About

Allison Hopkins is an Associate Professor at Texas A&M University in the Department of Anthropology and serves as the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Her research focuses on health and wellbeing, ethnobotany, globalization, social networks, and knowledge transmission, particularly within Latin American contexts and among Latinos in the United States. She specializes in interdisciplinary research examining the connections between globalization, social relationships, and human health, with particular attention to local resource knowledge, behavioral variation, and health outcomes. Her current research projects include a longitudinal study on herbal remedy knowledge change over 15 years in a rural Yucatec Maya community, a cross-cultural survey of wellbeing definitions in Italy and Mexico, and a collaboration on an NIH-funded study analyzing social networks of recently quit smokers in the U.S. and how information about smoking cessation spreads through these networks. Hopkins actively involves undergraduate students in her research through her Planetary Health Laboratory, where they gain hands-on experience in various aspects of research, including data collection, analysis, and manuscript writing. Her work emphasizes understanding the interconnections between people's health and their environment at multiple scales.

Research topics

• Biology
• Sociology
• Ecology
• Geography
• Psychology
• Evolutionary biology
• Paleontology
• Physical therapy
• Environmental health
• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Zoology
• Anthropology

Selected publications

• Analysis of sub-national variation in global development goals to inform locally relevant sustainable development

  Environment Development and Sustainability · 2023-10-06 · 2 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Personal Network Changes among Smoking Relapse Prevention Intervention Participants

  American Journal of Health Behavior · 2023-11-11 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Objectives: Tobacco use remains a leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and relapse rates among those who quit smoking are alarmingly high. Personal networks (PNs) substantially influence smoking and quitting behaviors but have not been incorporated into relapse prevention approaches. Thus, we carried out a pilot study employing PNs in relapse prevention and measured changes in participants' PNs. Methods: This pilot study was a single-group pre-post intervention where participants received Helpers Stay Quit (HSQ), a behavioral relapse prevention intervention we designed to instruct persons who recently quit smoking to deliver a "helping conversation" (HC) to encourage others to quit smoking. Results: The majority of the 64 participants abstained from smoking (86%) and had HCs (89%). Those who abstained from smoking throughout the study significantly increased the number of non-family members and individuals who smoke in their networks at follow-up, which increased their opportunities for carrying out a HC. HC recruits reported cessation-related behavior changes after receiving an HC. Conclusions: This is promising evidence of the potential of HSQ to facilitate cessation in the network of those who recently quit smoking, which may benefit their ability to stay quit.

  PublisherDOI

• Food Security and the Viability of Yucatec Maya Sustainable Traditional Subsistence Strategies

  2023-07-10

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Following a decade of improvement in global food security, factors associated with climate change and the recent COVID-19 pandemic are resulting in negative shifts in that trend. Indigenous peoples are particularly vulnerable to these shifts due to their high levels of poverty in many places around the world in light of future disasters and crises. In an effort to better understand the current issues related to food security and sovereignty from the Indigenous perspective, research was conducted in three Yucatec Maya communities in Yucatan, Mexico. The Yucatec Maya have a 3,000-year tradition of practicing agroecology for their subsistence. However, the adoption of neoliberal policies in Mexico over the last 30 years has reduced the viability of this traditional sustainable subsistence strategy. A survey instrument was developed using a participatory process with academic and local community members, which is complementary to the publicly available Mexican government data on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals related to food security. The survey instrument was administered to 39 people across three communities. The findings demonstrate that felt food insecurity and lack of sovereignty by the participants are coupled with declines in agricultural production perceived to be caused primarily by climate change. Many families are coping with this increased vulnerability by incorporating low-wage employment in regional urban centers into the traditional mix of livelihood strategies.

