We are happy to welcome our new Senior Postdoc Fellow Katya Stansfield to the KLI.

Katya is an evolutionary biologist with a background in physics and data science. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from University College London, a BSc in Physics (Open University), and an MSc in AI (University of Leeds). Since 2019, she has been working as a research fellow in the Department of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Vienna (FWF Lise Meitner funding, FWF Stand-Alone funding) on how pelvic morphology constrains biomechanical performance.

At KLI, she will study how anatomical form relates to locomotor function in Neanderthals by integrating traditional morphological analysis with advanced computational modeling. In her project “Evaluating Sprint Performance Through Musculoskeletal Modelling“ she will investigate whether Neanderthal robust anatomy evolved as an adaptation to ambush hunting, requiring short, powerful sprints.