Elen Feuerriegel is an Australian

palaeoanthropologist Paleoanthropology or paleo-anthropology is a branch of paleontology and anthropology which seeks to understand the early development of anatomically modern humans, a process known as hominization, through the reconstruction of evolutionary kinshi ...

, known for being one of the "underground astronauts" of the

Rising Star Expedition The Rising Star cave system (also known as Westminster or Empire cave) is located in the Malmani dolomites, in Bloubank River valley, about southwest of Swartkrans, part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in South Africa. Recreat ...

. She is also a clinical research scientist at the

University of Colorado Denver The University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) is a Public university, public research university located in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is part of the University of Colorado system. Established in 1912 as an extension of the University of C ...

where she specialises in

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

AND

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

clinical trials.

Career

Feuerriegel studied anthropology at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

(BA, 2011) and the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

(M. Biol. Anth, 2012). She then began work on a PhD at ANU, under the supervision of

Colin Groves Colin Peter Groves (24 June 1942 – 30 November 2017) was a British-Australian biologist and anthropologist. Groves was professor of biological anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. Education Born in Englan ...

, which she completed in 2017. Her thesis was on the

biomechanics Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to Organ (anatomy), organs, Cell (biology), cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechani ...

of the

hominoid Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a Family (biology), superfamily of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and Europe in prehistory, and counting humans ...

shoulder The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder m ...

and its role in tool-making (

flint knapping Knapping is the shaping of flint, chert, obsidian, or other conchoidal fracturing stone through the process of lithic reduction to manufacture stone tools, strikers for flintlock firearms, or to produce flat-faced stones for building or facing w ...

), and included research on ''

Homo naledi '' Homo naledi'' is an Extinction, extinct species of archaic human discovered in 2013 in the Rising Star Cave system, Gauteng province, South Africa, part of the Cradle of Humankind, dating back to the Middle Pleistocene 335,000–236,000 yea ...

'' fossils from

Rising Star Cave The Rising Star cave system (also known as Westminster or Empire cave) is located in the Malmani Subgroup, Malmani dolomites, in Bloubank River valley, about southwest of Swartkrans, part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in Sout ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. In 2013, whilst a PhD student, Feuerriegel responded to an advertisement on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

calling for "skinny, highly-qualified paleontologists" with

caving Caving, also known as spelunking (United States and Canada) and potholing (United Kingdom and Ireland), is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is the scientific ...

experience. The advertisement was placed by

Lee Berger Lee Rogers Berger (born December 22, 1965) is an American-born South African paleoanthropologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. He is best known for his discovery of the ''Australopithecus sediba'' type site, Malapa; his leadersh ...

, who was recruiting a team to recover hominid fossils he had discovered in the difficult-to-access Dinaledi Chamber of Rising Star Cave. This expedition was part of a National Geographic sponsored study called the "Rising Star Expedition" and she was one of only six scientists, all women, who entered the cave. Feuerriegel's analysis of the fossils uncovered in the cave were published in an issue of ''Nature'' dedicated entirely to the expedition. As part of the expedition Feuerriegel helped excavate the fossils, which were subsequently assigned to a new species of human, ''

''. She has a special interest in the functional morphology of the upper limb (shoulder and elbow) and hand and, as such, also studied the Home naledi upper limb bones. Following this expedition Feuerriegel spent some time working as a part-time lecturer at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

within the Department of Anthropology before starting work as a clinical research scientist at the University of Colorado where she is a study program manager looking at the long-term effects of COVID-19.

Selected publications

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References

External links

Elen Feuerriegel
at the University of Washington {{DEFAULTSORT:Feuerriegel, Elen Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian paleoanthropologists Australian women anthropologists Australian anthropologists University of Queensland alumni Australian National University alumni University of Washington faculty