Netzin G. Steklis

Interests

Research

• Human-animal interrelationships• Animal personality & life history• Evolution & biopsychology of human-animal interrelationships• Efficacy of animal assisted therapies

Teaching

• Human-animal interrelationships• Human-animal bond• Captive primate management• Animal ethology • Animal welfare

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Books

• Steklis, H. D., & Steklis, N. G. (2020). Human and Animal Interrelationships (2nd Edition). Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall-Hunt Publishing Company.
  More info

  This book examines the relationships of humans with animals throughout theages. From our evolutionary past through domestication, the relationships of animals with humans throughout Europe and the New World are chronicled. Modern human-animal relationships will also be examined and analyzed and compared to those of ancient and historical times.Throughout, we take takes a science-based, multi-disciplinary approach to understanding the nature, diversity and functions of human-animal relationships that have developed over time, geographic region, and cultural contexts. This approach puts into fresh perspective many present developments, issues and challenges in the human-animal relationship, including the effectiveness of animal-assisted therapies, animal welfare and rights, animal experimentation, trophy hunting, wildlife management and conservation, and meat production industry.
• Steklis, H. D., & Steklis, N. G. (2020). Human-Animal Interrrelationships (Second Edition). Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall-Hunt Publishing Company.
• Steklis, H. D., & Steklis, N. G. (2016). Human and Animal Interrelationships (1st Edition). Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall-Hunt Publishing Company.
  More info

  This book examines the relationships of humans with animals throughout theages. From our evolutionary past through domestication, the relationships of animals with humans throughout Europe and the New World are chronicled. Modern human-animal relationships will also be examined and analyzed and compared to those of ancient and historical times.Throughout, we take takes a science-based, multi-disciplinary approach to understanding the nature, diversity and functions of human-animal relationships that have developed over time, geographic region, and cultural contexts. This approach puts into fresh perspective many present developments, issues and challenges in the human-animal relationship, including the effectiveness of animal-assisted therapies, animal welfare and rights, animal experimentation, trophy hunting, wildlife management and conservation, and meat production industry.
• Steklis, H. D., & Steklis, N. G. (2014). Men, Fatherhood and Families: A Biocultural Perspective, revised 1st edition. Cognella Academic Publishing.
  More info

  This is an edited work with authors' Introduction. This 1st edition is a revision of the "preliminary edition" published the previous year.

Chapters

• Steklis, H. D., & Steklis, N. G. (2021). An HAI Love Story: A couple collaborates as teachers and researchers exploring our connection to animals. In Career Paths in Human-Animal Interaction for Social and Behavioral Scientists. Routledge.

Journals/Publications

• Steklis, N. G. (2021). Lower emotional awareness is associated with greater early adversity and faster life history strategy. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences.
• Smith, R., Steklis, H. D., Steklis, N. G., Weihs, K. L., & Lane, R. D. (2020). The evolution and development of the uniquely human capacity for emotional awareness: A synthesis of comparative anatomical, cognitive, neurocomputational, and evolutionary psychological perspectives. Biological psychology, 154, 107925.
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  We offer an interdisciplinary framework for understanding the expanded capacity for emotional awareness (EA) in humans relative to other animals, synthesizing work within computational neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, and comparative anatomy. We argue that disproportionate cortical expansion during human evolution reflects additional hierarchical levels of computational processing, allowing representation of multimodal regularities over longer timescales - affording abstract concept learning, internal simulation of distal future outcomes, and expanded working memory capacity. This allows for the ability to simulate emotions, learn emotion concepts, and manipulate them in working memory when deciding how to act. We also draw on the construct of life history strategy within evolutionary psychology to argue that individual differences in EA within humans can be understood as the result of tuning particular computational parameters to the predictability of long timescale socioemotional regularities of the local environment. We conclude by discussing the implications and testable hypotheses offered by our proposed framework.
• Cronk, L., Steklis, H. D., Steklis, N. G., van den Akker, O., & Aktipis, A. (2018). Kin terms and fitness interdependence. Evolution and Human Behavior, 40, 218-291. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.12.004
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  Although genetic relatedness has been shown to be an important determinant of helping and other forms ofcooperation among kin, it does not correspond well to the different types of kin designated by the kin terminologiesused in human societies. This mismatch between genetic relatedness and kin terms has led someanthropologists to reject the idea that kin terms have anything to do with genetic relatedness or anything elsebiological. The evolutionary and cultural anthropological approaches can be reconciled through an appreciationof the concept of fitness interdependence, defined as the degree to which two or more organisms positively ornegatively influence each other's success in replicating their genes. Fitness interdependence may arise for avariety of reasons, including not only genetic relatedness but also mating and marriage, risk-pooling, mutual aid,and common group membership. The major kin term systems correspond to cross-culturally variable but recurrentpatterns of fitness interdependence among different types of kin. In addition, changes from one kin termsystem to another are associated with corresponding changes in recurrent patterns of fitness interdependenceamong kin, and kin terms are often used metaphorically in situations in which fitness interdependence has arisenamong non-kin.
• Cronk, L., Steklis, H. D., Steklis, N. G., van den Akker, O., & Aktipis, A. (2019). Kin terms and fitness interdependence. Evolution and Human Behavior, 40, 218-291. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.12.004
  More info

