THOMAS CONTE
Role:
Anthropologist, Mongolia field site supervisor
Institution:
Rutgers University
Tom Conte is a first year doctoral student at Rutgers University working with Dr. Lee Cronk. He is broadly interested in the relationship between behavior, culture and the environment. Tom’s current research is centered on the evolution of human behavior and social organization, primarily prosocial behaviors (i.e. generosity, cooperation, risk-pooling). His dissertation research will focus on the evolution of cooperation and the effects of climatic variability on labor sharing among nomadic herders in the Darhad Depression, Mongolia. To explore these issues, he utilizes social network analysis and experimental games to investigate how climatic variability (i.e. severe winter storms) may affect pastoralists’ ability and willingness to engage in labor sharing. Tom holds a bachelors degree in anthropology from Fordham University and a masters degree in applied anthropology from Oregon State University. His undergraduate and masters research focused on the effects of Chinese grassland management policy on ecological health and social organization among pastoralists in Inner Mongolia.