Dr. Jeff Meldrum is a Full Professor of Anatomy & Anthropology at Idaho State University (since 1993). He teaches human anatomy in the graduate health professions programs. His research encompasses questions of vertebrate evolutionary morphology generally, primate locomotor adaptations more particularly, and especially the emergence of modern human bipedalism. His co-edited volume, From Biped to Strider: the Emergence of Modern Human Walking, Running, and Resource Transport, proposes a more recent innovation of modern striding gait than previously assumed. His interest in the footprints attributed to sasquatch, was piqued when he examined a set of 15-inch tracks in Washington, in 1996. Now his lab houses well over 300 footprint casts attributed to this mystery primate. He conducts collaborative laboratory and field research throughout North America, and the world (e.g. China, Russia), and has spoken about his findings in numerous popular and professional publications, interviews, television and radio appearances, public and professional presentations. He is author of Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science (Tom Doherty Publishers), which explores his and other scientists’ evaluations of the contemporary evidence, and also affords deference to tribal people’s traditional knowledge of this subject. He has also published two field guides, one focusing on sasquatch, the second casting the net more broadly to consider the potential of relict hominoids around the world (Paradise Cay Publishing). He is editor-in-chief of the scholarly refereed journal, The Relict Hominoid Inquiry.
Education
1989, Ph.D. Anatomical Sciences (Physical Anthropology), State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY
1984, M.S. Zoology (Anatomy and Physiology), Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
1982, B.S. Zoology (Anatomy and Physiology), Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
1989-1991, Postdoctoral Visiting Assistant Professor, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC
More than myth? ISU professor speaks about Sasquatch at USU
By Sean Dolan Herald Journal
Jeff Meldrum doesn’t believe in Sasquatch. He’s a scientist, and scientists don’t believe — they rely on evidence.
“I am convinced on the basis of the evidence,” Meldrum said. “So I would much rather say I am convinced that Sasquatch exists.”
The Idaho State University anthropology professor, considered to be the world expert on the scientific evidence regarding the existence of a species of giant bipedal hominids, spoke to a wildlife science class at Utah State University on Tuesday in Logan to discuss his research and the struggles of pursuing a subject that often meets resistance from his peers.
Due to his standing in the anthropological community, Meldrum said he doesn’t have to worry about being taken seriously, but he warns young scientists who haven’t been steeped in the “traditional dogmas of anthropology” not to push too hard.
“For their own good, I caution them not to be open about their interests, because I was naive enough to jump into that deep end of the pool before I had tenure, and it nearly cost me my career,” Meldrum said.
“The uniqueness of Jeff is he is trained as a scientist, and he brings that vision to the issue as opposed to bringing — and there is a legitimacy to folklore — but he doesn’t bring the folklore angle into it,” Schmidt said.
