Profiles

Kelly Harkins '04, Palamountain Scholar Award Winner

This year’s Anne T. Palamountain Scholar Award goes to Kelly Harkins ’04, an accomplished scientist whose research focuses on the origins of human diseases in the ancient world. The annual award, now in its second year, recognizes Palamountain Scholars who have distinguished themselves through leadership, service to others and a commitment to the larger good of society.

Graduating from Skidmore with a double major in music and archeology, Harkins was awarded a Fulbright fellowship that took her to Austria, where she worked with the human skeletal collection at the Vienna Natural History Museum and taught English in local schools. She then attended Arizona State University, earning Ph.D. in bioarcheology in 2014. She works as a postdoctoral researcher in the Human Paleogenomics Lab at the University of California at Santa Cruz and in June 2015 she became a National Science Foundation postdoctoral research fellow, continuing her work on ancient human pathogen evolution at UCSC.

“My research applies paleogenomic—ancient DNA—methods to human remains from archaeological contexts to investigate the emergence of human diseases in ancient communities,” said Harkins. “I mainly work with pre-Columbian material from the Americas, examining the molecular evolution of human pathogens in the New World prior to the arrival of Europeans.”

Explains Harkins, “By providing direct access to the genetic signatures of past human infection, this research promotes a ‘deep-time’ approach to contemporary issues of local and global health.” The results of this research can be used to examine the environmental and cultural conditions that influence the relationship between humans and diseases and to understand the rate at which pathogens evolve, with further implications for biomedical science.

Harkins is actively involved in programs that inspire young girls and women to pursue the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). She serves in many capacities as a mentor to aspiring scientists, including her role as a member of the Women in Science outreach group at UCSC. She has established an annual science lecture at the Kyrene Middle School in Tempe, Arizona, and is a content contributor to the Ask a Biologist online resource for grades K–12. Outside of the academic arena, Harkins, an avid rock climber and mountain biker, is working to promote women’s participation in the traditionally male-dominated sport of mountain biking.

Harkins views her Palamountain Scholarship as setting her on the path to success. 

The Palamountain Scholarship provided not only financial support but also a vote of confidence to strive for accolades that would ultimately provide me with direction, purpose and a successful career.

Kelly Harkins '04