Dr. Kristin L. Krueger
Professor & Department Chair
Kristin L. Krueger is a first-generation college student who received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Arkansas in 2011. She specializes in biological anthropology in general, but focuses her research on dental anthropology within paleoanthropology and bioarchaeology contexts. She is interested in understanding the dietary and behavioral strategies of our hominin ancestors, including Neandertals, archaic modern humans, and recent modern humans.
Dr. Krueger has conducted research and/or fieldwork in Canada, Egypt, England, Italy, Nepal, Spain, and throughout the United States.
Research Opportunities for Students
Dr. Krueger encourages students, especially those underrepresented in STEM, to contact her about research and/or laboratory opportunities.
Research Interests
Dr. Krueger’s current research focuses on understanding how teeth wear. She was awarded a National Science Foundation – Major Research Instrumentation (BCS 2215936) to establish the Chicago Experimental Wear (ChEW Lab). This grant brought Artificial Resynthesis Technology (ART-VII), a novel and custom chewing simulator to Loyola University Chicago! Dr. Krueger was awarded a collaborative research grant through NSF (BCS 2418554) to use this chewing simulator to understand how teeth wear throughout the human lifespan. This work is with Dr. Myra Laird at Penn Dental Medicine. Read more about these grants here and here.
Courses Taught
- ANTH 101 - Human Origins
- ANTH 105 - Human Biocultural Diversity
- ANTH 281 - Evolution of the Human Diet
- ANTH 324 - Human Evolution
- ANTH 327 - Dental Anthropology
Publications/Research Listings
Journal Articles and Book Chapters
In review Towle I, Fiorenza L, Krueger KL, Jolly C, and Phillips-Conroy J. Primate dental function and evolution: Longitudinal 3D analysis of tooth wear in wild baboons. In review at Evolutionary Human Sciences.
2025 - Modesto Mata M, Thiebaut A, Krueger KL, Murat Maga A, Joganic JL, Ryan TM, Richtsmeier JT, Cheverud JM, and Hlusko LJ. Easier said than done: unexpected hurdles to preparing ~1,000 cranial CT scans for data collection from an online digital repository. Peer J 13:e20172, DOI: 10.7717/peerj.20172.
2025 - Towle I, Krueger KL, Hirata K, Kubo MO, Hara AT, Irish JD, Loch C, Borths MR, and Fiorenza L. Non-carious cervical lesions in wild primates: Implications for understanding toothpick grooves and abfraction lesions. American Journal of Biological Anthropology 188(2), e70132, DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.70132.
2025 - Krueger KL, Towle I, Matthews GJ, Álvarez Fernández A, and Hlusko LJ. Tracking molar wear in captive baboons: sex and age effects using a modified Scott scoring system. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 188(1), e70126, DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.70126.
2024 - Towle I, Krueger KL, Hernando R, and Hlusko L. Assessing tooth wear progression in non-human primates: a longitudinal study using intraoral scanning technology. PeerJ 12:e17614, doi: 10.7717/peerj.17614.
2024 - Towle I, Loch C, Oxenham M, Krueger KL, Salem AS, Martínez de Pinillos M, Modesto-Mata M, and Hlusko LJ. Technical note: Micro-computed tomography calibration using dental tissue for bone mineral research. American Journal of Biological Anthropology 184 (3), e24952, doi :10.1002/ajpa.24952.
2022 - Estallrrich A and Krueger KL. Behavioral strategies of prehistoric and historic children from dental microwear texture analysis. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10, 1066680, doi: 10.3389/fevo.2022.1066680.
2021 - Krueger KL, Chwa E, Peterson AS, Willman JC, Fok A, van Heel B, Heo Y, Weston M, DeLong R (2021) “Technical note: Artificial Resynthesis Technology for the experimental formation of dental microwear textures.” American Journal of Physcial Anthropology 176:703-712.