Nayeli Jiménez Cano

Nayeli Jiménez Cano is an Assistant Professor in the Anthropology of Climate Change at UCSD, specializing in zooarchaeology, ichthyoachaeology, marine historical ecology, and palaeoproteomics. Her research focuses on analyzing archaeological animal remains from diverse tropical regions to reconstruct socio-environmental interactions over time. She combines traditional zooarchaeological methods in ichthyoarchaeology with molecular tools to refine taxonomic identifications using collagen type I fingerprints (ZooMS) and palaeoproteomics with genetic barcoding on reference materials. Her work enhances the understanding of exploited animal biodiversity by applying a 'back-to-the-future' approach to explore questions such as which animal resources were exploited in the past, how animals were captured and managed, how they were utilized as food or for crafting items, their role in exchange networks or rituals, and how past animal exploitation relates to present-day practices.

While she has conducted extensive research on animal exploitation and consumption in the Maya region during pre-Hispanic times, her work also includes Neolithic fish palaeoproteomics research in the Indo-Pacific and animal isotopic analyses in Wales and Scotland. She has conducted archaeological and biological fieldwork in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Spain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.

Nayeli is engaged in Open Science practices in biomolecular archaeological data and serves as a governing board member of the Ocean Past Initiative. She is also an enthusiastic of public outreach events to engage the community and promote education and inclusivity in archaeological science.

When she’s not in the lab, she enjoys analog photography, visiting fish markets and museums, and exploring coastal landscapes with her two dogs

•     B.A., Archaeology. Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mexico (2008)
•     M.Sc., Human Palaeoecology. Durham University, UK (2011)
•     Ph.D., Biology. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain (2017)
•     Lecturer and Head of the Zooarchaeology Lab.  Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mexico (2018-2022)
•     Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (2022-2024)

•     Climate change and coastal societies
•     Socio-environmental interactions in tropical environments
•     Marine resource exploitation
•     Animal in rituals
•     Zooarchaeology
•     Ichthyoarchaeology
•     Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectoemtry (ZooMS)
•     Palaeoproteomics
•     Marine Historical Ecology

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gsCCyFUAAAAJ&hl=es

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9973-2452