Ursula Cowgill 1462807 212532282 2008-05-15T04:27:42Z CJLL Wright 259138 template updt '''Ursula Moser Cowgill''' (b. [[9 November]], [[1927]])<ref>{{cite linked authority file|id=n89-146741|text=Full name and date|accessdate=2008-05-08}}</ref> is a [[biologist]] and [[anthropologist]] who worked for [[Yale University]] , [[Dow Chemical Company]] and the [[University of Colorado at Boulder|University of Colorado]] during the second half of the 20th century. Her work includes studies of [[Agriculture in Mesoamerica|agricultural practices in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica]], seasons of [[birth]] in human beings, the relationship between cultural [[sexism|gender bias]] and [[infant mortality]], and the possible role of [[selenium]] in reducing [[death|mortality]] from [[AIDS]]. She also looked after four [[potto]]s for many years and published a series of observations on their behaviour. Cowgill earned a [[PhD]] from Iowa State University in 1956. Later she worked as an analytical chemist for the [[limnologist]] [[G. Evelyn Hutchinson]]. Her first journal articles, some published jointly with Hutchinson, appeared in the early 1960s. Cowgill was living in [[Colorado]] as of 2003. In addition to her scientific research, she is an activist with the [[American Civil Liberties Union]]. ==Work and findings== ===Pottos=== In [[1959]], three pairs of pottos from West Africa arrived at Yale's Osborn Zoological Laboratory. At first they lived in the laboratory with a number of other [[nocturnal]] [[prosimian]]s that Cowgill and Hutchinson were studying. In [[1964]], Cowgill took two of the pairs to live with her. She looked after them until [[1981]], when she gave the sole surviving male to a colleague. While the pottos were with her, Cowgill published a number of journal articles on their anatomy, diet, reproduction, illnesses and recovery, and social behaviour. These publications constitute one of the few long-term studies of pottos in captivity. ===Maya agriculture=== Between [[1961]] and [[1963]], Cowgill and Hutchinson made studies of [[soil]] in the [[Petén Basin]], [[Guatemala]], with the aim of learning about the effects of [[agriculture|agricultural]] practices of the [[pre-Columbian]] [[Maya civilization]]. Their findings reported that Maya cultivation methods had gradually robbed the soil of vital elements, meaning that it eventually became unable to sustain crops. Some scholars have linked this exhaustion of the soil to the 10th century decline of the Maya urban settlements in the Petén region. ===Sex ratio and childhood mortality=== Cowgill's research into gender and child mortality covered both historical records in [[England]] and contemporary observations in [[Guatemala]]. Using birth and death records from the parish registers of [[York]] between [[1538]] and [[1812]], Cowgill found that throughout the city's history, girls at every stage of childhood had died at a higher rate than boys of the same age. This resulted in an adult [[human sex ratio|sex ratio]] of 136 males for every 100 females. Cowgill theorised that this was partly because girls were more likely to be victims of [[infanticide]], and partly because sons tended to receive better feeding and care than daughters. In Guatemala, Cowgill studied an indigenous village where the sex ratio was even more skewed -- 178:100. Cowgill observed that mothers in this village [[breastfeeding|breastfed]] sons for much longer than daughters, and tended to give them preferential treatment even after weaning. Cowgill and Hutchinson also speculated that the sexually provocative behaviour of young girls in this village might be a [[survival mechanism]]. ===Seasons of birth=== Cowgill undertook one of the first scientific studies of seasonality in human reproduction. Taking data from historical records and indigenous peoples in various countries, she concluded that conception and birth in human beings, like that of many other animals, followed seasonal patterns to a degree. Because the pattern was different in the [[Northern Hemisphere|Northern]] and [[Southern Hemisphere]]s, Cowgill hypothesised that [[weather]] was the determining factor. However, she found that in [[urbanisation|urbanised]] and [[industrialisation|industrialised]] areas the pattern had been disrupted. Her 1966 article on the topic, published in the journal ''Ecology'', has formed the basis for subsequent research by other scientists. ===Selenium and AIDS=== In [[1997]], Cowgill gauged the selenium content of soil in various locations in the United States by measuring the amount of the mineral that was absorbed by [[alfalfa]]. She then correlated this information with the mortality rate of [[AIDS]] in the area. She found that the more selenium there was in the soil, the lower mortality from AIDS was. The relationship was especially strong among [[African-Americans]]. ==Publications== * [http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/48/2/238 'An apparent lunar periodicity in the sexual cycle of certain prosimians'] (with Alison Bishop, R.J. Andrew and G.E. Hutchinson). Article published in ''Zoology'' journal, December 1961. * ''Bajo de Santa Fe'' (with G.E. Hutchinson). Book, 1963. * '[[Sex ratio]] in [[childhood]] and the depopulation of the [[Petén Basin|Peten]], [[Guatemala]]' (with G.E. Hutchinson). Journal article, February 1963. * [http://www.esajournals.org/esaonline/?request=get-abstract&issn=0012-9658&volume=047&issue=04&page=0614 'Season of Birth in Man. Contemporary Situation with Special Reference to Europe and the Southern Hemisphere'.] Article published in ''Ecology'' journal, June 1966. * ''The history of Laguna de Petenxil, a small lake in Northern Guatemala''. Book, 1966. * '[[Heat transfer]] solely by molecular [[heat conduction|conduction]] in the [[metalimnion]]' [http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/57/2/198]. Article published in ''Geophysics'' journal, December 1966. * 'The people of York, 1538-1812'. [[Scientific American]], January 1970. * 'A [[myeloliposarcoma]] in a female Perodicticus potto: mineralogical and elemental chemical analysis' [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=406401&query_hl=1]. Journal article, 1977. * 'Elemental analysis of a [[tumor]] from a [[nocturnal]] prosimian with special emphasis on [[bromine]]' [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=402025&query_hl=1]. Journal article, January 1977. * 'Normal [[blood]] values of an adult male Perodicticus potto with comparative data from other [[primates]]' [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=7419137&query_hl=1] (with L.B. Zeman). Journal article, 1980. * 'The [[tellurium]] content of [[vegetation]]' [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=2484368&query_hl=1]. Journal article, September 1988. * ''Aquatic toxicology and hazard assessment'', 12th volume (with Llewellyn R. Williams). Book, 1989. * 'The reproducibility of the three brood Ceriodaphnia test using the reference toxicant [[Sodium dodecyl sulfate|sodium lauryl sulfate]]' [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=2386407&query_hl=1] (with D.P. Milazzo and B.D. Landenberger). Journal article, July 1990. * 'The response of the three brood Ceriodaphnia test to fifteen formulations and pure compounds in common use' [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=1898115&query_hl=1]. Journal article, July 1991. * 'Variation in the nitrotoxin concentration of 13 species of [[Astragalus]] (Fabaceae) over a 6-year period' [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9438032&query_hl=1] (with D.P. Milazzo). Journal article, November 1991. * 'The distribution of selenium and mortality owing to acquired immune deficiency syndrome in the continental United States' [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9152511&query_hl=1]. Journal article, January 1997. ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== ==External links== * {{worldcat id|lccn-n89-146741}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowgill, Ursula}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1927 births]] [[Category:American biologists]] [[Category:American anthropologists]] [[Category:American Mesoamericanists]] [[Category:Women biologists]] [[Category:Primatologists]] [[Category:American activists]]