Background: Dr Johns received her doctorate from the University of Bristol after completing
an MPhil in biological anthropology at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and an
undergraduate degree in anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a
broadly trained anthropologist with research experience in human palaeoarchaeology,
reproductive behaviour and the evolutionary psychology of human reproductive decision
making. Dr Johns' primary interest is in the variation of the age at first birth
in humans, specifically focusing on teenage mothers.
Research: Dr Johns' PhD research investigated empirically whether teenage motherhood is
the result of an evolved reproductive strategy that allows for variation in life
history event timings, as is predicted in evolutionary anthropology's theoretical
literature. Specifically, she tested the hypothesis that having children at an earlier age may promote lineage survival when the environment is unstable and risky, and personal future is uncertain. In addition, she investigated a possible
psychological mechanism linking environment and behaviour in this context.
Teaching Interests: Hominin Evolution and Behaviour, History of Evolutionary Theory, Evolutionary
Psychology, Human Sexual Behaviour.
Recent Publications
Johns, S.E. (Submitted) Perceived environmental risk as a predictor of teenage motherhood in a British population. Journal of Environmental Psychology
Johns, S.E. & Belsky, J. (2007) Life transitions: becoming a parent. In: Salmon, C. & Shackelford T. (eds.), Family relationships: An evolutionary perspective. Oxford University Press. pp. 71-90.
Chapman, T., Legge, S.S., and Johns S.E.(2007) Canopy height utilisation and trauma in three species of cercopithecoid monkeys. In BABAO 2004 Proceedings of the 6th Annual Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology, University of Bristol, Kate A. Robson Brown and Alice M. Roberts eds., British Archaeological Reports, International Series S1623: 15-18.
Johns S.E. (2004) Subjective life expectancy predicts offspring sex in a
contemporary, British population. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. 271:S474 - S476
ISSN:0962-8452
Lawlor, D., Shaw, M. and Johns, S. (2001) ‘Teenage pregnancy is not a Public
Health Problem’. British Medical Journal 323:1428 ISSN 0959-535X
Johns, S.E. (2001) Descriptive Statistics of Teenage Mothers and Older Mothers
in Gloucestershire. An official report compiled for the Gloucestershire Teenage
Pregnancy Co-ordinators. pp 1-70 Available via the Gloucestershire Health
Authority.
Johns, S.E. (2000) Review of ‘Birth Counts: Statistics of Pregnancy and
Childbirth’. Radical Statistics 75:67-68 ISSN 0268 6376
Manuscripts in preparation
Johns, S.E. (in prep) Contraceptive Use and preference for pregnancy among teenage and older mothers.
Johns, S.E. (in prep) Perceived longevity and self-rated health: predictors of reproductive timing in
a contemporary population.
Johns, S.E. (in prep) The Role of the Father in Teenage Births.
Media and Consultancy
Articles about her research and to which she has contributed have been published in New Scientist, The Guardian newspaper, The Daily Mail, Nature Online, the Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), The Age (Australia), Hindustan Times (India), The Scotsman, The Times, Pravda (Russia), L’Express (France), The National Post (Canada), Health Magazine (USA), Fit Pregnancy Magazine (USA), Eve Magazine (UK) as well as in a number of local Kent newspapers.
She have given radio interviews to the 'Today Programme' (BBC Radio 4), Radio 5 Live, Radio New Zealand, BBC Gloucester, BBC Swindon, BBC Kent, Radio Dublin, and Radio Australia, and worked as a consultant for the Gloucestershire Teenage Pregnancy Unit and the South-West regional teenage pregnancy co-ordinators.
She is available to provide topical comment or in-depth dicussion of topics related to human evolution & behaviour, evolutionary psychology, human sexuality, and teenage pregnancy.
Lecturer in Biological Anthropology, Convenor of the BSc in Anthropology and Director of Learning and Teaching
