Luke Fannin, a PhD graduate in the ecology, evolution, environment, and society (EEES) program, has been named the 2025 recipient of the Hannah T. Croasdale Award.
What do you consider your hometown?
Sharon Center, Ohio.
Why did you choose Dartmouth for your graduate degree?
I chose Dartmouth for the strength of its biological anthropology faculty, anchored by Nate Dominy, Jeremy DeSilva, and Zane Thayer. I met all of them on my first trip to Dartmouth in 2018, and I knew soon after that this would be the best intellectual community for me to grow as a scholar.
What inspired you to pursue this field of research?
I am fascinated by our origins, including the diets and behaviors that propelled our evolution. I also love being a primate, which is an endless source of pride for me––you could say I have a primate superiority complex.
What does it mean to you to receive the Hannah T. Croasdale Award?
I am incredibly grateful to receive the Hannah T. Croasdale Award. It is a special experience to be recognized by the graduate community and the people that I admire.
You’ve conducted fieldwork all over the world. Which field experience has been most transformative, and why?
I was fortunate to be on the Dartmouth team that re-discovered a lost set of ancient footprints at Laetoli, Tanzania in 2019. It was a profound experience for me, not only because I got to excavate 3.6 million-year-old human footprints (which is a big deal for anthropologists), but also because I was only in my first year of graduate school!
The entire experience gave me a taste of the kinds of ambitious research projects I could undertake as a Dartmouth graduate student.
What’s one challenge you faced in graduate school, and how did you overcome it?
This question reminds me of a Kurt Vonnegut quotation that I like: “Sometimes I don’t consider myself very good at life, so I hide in my profession.” I struggled with work-life balance throughout graduate school, especially in my first year.
I often pushed myself too hard without cultivating a healthy personal life, which I now see was a bit of a burden and very lonesome. Meeting my wife certainly helped alleviate that burden, as well as eventually developing good friendships with my colleagues and peers.
You’ve shown a commitment to outreach. Why is public engagement so important to you as a scientist?
I view public science outreach as both a civic responsibility and my patriotic duty as a federally-funded scientist. I also enjoy sharing my science with the public immensely.
Can you share a moment when Guarini resources, staff, or peers helped you navigate a challenge or opportunity?
The folks at Guarini were very helpful this past year when I applied for my Schmidt Science Fellowship, which will be funding my ongoing work post-graduation. I am indebted to Dean Kull for his support of my successful fellowship proposal.
You’ve written for popular audiences in Smithsonian and The Washington Post. What do you enjoy about writing for the public?
I enjoy writing compelling stories that relate science to history, public life, and pop culture. I also enjoy the writing because it allows me to explore topics I normally wouldn’t include in a usual PhD thesis, like the evolutionary logic of playground equipment or the impacts that surly, Victorian-era circus elephants with toothaches had on the English language.
What’s something unexpected or surprising you’ve learned about yourself during your PhD journey?
I didn’t come into my PhD with a strong proclivity for writing, but my time here has greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the writing process. I find as much enjoyment writing out my scientific findings as I do collecting data, a sentiment I would not have similarly articulated when I started my PhD.
Do you have a favorite place in the Upper Valley that helped you recharge or reflect during your time here?
I love walking through local cemeteries. I’ll walk through the Dartmouth Cemetery from time to time, as well as small cemeteries near where I live in White River Jct. Being from Ohio, most of the headstones I’m used to are younger than 1840, so it is cool to regularly see headstones from the 18th century or older.
I try to pay attention to when people lived and how long they lived, envisioning their lives and their experiences. I also get a lot of perspective during my walks, in that I realize that I’m just another human being and that I’m not really that special in the long run…I’m going to end up there someday too. It encourages me to live every day fully.
What’s next for you—and what are you most looking forward to in this new chapter?
Career-wise, I’ll start a two-year Schmidt Science Fellowship in October, working with Dr. Catherine Hobaiter at the University of St.Andrews in the UK. There, I will be investigating the evolutionary significance of nest-building behavior for great ape linguistic evolution.
More personally, I am looking forward to becoming a dad after graduation. My wife Lisa and I are expecting our first kid, a daughter, at the start of July.
