Lecturer:
MICHAEL B. C. RIVERA
BSc Kent; MPhil, PhD Cambridge
 Office: 11.12, The Jockey Club Tower |
|
 mrivera@hku.hk |
Dr. Michael B. C. Rivera is a Filipino-Chinese biological anthropologist, writer, public speaker and interdisciplinary researcher. Obtaining his PhD in 2019 from the University of Cambridge, his main research focuses on how humans have evolved and adapted biologically and culturally over the last six million years. His PhD research involved reconstructing the diets, health profiles, physical activities and body shapes of ancient humans. Through analysis of ancient bones and teeth, he is most interested in how active and healthy the lifestyles and diets were of ancient peoples living in coastal environments – particularly in East and Southeast Asia, and in the Baltic region of northeastern Europe.
Other interests include heritage and museums, cultural identity, food studies, ethnographic documentary-making and visual anthropology, decolonial theory and praxis, the history of race/ism and contemporary racial justice issues, social media and digital technologies, public engagement and science communication, and archaeology/anthropology more broadly.
RESEARCH
Dr. Rivera is currently working on promoting interdisciplinarity and bioanthropology in Hong Kong, in terms of research, teaching, laboratory and field projects, and public engagement projects. This involves the establishment and bringing together of various areas of academic inquiry, including media and cultural studies, genetics, biology and anatomy, animal ecology and environmental conservation, as well as history and Hong Kong studies.
He was co-director of Sisig and Puchero (2021), a short documentary film covering themes of migration, food, entrepreneurship, and Filipino culture. He was also the lead archaeologist managing the investigation of a US Navy plane that crashed in 1945 during World War II. And finally, he is heavily involved in social education and antiracist advocacy in Hong Kong and worldwide. He has worked in/has projects in Southeast Asia, Europe and the Pacific. Finally, Dr. Rivera has also worked extensively in making scientific work and research ideas accessible through various forms of teaching, social media and public engagement.
Research Interests
- Biological anthropology and human evolution
- Interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity
- Bioarchaeology and prehistoric archaeology
- History of race and racism
- Hong Kong studies
- Southeast Asian archaeology and culture
- History and anthropology of food
- Media and cultural studies
- Public engagement
PUBLICATIONS
Articles
Cheung, C., Ko, J. and Rivera, M. B. C. (2024). A multi-disciplinary approach to understanding Hong Kong’s past: bioanthropological, biomolecular, and zooarchaeological methods. The Journal of the Hong Kong Archaeological Society.
Stock, J. T., Pomeroy, E., Ruff, C. B., Brown, M., Gasperetti, M. A., Li, F.-J., Maher, L., Malone, C., Mushrif-Tripathy, V., Parkinson, E., Rivera, M. B. C., Siew, Y. Y., Stefanovic, S., Stoddart, S., Zariņa, G. and Wells, J. C. K. (2023). Long-term trends in human body size track regional variation in subsistence transitions and growth acceleration linked to dairying. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(4): e2209482119
Book Chapters
Rivera, M. B. C. (2023). Race and Human Variation. In: Explorations: An Open Access Introduction to Biological Anthropology (2nd ed.). Shook, B., Aguilera, K., Nelson, K. and Braff, L. (eds). https://pressbooks.calstate.edu/explorationsbioanth2/chapter/13/
Press And Public Engagement
Hamer, L. (2024). University of Hong Kong’s first course on race and racism helps students tackle tough topics with sensitivity. South China Morning Post.
譚淑美 (2024). 港大學者趙凱聰看《欲骨查》定志向. 信報財經新聞.
RTHK (2023). Homo naledi discoveries. Backchat on RTHK Radio 3.
Binalot Talks (2023). Perspectives from Hong Kong on Bioarchaeology and Biological Anthropology. School of Archaeology UP Diliman. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMS0HkNwH-o
Lam, N. (2021). Hong Kong country park could be site of crashed US warplane from World War II, international researchers ‘strongly believe’. South China Morning Post.
Lam, N. (2021). ‘Most violent day’ in Hong Kong’s history: expert team ready to dig up wreckage of US warplane shot down in WWII. South China Morning Post.
呂凝敏 (2021). 復仇者計劃｜團隊成員跨三大專業 法醫人類學家首研戰機感興奮. 香港01.
TEACHING AND COURSES TAUGHT
- BASC1002: Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods in Interdisciplinary Studies II
- BASC3300: Human, Animal and Planetary Wellness in Practice
- BASC4001: Capstone Projects in BASc (Interdisciplinary Studies)
- CCST9081: Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Humans