  Although genetic relatedness has been shown to be an important determinant of helping and other forms of cooperation among kin, it does not correspond well to the different types of kin designated by the kin terminologies used in human societies. This mismatch between genetic relatedness and kin terms has led some anthropologists to reject the idea that kin terms have anything to do with genetic relatedness or anything else biological. The evolutionary and cultural anthropological approaches can be reconciled through an appreciation of the concept of fitness interdependence, defined as the degree to which two or more organisms positively or negatively influence each other's success in replicating their genes. Fitness interdependence may arise for a variety of reasons, including not only genetic relatedness but also mating and marriage, risk-pooling, mutual aid, and common group membership. The major kin term systems correspond to cross-culturally variable but recurrent patterns of fitness interdependence among different types of kin. In addition, changes from one kin term system to another are associated with corresponding changes in recurrent patterns of fitness interdependence among kin, and kin terms are often used metaphorically in situations in which fitness interdependence has arisen among non-kin.
• Kogan, L., Germone, M., Steklis, H. D., Steklis, N. G., LaFollette, M. R., & Erdman, P. (2018). Guide to Human-Animal Interaction Education. Human-Animal Interaction Bulletin, 6, 37-46.
  More info

  Pursuing a career in human-animal interaction (HAI) may feel daunting, as this field is quickly growing and changing, and offers a wide array of career possibilities with pathways and educational programs. Yet, it is this broad scope of possibilities that can make navigating the field challenging. The purpose of this article is to help guide individuals who are interested in exploring a career with animals and humans. Our specific aims are to (a) describe and define the current field of HAI, (b) synthesize possible human-animal studies programs as provided by the Animals and Society website, and (c) offer guidance for those interested in exploring HAI careers. This paper, is designed as a practical guide to help students and their mentors navigate the HAI field.

Presentations

• Steklis, H. D., & Steklis, N. G. (2016, June). Animality: How human-animal relationships have changed human nature. Seminar for faculty and students of the Clever Dog Laboratory, Univ. Vienna. University of Vienna, Austria: University of Vienna.
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  Invited presentation.
• Steklis, H. D., & Steklis, N. G. (2016, November). The University of Arizona's Human-Animal Interaction Initiative. Purdue University Centers for the human-animal bond conference. Purdue University, Indiana: Purdue University Centers For the Human-Animal Bond (CHAB).
  More info

  Invited to participate in this two-day conference.
• Steklis, H. D., & Steklis, N. G. (2015, October). Animality and Human-Animal Kinship. Conference on "Kinship, Conflict and Cooperation: Reconceptualizing kinship for the 21st century". Berlin, Germany: Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (WIKO).