Amelia Villaseñor

Amelia Villaseñor
Alma materGeorge Washington University
Scientific career
FieldsPalaeoecology
WorkplacesUniversity of Arkansas

Amelia Villaseñor is an American paleoecologist best known for her study of Quaternary palaeoenvironments and the impacts of hominins on them.

Early life and education

Villaseñor grew up in South Phoenix, Arizona.[1] She is Mexican-American.[1] She attended graduate school at George Washington University, earning both a Master's degree and PhD in Human Paleobiology.[1][2] In spring 2015, was given a Leakey Foundation grant for her dissertation project "The biogeography and behavioral ecology of hominins in Pliocene Eastern Africa:  A macroecological perspective".[3]

Career

Villaseñor is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Arkansas.[2] She has published a number of papers examining the ecology of early hominins.[4]

In 2020, Villaseñor joined a project exploring the Natodomeri site in northwest Kenya.[5] In 2025, Villaseñor participated in an archaeological dig in the Turkana Basin in Kenya that found 2.75 million-year-old stone tools.[6]

Awards and recognitions

  • 2025 OMNI Keeling/Hansen Climate Science Award, University of Arkansas[7]

Selected publications

  • Tóth, Anikó B.; Lyons, S. Kathleen; Barr, W. Andrew; Behrensmeyer, Anna K.; Blois, Jessica L.; Bobe, René; Davis, Matt; Du, Andrew; Eronen, Jussi T.; Faith, J. Tyler; Fraser, Danielle; Gotelli, Nicholas J.; Graves, Gary R.; Jukar, Advait M.; Miller, Joshua H. (2019-09-20). "Reorganization of surviving mammal communities after the end-Pleistocene megafaunal extinction". Science. 365 (6459): 1305–1308. doi:10.1126/science.aaw1605. hdl:10138/327004. ISSN 0036-8075.
  • Villaseñor, Amelia; Bobe, René; Behrensmeyer, Anna K. (October 2020). "Middle Pliocene hominin distribution patterns in Eastern Africa". Journal of Human Evolution. 147 102856. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102856. Retrieved 4 May 2026 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
  • Fraser, Danielle; Villaseñor, Amelia; Tóth, Anikó B.; Balk, Meghan A.; Eronen, Jussi T.; Andrew Barr, W.; Behrensmeyer, A. K.; Davis, Matt; Du, Andrew; Tyler Faith, J.; Graves, Gary R.; Gotelli, Nicholas J.; Jukar, Advait M.; Looy, Cindy V.; McGill, Brian J. (2022-07-08). "Late quaternary biotic homogenization of North American mammalian faunas". Nature Communications. 13 (1): 3940. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-31595-8. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 9270452.
  • Smith, Felisa A.; Elliott Smith, Emma A.; Villaseñor, Amelia; Tomé, Catalina P.; Lyons, S. Kathleen; Newsome, Seth D. (2022-09-27). "Late Pleistocene megafauna extinction leads to missing pieces of ecological space in a North American mammal community". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 119 (39). doi:10.1073/pnas.2115015119. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 9522422. PMID 36122233.
  • Braun, David R.; Palcu Rolier, Dan V.; Advokaat, Eldert L.; Archer, Will; Baraki, Niguss G.; Biernat, Maryse D.; Beaudoin, Ella; Behrensmeyer, Anna K.; Bobe, René; Elmes, Katherine; Forrest, Frances; Hammond, Ashley S.; Jovane, Luigi; Kinyanjui, Rahab N.; de Martini, Ana P. (2025-11-04). "Early Oldowan technology thrived during Pliocene environmental change in the Turkana Basin, Kenya". Nature Communications. 16 (1): 9401. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-64244-x. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 12586688.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Surviving Graduate School as the Minority Representative". Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology | Columbian College of Arts & Sciences. George Washington University. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
  2. 1 2 "Amelia Villaseñor". Department of Anthropology. University of Arkansas. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  3. ↑ Gregory, H. (2015-08-31). "Grantee Spotlight: Amelia Villaseñor". The Leakey Foundation. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
  4. ↑ Villaseñor, Amelia; Bobe, René; Behrensmeyer, Anna K. (October 2020). "Middle Pliocene hominin distribution patterns in Eastern Africa". Journal of Human Evolution. 147 102856. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102856. Retrieved 4 May 2026 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
  5. ↑ "Anthropologist Receives NSF Funding to Explore New Fossil Site in Kenya". University of Arkansas News. 2020-09-02. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
  6. ↑ Smith-Moore, Will (2025-11-04). "U of A professor part of team that discovered 2.75 million-year-old stone tools". 5newsonline.com. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
  7. ↑ "2025 Winners of the King, Nolan and OMNI Faculty Awards Announced". University of Arkansas News. 2025-06-25. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
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