Jeffrey Meldrum

Don Jeffrey "Jeff" Meldrum (born May 24, 1958) is a Full Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology in the Department of Biological Sciences at Idaho State University. Meldrum is also Adjunct Professor in the Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy and the Department of Anthropology. Meldrum is an expert on foot morphology and locomotion in primates.[1]

Jeffrey Meldrum
Born (1958-05-24) May 24, 1958
EducationBrigham Young University (B.S., M.S.)
Stony Brook University (Ph.D.)
OccupationAnthropologist
Scientific career
InstitutionsDuke University
Northwestern University
Idaho State University
ThesisTerrestrial adaptations in the feet of African cercopithecines (1989)
Doctoral advisorJohn G. Fleagle

Biography

Meldrum received his B.S. in zoology specializing in vertebrate locomotion at Brigham Young University in 1982, and his M.S. at BYU in 1984. In 1989, he completed a Ph.D. at Stony Brook University in anatomical sciences, with an emphasis in biological anthropology, with John G. Fleagle as his doctoral advisor.[2] He held the position of postdoctoral visiting assistant professor at Duke University Medical Center from 1989 to 1991. Meldrum worked at Northwestern University's Department of Cell, Molecular and Structural Biology for a short while in 1993 before joining the faculty of Idaho State University where he currently teaches.

Meldrum has published numerous academic papers ranging from vertebrate evolutionary morphology, the emergence of bipedal locomotion in modern humans, and the plausibility behind the Sasquatch phenomena, in addition to being a co-editor of a series of books on paleontology. Meldrum also co-edited From Biped to Strider: The Emergence of Modern Human Walking with Charles E. Hilton.[3]

Meldrum, who is an "active member"[4] of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has also studied and commented upon issues of genetics and the Book of Mormon in his book "Who Are the Children of Lehi? Archived 2013-07-01 at the Wayback Machine", written with Trent D. Stephens.

Cryptozoology

Meldrum has attracted media attention due to his interest in Bigfoot.[1][5][6][7] Meldrum believes that Bigfoot exists and his research on the topic has been criticized by some as pseudoscientific.[1][8][9] Meldrum authored Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science in 2006. The book was heavily criticized in a detailed review in the Skeptical Inquirer.[9] Anthropologist David J. Daegling commented that author was "unable or unwilling to distinguish good research from bad, science from pseudoscience" and the book failed to provide a thorough scientific analysis.[9] Matt Cartmill reviewed the book in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.[10]

Meldrum was present at a 2011 conference in Siberia regarding the Siberian Snowman, which included among other things investigating alleged footprints that had been spotted in a Kemerovo cave. He acknowledged that the results of the Russian field trip to the cave site were most likely fraudulent. He suggested that the supposed evidence found was simply an attempt by local government officials to drum up publicity.[11]

References
  1. Holloway, Marguerite (December 1, 2007). "Bigfoot Anatomy". Scientific American. 297 (6): 26–7. Bibcode:2007SciAm.297f..50H. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1207-50. PMID 18237096.
  2. Meldrum, Jeffrey (1989). Terrestrial adaptations in the feet of African cercopithecines (Ph.D.). Stony Brook University. OCLC 22951190.
  3. Meldrum, Jeffrey; Hilton, Charles (31 March 2004). From Biped to Strider: The Emergence of Modern Human Walking, Running, and Resource Transport. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. ISBN 978-0-306-48000-3.
  4. Meldrum, Jeffrey (2003-01-31). "Who Are the Children of Lehi?". Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. 12: 38–51. doi:10.5406/jbookmormstud.12.1.0038. S2CID 55869292 – via BYU Scholars Archive.
  5. "Bigfoot Research Makes Professor A Campus Outcast". CBS San Francisco. 3 November 2006. Archived from the original on 8 September 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  6. "Meldrum's Evaluation of Sasquatch Footprints". Archived from the original on 2011-05-16. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
  7. "Bigfoot - Science Vs by Gimlet Media". gimletmedia.com. Archived from the original on 2018-01-10. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  8. "Idaho professor’s Bigfoot research criticized". The Seattle Times.
  9. Radford, Benjamin; Dennett, Michael R; Crowley, Matt; Daegling, David J. (2007). "The Nonsense and Non-science of Sasquatch" (PDF). Skeptical Inquirer. 31 (3): 58–61.
  10. Cartmill, Matt (2008). "Book reviews: Bigfoot Exposed: An Anthropologist Examines America's Enduring Legend. Book reviews: Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 135 (1): 117–118. doi:10.1002/ajpa.20691.
  11. Speigel, Lee (2011-11-22). "Yeti Evidence Falls Flat: Scientist Says Local Officials Staged Siberian Snowman Hunt For Publicity". HuffPost. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
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