Luke Fannin Receives 2025 Hannah Croasdale Award

Luke Fannin, a PhD graduate in the ecology, evolution, environment, and society (EEES) program, has been named the 2025 recipient of the Hannah T. Croasdale Award. The award recognizes a graduating doctoral student who exemplifies scholarly excellence, intellectual curiosity, and a dedication to advancing knowledge and teaching.

Originally from Sharon Center, Ohio, Fannin came to Dartmouth in 2019 after an early visit to campus convinced him that Dartmouth's biological anthropology faculty offered the ideal intellectual home. "I met Nate Dominy, Jeremy DeSilva, and Zane Thayer on my first visit, and I knew soon after that this would be the best community for me to grow as a scholar," he said.

Fannin's research explores the evolutionary origins of human behavior through the lens of primate ecology, diet, and cognition. He has conducted fieldwork across four continents, including Peru, Côte d'Ivoire, Indonesia, and Tanzania, where, as a first-year student, he helped excavate a lost set of 3.6 million-year-old hominin footprints at Laetoli.

His curiosity extends beyond field sites to public platforms. A committed science communicator, Fannin has written about topics ranging from ancient canines to Victorian circus elephants for outlets like Smithsonian and The Washington Post. "Public science outreach feels like a civic responsibility," he said. "I also just love doing it."

Fannin credits Guarini staff and leadership for supporting his successful application to the Schmidt Science Fellows program, which will fund his postdoctoral research at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. There, he will study the evolutionary roots of nest-building and its implications for great ape language development.

"Luke is a remarkable scholar whose work connects the past to questions about the present," said Guarini Dean F. Jon Kull. "What makes him stand out isn't just the volume of his contributions, but the depth, creativity, and generosity with which he shares his knowledge."

Outside the lab, Fannin finds inspiration in the quiet of Upper Valley cemeteries, where the long view of human life encourages perspective. "I try to live each day fully," he said, a fitting ethos for a scholar whose work spans both deep time and present-day engagement.

This summer, he and his wife Lisa are also preparing to welcome their first child, a daughter. "It's a big season of transitions," Fannin said, "but I'm excited for all of it."