Carter Clinton, Ph.D. Genetic Anthropologist
Asking questions about the past to unlock the keys to the future
Academic Career
About Carter
Carter Clinton is a postdoctoral scholar at Pennsylvania State University. He completed his Ph.D. and was Assistant Curator of the W. Montague Cobb Research Laboratory at Howard University, located in Washington, DC. Carter's (ongoing) dissertation research explores the New York African Burial Ground (NYABG), a historic burial site used during the 17th and 18th centuries in lower Manhattan. This research project explores the lifestyles of the New York African Burial Ground, the oldest and largest burial site of free and enslaved Africans ever discovered in North America. The project comprises three components: an elemental, a bacterial, and geospatial analysis from 400-hundred-year-old burial soil. We have illuminated details about the presence of pottery factories in Lower Manhattan, details of the religious and burial practices of this African population, and even gained insight into their diets. We are now working to reconstruct each burial inhabitant's DNA microbiome profile. This profile helps us to determine an "identity signature" for each inhabitant. This analysis gives us insight into this population's ancestral origins and the infectious diseases from which they suffered. This research gives way for much anticipated research of human genome DNA analysis to identify each burial inhabitant.
Carter is a member of several scientific organizations, including the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, the American Society of Human Genetics, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is also an associate member of Sigma Xi, where his research has been featured in their semi-annual journal American Scientist. Carter is a National Geographic Explorer and a Cosmos Foundation Scholar (with distinction). Additionally, he was named "Graduate Student of the Year" for the 2017-18 academic year.
Carter's research interests include genetic anthropology, evolutionary biology, and molecular biology. He will pursue a post-doctoral fellowship following graduation. Future research endeavors include:
- researching understudied, unidentified African American populations (historical and contemporary) to fill in the missing identity gaps created by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
- combating the paucity of African American representation in genetic studies
- uncovering genetic implications for disease susceptibility in contemporary populations and provide an informed foundation for medical professionals to use for treatment.
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New York African Burial Ground Research
The New York African Burial Ground (NYABG) is the burial site of an estimated 15,000 free and enslaved Africans located in lower Manhattan, steps away from City Hall. At the time of excavation in 1991, the remains of 404 individuals were brought to Howard University for analyses in the disciplines of skeletal biology, archaeology, and history. At the behest of the local African American community the skeletal remains were reburied leaving 74-cadaver associated burial soil samples for DNA investigation. To our knowledge, this project is the first of few to explore 400-year old burial soil. This multidisciplinary research using anthropology, microbiology, soil chemistry, and geospatial technology to explore the range of factors influencing the lifestyles of this historic NYABG population and the environmental factors that impacted them.
