Teaching Fellows (History)

Emma Kitchen draws on the history of evolutionary biology to shed light on the complex relationship between time, biology, and human history. Her current project explores the intersections of biological disciplines from the 19thC to the present in the history of the ancestor to modern cattle, the aurochs. She argues that in the case of the aurochs, scientific specialties such as paleontology, genetics, and ecology have integrated different timescales in pursuit of holistic understanding of the animal, providing insight into how and when scientific interdisciplinarity arises without any institutional push. Through her teaching, experience with natural history museums, and published collaboration with scientists, she shares a deeper understanding of history’s impact on contemporary science and public scientific understanding. Kitchen earned her PhD in History in 2023 from the University of Chicago.