledi is a new species of hominin that has been broadcasted all over the popular press; one major spotlight is that a team of women scientists was conducting the excavation of the fossils from the cave site. While this is a good start for advancing women in the field of paleoanthropology, it is not enough. The Rising Star team of women scientists is only credited for excavating the site under the direction of Lee Berger, the program director. Women will only truly advance in the field when women mentor and oversee other women scientists in field research.

 

Figure 1: Bones of the Homo naledi fossils found in South Africa.

 

Figure 2: The women excavating team of Rising Star.

 One major woman paleoanthropologist who is actively educating, mentoring and overseeing a younger generation of women paleoanthropologists is Dr. Kaye Reed.  Dr. Reed earned her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook in 1996, after having a nonlinear academic path. Unlike many other anthropology students attending university right after high school, Dr. Reed went to university for her undergraduate after having a child and a career. She was active in many field archaeology opportunities around the United Stated while completing a B.S. in Anthropology. It was during her time in graduate school that Kaye Reed began excavating at field site in South Africa, Argentina, and Ethiopia with several big name paleoanthropologists. Not only was Kaye Reed excavating sites, she was also the director of several field schools, where she would teach students excavation techniques.

Figure 3: Kaye Reed in the field at Hadar, Ethiopia.

After earning her Ph.D. in Anthropology, which focused on the paleoecology of hominin localities in South Africa, Kaye Reed worked as a Postdoctoral research assistant at the Institute of Human Origins (IHO), which at that time was associated with the University of California, Berkeley.  While at IHO, Dr. Reed worked along side paleoanthropologists Don Johanson, Bill Kimbel, and Tim White. In 1997 Johanson and Kimbel left Berkeley and moved IHO to Arizona State University, and offered Dr. Reed a position as an assistant professor in the department of Anthropology.

Dr. Reed has been at ASU ever since the move in 1997. She has earned a full tenured professor position, and she is the only female in the department of Anthropology to have such distinction. In 1999, Kaye accepted her first student, Amy Rector. In addition to teaching, directing field sites, and mentoring students, Dr. Reed has also served as an associate editor for the Journal of Human Evolution, a NRC panel member on Earth Sciences Context for Human Evolution, and NSF Biological Anthropology program director. Dr. Kaye Reed is a paleoecologist and paleoanthropologist that deserves to be recognized for her help with advancing women scientists in fields where men dominate the highest academic positions.