Resumen

MENDEZ-PEREZ, Betty. Academic Journey in Anthropology, from Curiosity to Specialization. An Venez Nutr [online]. 2025, vol.38, n.1, pp.61-75.  Epub 21-Dic-2025. ISSN 0798-0752.  https://doi.org/10.54624/2025.38.1.006.

Abstract: The content of this document recounts the author’s academic journey in anthropology, a voyage from initial curiosity to specialization in Physical Anthropology. Her beginnings at the Central University of Venezuela were marked by fundamental influences such as those of professors Rodolfo Quintero and Adelaida Díaz Ungría, with whom she began her research career in population genetics, conducting exhaustive fieldwork in indigenous communities. Her training expanded with studies in kinanthropometry under the tutelage of J.E. Lindsay Carter at San Diego State University, California, USA, specializing in the physical constitution of athletes. She later developed this line of research in Venezuela, coordinating the Unit of Bioanthropology, Physical Activity, and Health at the Institute of Economic and Social Research of the Central University of Venezuela, where she led pioneering studies on growth, body composition, proportionality, nutritional anthropometry, and sports performance in elite swimmers and the general child population. Throughout her career, she emphasized a holistic and multidisciplinary approach, integrating biological and sociocultural dimensions. Her work, supported by the Scientific Development Council of the Central University of Venezuela and in collaboration with international networks, spanned from nutritional anthropometry and auxology to the assessment of physical activity, always adhering to rigorous methodological protocols. Her life’s work demonstrates the vast application of Physical Anthropology and pays homage to multidisciplinary collaboration as a fundamental pillar of knowledge

Palabras clave : anthropology; teaching; academia; Venezuela.

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