  PublisherDOI

• Conceptual issues in hominin taxonomy: <i>Homo heidelbergensis</i> and an ethnobiological reframing of species

  American Journal of Physical Anthropology · 2021 · 30 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Evolutionary biology
  • Biology

  Efforts to name and classify Middle Pleistocene Homo, often referred to as "Homo heidelbergensis" are hampered by confusing patterns of morphology but also by conflicting paleoanthropological ideologies that are embedded in approaches to hominin taxonomy, nomenclature, and the species concept. We deconstruct these issues to show how the field's search for a "real" species relies on strict adherence to pre-Darwinian essentialist naming rules in a post-typological world. We then examine Middle Pleistocene Homo through the framework of ethnobiology, which examines on how Indigenous societies perceive, classify, and name biological organisms. This research reminds us that across human societies, taxonomies function to (1) identify and classify organisms based on consensus pattern recognition and (2) construct a stable nomenclature for effective storage, retrieval and communication of information. Naming Middle Pleistocene Homo as a "real" species cannot be verified with the current data; and separating regional groups into distinct evolutionary lineages creates taxa that are not defined by readily perceptible or universally salient differences. Based on ethnobiological studies of this kind of patterning, referring to these hominins above the level of the species according to their generic category with modifiers (e.g., "European Middle Pleistocene Homo") is consistent with observed human capabilities for cognitive differentiation, is both necessary and sufficient given the current data, and will allow for the most clear communication across ideologies going forward.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Ethnobotany in the North Coast of Peru: Use of Plants in the Fishing Community of Huanchaco for Subsistence

  Economic Botany · 2020 · 6 citations

  • Geography
  • Ecology
  • Biology
  PublisherDOI

• Results of a Feasibility Study of Helpers Stay Quit Training for Smoking Relapse Prevention

  Nicotine & Tobacco Research · 2020-09-21 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  INTRODUCTION: Most smoking quit attempts end in relapse, and interventions focused on relapse prevention are lacking. Helpers Stay Quit (HSQ) is a novel behavioral relapse prevention intervention that teaches newly abstinent smokers to offer a "helping conversation" (HC) to help others quit tobacco. METHODS: Pre-post intervention feasibility study with state quitline participants ≥14 days abstinent. Measures at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months included smoking status, offering HCs, and cessation self-efficacy. Primary outcomes: self-reported 7-day point prevalence abstinence; offering HCs. Cox models explored association of HCs with relapse. Preliminary effects analysis using propensity score matching compared 30-day abstinence of quitline clients with study sample at 7 months. RESULTS: Participants (N = 104) were as follows: mean age of 53 years (SD 13.9 years), 48.1% male, mean of cigarettes smoked/day of 16.2 (SD 9.7). Compared with participants who remained abstinent (n = 82), relapsers (n = 22) had fewer HCs over 6 months (2.6 vs 7.2; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.4, 7.8, p = .006). Using adjusted Cox regression, the hazard ratio of relapse for each HC was 0.85 (95% CI: 0.74, 0.99, p = .03). Compared with a matched sample of quitline clients not exposed to HSQ, study participants were 49% more likely to report 30-day abstinence at 7-month quitline follow-up (95% CI: 40%, 59%, p < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: HSQ, delivered to newly abstinent smokers who received standard quitline treatment, was associated with less self-reported relapse. These promising preliminary study results warrant further research to evaluate HSQ as a novel behavioral intervention to prevent smoking relapse. IMPLICATIONS: To date, behavioral interventions for smoking relapse prevention that teach abstainers cessation skills to apply to themselves have not shown effectiveness. This feasibility study examines the preliminary efficacy of a conceptually novel, "help others" behavioral intervention approach for relapse prevention in newly abstinent smokers recruited from a state quitline. HSQ teaches the newly abstinent smoker communication and listening skills to encourage other smokers in their personal social network to quit. Exploratory analysis using propensity score matching suggests that participants exposed to HSQ were significantly more likely to self-report 30-day abstinence at quitline 7-month follow-up than other quitline clients.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Nonvitamin, Nonmineral Dietary Supplement Use in Individuals with Rheumatoid Arthritis

  Journal of Nutrition · 2020 · 14 citations

  • Medicine
  • Internal medicine
  • Environmental health
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• M-AAA-nsplaining: Gender bias in questions asked at the American Anthropological Association’s Annual Meetings

