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Laurie Godfrey, professor emerita in the Department of Anthropology, has been honored with the 2024 Charles R. Darwin Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the American Association of Biological Anthropologists (AABA). Established in 1992, the award recognizes AABA senior members who have demonstrated a lifetime of contributions and commitment to biological anthropology through their scholarship, training and service to the association.

Godfrey has conducted research in numerous areas, including primate evolution, paleobiology, functional morphology, evolutionary ecology and extinction. Her expertise ranges widely, including studies of public understanding (and misunderstanding) of evolution, the relations between evolution, growth and development, and the impacts of humans and climate change on the vertebrates of Madagascar. 

Godfrey’s research on subfossil (recently extinct) lemurs of Madagascar has been particularly impactful. She has advanced the world’s understanding of these species using dental morphology, dental microwear, dental histology, bone morphology, bone chemistry, ancient DNA and other analytical tools. Her paleontological fieldwork in Madagascar has led to the discovery and description of new extinct lemur species. 

More recently, in collaboration with colleagues in the Department of Earth, Geographic and Climate Sciences at UMass and other institutions, Godfrey’s work has produced a new theory concerning what triggered recent large vertebrate species extinctions, known as the “subsistence shift hypothesis.” 

Nomination materials for the award also emphasized Godfrey’s efforts to mentor students and build collaborations with scholars at UMass, in Madagascar and elsewhere.

“With infectious enthusiasm she has inspired early career scholars and peers to study a diverse array of research topics in Madagascar and beyond,” the nomination noted. 

The award will be presented during the AABA’s 93^rd annual meeting March 20-23 in Los Angeles.