Katie McCormack

Katie McCormack, M.A. is a biological anthropologist who specializes in the application of paleogenomic (ancient DNA) methods to reconstruct the human-associated microbial landscapes of communities in the pre-colonial Americas. She earned a B.S. in biology and anthropology from the College of William and Mary and an M.A. in anthropology from Vanderbilt University. She defended her doctoral dissertation Summer 2026 and will receive her Ph.D. in anthropology from Vanderbilt University in Fall 2026. She is currently involved in projects assessing evidence for infectious disease in a Maya population in northern Belize across the Classic-Postclassic periods and reconstructing oral microbiomes from a Middle Horizon site in southern Peru. Her teaching interests span biological anthropology and archaeology, with an emphasis on developing scientific literacy and exploring the connections between academic research and popular media.