Why join us? We are conducting two Smell and Tell walks in Southwark. Come learn about your sense of smell and its evolution via two flash talks and a series of smell tests. The tests are not clinically diagnostic but provide a rough guide on how your sense of smell performs in different settings.
When: Saturday 28 July at 10am and at 2pm (pick the time you prefer—the sessions are identical!)
How Long: We estimate the walk will take 60 minutes, allowing for a slow pace.
Where: Tate Modern Turbine Hall, assemble starting 9:45amor 1:45am.
How to find us: We will be wearing black aprons with red lettering saying “Test your sense of smell”
What? We are anthropologists interested in understanding variation in olfactory ability in urban industrialized and rural traditional settings (e.g., hunter-gatherers). The Smell and Tell activities are part of this project. We aim to test olfactory ability in the same individuals in three different settings: low odor (Tate), polluted (Southwark Bridge), odor-rich (Borough Market).
Who? Dr. Kara C. Hoover (University of Alaska) is a bioanthropologist focused on human adaptation with particular interests in stress during adaptation to new or changing climates and the evolution of human olfaction. Dr. J. Colette Berbesque (University of Roehampton) is an evolutionary anthropologist focused on hunter-gatherers with particular interests in social status, social stress, egalitarianism.
Your role: You will be asked to complete three separate three-minute odor identification tests. The odors are natural compounds and while some odors may not be pleasant, none are harmful. We will give you an information sheet with your tests scores to take home.
More Info/Expression of interest
Email: kchoover@alaska.edu or Colette.Berbesque@roehampton.ac.uk
Tweet to: @KaraCHoover or @berbesque
Schedule
10am/2pm: Part 1
Brief introduction to the research project and personnel (~7 min)
Divide into two groups (2 guides per group) for Odor ID Test 1
10:25/2:25: Part 2
Stroll in two groups to second test site at Southwark Bridge (~5-10 minutes)
Flash Talks (Group A Flash Talk: Hunter-gatherer smellscapes; Group B Flash Talk: Modern smellscapes)
5-Odor ID Test 2
10:45/2:45: Part 3
Stroll in two groups to third test site at Borough Market (~5 minutes)
Flash Talks (Group A Flash Talk: Modern smellscapes; Group B Flash Talk: Hunter-gatherer smellscapes)
5-Odor ID Test 3
The Smell of Evolution 