Kris Smith
@kris-smith
Assistant Professor of Anthropology at WSU studying how people work together to respond to environmental change and infectious disease across E. Africa. Interdisciplinary and plays well with others. He/him Website: kristophermsmith.com
I don't believe that's controversial (or shouldn't be anyways). Bernard argues we should consider data and analysis separately when discussing quantitative vs qualitative, such as the table below, and that most studies will include multiple cells, especially the qual analysis of quant data
8/8/2025 Portland, OR Fourth time seeing them live and this was my favorite show of them all. The two stage, four act structure was amazing, showcasing different sides of the band: the softer pianos, the buzzing and blipping dance beats, and of course, the heavy, anthemic rockers
4/ Still, there was a lot of variation among people, even with a few very altruistic people giving their entire share. Some of that variation is explained by interactions with non-Hadza; people with more exposure to outside groups were less likely to take when they had less
3/ their piece rather than people giving freely, sometimes referred to as "demand sharing" or "tolerated theft." When we presented Hadza with opportunities to give or take from others in an economic game, they were much more likely to take, and in fact the most common decision was to take everything
But friends between communities can help build that interdependence & trust to help scale collective action. Across 28 fishing villages in Tanzania, we find that long-distance friends are associated with more trust in other communities and participation in fisheries management activities
Day 2 of the qualitative methods workshop in Nanyuki. I got to roleplay an unstructured interview and attendees practiced their own unstructured interviews and focus groups
We are in Nanyuki this week to give a capacity-building workshop on qualitative methods in field health research. John gave a great lecture on participatory methods in veterinary epidemiology, with an exercise in participatory mapping.
We traveled up north to Marsabit this week to observe a climate preparedness workshop and talk with county officials about how they're supporting communities as they adapt to the realities of climate change. We also visited a Rendile manyatta to learn a bit more about its organization and layout.
We closed out yesterday's meeting in Naivasha as county officials put the finishing touches on their One Health strategic plan. It was a great experience learning from them what can be done to support healthier humans, animals, and environments. Some of the local wildlife wanted in on the fun too
New project in Kenya kicks off with a meeting in Naivasha with health, veterinary, and environmental officers from Muranga county to discuss gaps in a One Health strategic plan and how research from WSU Global Health Kenya can support those goals. We also had a special guest join us for lunch
Hello new followers! I'm an anthropologist studying how and why people cooperate, and how we can leverage cooperation to support communities in East Africa as they navigate large scale changes, such as globalization, environmental degradation, and emerging infectious diseases
This past weekend WSU anthropology showed up in force to present at the Northwestern Evolution Ecology and Human Behavior (NWEEHB) symposium in Boise. I had a great time seeing all the cool work from colleagues in the region reconnecting with some of my favorite folks
In honor of National Postdoc Appreciation week, the postdocs of WSU officially filed to be recognized as a union this week. Shout-out to the organizers and ASEs who made this possible!