Farrell Assistant Professor - Dr. Paula Skye Tallman

Dr. Paula Skye Tallman is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and the Carolyn Farrell, BVM Endowed Professor of Women and Leadership at Loyola University Chicago. As a biological anthropologist, her research examines how ecosocial stressors shape health disparities, especially among women and children in South America and Southeast Asia. Utilizing an action research framework, she draws on this evidence to advance educational programming, policy initiatives, and community-led efforts to address water insecurity and gendered inequities in Peru and Indonesia. Dr. Tallman has secured over $1.8 million in funding from federal, international, private, university, and endowed sources to support this work.

Tallman’s teaching is distinguished by the integration of undergraduate education, research, and mentorship to empower students to understand and address socio-environmental injustices and global health inequities. In the Anthropology Health Action (AHA!) Lab, students join collaborative research teams and gain experience in international fieldwork, data analysis, scientific writing, policy brief development, and grant writing. The AHA Lab is organized around a structured model of peer leadership and faculty mentorship grounded in the Jesuit principle of cura personalis—care for the whole person—through which students are simultaneously entrusted with professional-level responsibilities and supported in caring for themselves, others, and the world around them.

Through this approach, Tallman has helped her students secure nearly $100,000 in grants, awards, and fellowships. Of approximately 30 publications, 16 have been co-authored with students, including four publications led by undergraduate first authors. Her contributions to undergraduate education have been recognized through numerous national and university-wide honors, including the American Anthropological Association’s “Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching of Anthropology” (2026) and Loyola University Chicago’s “Jerónimo Nadal, S.J. Award for Excellence in Teaching” (2026), the “Langerbeck Outstanding Research Mentor Award” (2025), the “Peter Hans Kolvenbach Award for Engaged Teaching” (2025), and the “Alice B. Hayes Award for Advising and Mentoring” (2024). Collectively, these outcomes and honors reflect Tallman’s commitment to supporting students as emerging scholars, leaders, and engaged citizens.