  PLoS ONE · 2019-01-18 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  A large body of research has revealed the challenges that disproportionately affect women as they climb the academic ladder. One area that has received relatively little attention is women's experiences at academic conferences, which are often integral to academics' professional development. As conferences are attended by professional colleagues and influential players in specific fields, the professional consequences of any gender bias in criticism are likely to be amplified at such venues. Here, we explore the degree to which the likelihood of audience members asking a question and offering criticism is associated with the gender of a presenter. Audience questions were tabulated during the authors' visits to the three American Anthropological Association Annual Meetings. The results suggested that men were indeed marginally more likely to ask a question, both when considering all types of questions and when considering only critical questions. However, there was no evidence that they differentially targeted women for these questions. Future research might explore what motivates assertive and critical speech in men and women and how their experiences in receiving it might differ, particularly in academic settings in which critical speech might be considered more acceptable.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Dynamism in Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Persistence and Change in the Use of Totora (Schoenoplectus californicus) for Subsistence in Huanchaco, Peru

  Ethnobiology Letters · 2018-09-04 · 12 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Along the Peruvian north coast, many towns depend on fishing for subsistence. The adoption of technological innovations has facilitated the extraction of marine resources from the Pacific Ocean by Peruvian fishermen in recent years. However, some artisanal fishermen continue to rely on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) to create sea vessels using botanical resources. This is the case of the fishing community of Huanchaco, a beachside town, where a reed locally known as totora (Schoenoplectus californicus) is cultivated in sunken gardens and is principally used to construct caballitos de totora, reed sea craft. This reed is also used for other purposes that benefit the fishing community economically. The objective of this article is to highlight the dynamic quality of TEK by describing the persistence and change in use of totora by the fishing community of Huanchaco. Participant observation techniques and individual interviews were conducted with 40 members of the fishing community. Results show that they are currently using totora for three different purposes: the construction of sea craft, which facilitates the catching of edible marine resources for subsistence and sale, and the sale of reed mats and souvenirs for additional income. Evidence from the recent past and the historical and pre-Hispanic periods suggests that some aspects of the technology of reed vessel construction have persisted whereas others have been modified. The addition of souvenirs and a reduction in mat production have also been identified. These changes in TEK highlight its dynamic quality, and are likely in response to economic and technological changes influenced by processes of globalization.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Healthy foods prepared at home: Diet and support as protective strategies during pregnancy for Hispanic women

  Ecology of Food and Nutrition · 2018-01-11 · 4 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Birth outcomes tend to be better among Hispanics than among other ethnic groups, even when matched for poverty and education, and foreign-born Latinas compared to their US-born counterparts. These patterns suggest that sociocultural factors exhibited by recent immigrants have the potential to protect birth outcomes against the instability of minority and low socioeconomic status. To discover potential sociocultural factors, a pilot qualitative study was carried out in Tucson, Arizona, with 18 Hispanic mothers. The two most prevalent factors reported were (1) a healthy diet prepared at home from minimally processed ingredients, and (2) constant and comprehensive social support. When comparing responses related to diet by interview language preference, a proxy for acculturation, there was very little difference between participants who interviewed in Spanish and those who interviewed in English. This result may be explained by greater maternal social support and higher education levels among those who interviewed in English.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Cheryl Ritenbaugh

  University of Arizona

  4 shared

• Janet L. Funk

  University of Arizona

  4 shared

• Christopher McCarty

  University of Florida

  4 shared

• Cerian Gibbes

  4 shared

• Timothy E. Connolly

  University of Colorado Denver

  3 shared

• Myra Muramoto

  Indiana University

  3 shared

• Velia Leybas Nuño

  University of Arizona

  2 shared

• Armando Inurreta Díaz

  Texas A&M University

  2 shared

Education

• PhD, Anthropology

  University of Florida

  2009

• MA, Anthropology

  Iowa State University

  2003

• B.S., Botany and Plant Pathology

  Michigan State University

  2001