Faculty Information

Jessica Manser, PhD

Clinical Assistant Professor,
Molecular Pathobiology
433 1st Ave, Room 729
E-mail: jmm2257@nyu.edu

Education

  • BA Columbia University
  • MA New York University
  • PhD New York University

Biography

Dr. Manser is a biological anthropologist who studied craniofacial and dental variation of prehistoric humans in Southeast Asia with a focus on the human burials at Niah Cave, Sarawak.  After earning her PhD at NYU, she was an adjunct lecturer at Queens College (CUNY), Hunter College (CUNY) and more recently at Columbia University in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology.  She joined NYU Dentistry in 2013 as a part-time instructor of Head and Neck Anatomy labs.  In 2024, she joined NYU Dentistry as a full-time clinical faculty member, where she serves as course director for the D1 Pharmacology course.  Additionally, she lectures in the Basic Tissues and Head and Neck Anatomy D1 courses, and she continues to teach labs for the latter.  Dr. Manser is also the MS Biology-Oral Biology Track adviser and course director of the Integrative Seminars in Oral Biology I & II.

Representative Publications

  1. Manser, J. (2016) “Chapter 24: The physical anthropology of the West Mouth human burials”, in Archaeological Investigations in the Niah Caves, Sarawak: the archaeology of the Niah Caves, Sarawak, Volume 2. Edited by G. Barker and L. Farr, pp. 393-400. McDonald Institute Monographs, Sarawak Museum.
  2. Lloyd-Smith, L., Barker, G., Barton, H., Cameron, J., Cole, F., Doherty, C., Hunt, C., Krigbaum, J., Lewis, H., Manser, J., Paz, V., Piper, P., Rushworth, G., and Szabó, K. (2013) “Chapter 7: ‘Neolithic’ societies c.4000-2000 years ago: Austronesian farmers?”, in Rainforest Foraging and Farming in Island Southeast Asia: the archaeology of the Niah Caves, Sarawak, Volume 1. Edited by G. Barker, pp. 255-298. McDonald Institute Monographs, Sarawak Museum.
  3. Manser, J. (2005) Morphological analysis of the human burial series at Niah Cave: implications for late Pleistocene-Holocene Southeast Asian human evolution. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. New York: New York University.
  4. Krigbaum, J.S. and Manser, J. (2005) “The West Mouth burial series from Niah Cave: past and present”, in The Perak Man and other prehistoric skeletons of Malaysia. Edited by Zuraina Majid, pp.175-206. Pulau Pinang, Malaysia: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia.
  5. Barker, G., Barton, H., Bird, M., Cole, F., Daly, P., Dykes, A., Farr, L., Gilbertson, D., Higham, T., Hunt, C., Knight, S., Kurui, E., Lewis, H., Lloyd-Smith, L., Manser, J., McLaren, S., Menotti, F., Piper, P., Pyatt, B., Rabett, R., Reynolds, T., Shimmin, J., Thompson, G., and Trickett, M. (2003) The Niah Cave Project: the fourth (2003) season of fieldwork. Sarawak Museum Journal 58 (n.s. 79): 45-119.
  6. Barker, G., Barton, H., Bird, M., Cole, F., Daly, P., Gilbertson, D., Hunt, C., Krigbaum, J., Lampert, C., Lewis, H., Lloyd-Smith, L., Manser, J., McLaren, S., Menotti, F., Paz, V., Piper, P., Pyatt, B., Rabett, R., Reynolds, T., Stephens, M., Thompson, G., Trickett, M., and Whittaker, P. (2002) The Niah Cave Project: the third (2002) season of fieldwork. Sarawak Museum Journal 57 (n.s. 78): 87-177.
  7. Barker, G., Barton, H., Beavitt, P., Bird, M., Daly, P., Gilbertson, D., Hunt, C., Krigbaum, J., Lewis, H., Manser, J., McLaren, S., Paz, V., Piper, P., Pyatt, B., Rabett, R., Reynolds, T., Rose, J., Rushworth, G., and Stephens, M. (2002) Prehistoric foragers and farmers in Southeast Asia: renewed investigations at Niah Cave, Sarawak. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 68: 147-164.
  8. Barker, G., Badang, D., Barton, H., Beavitt, P., Bird, M., Daly, P., Doherty, C., Gilbertson, D., Glover, I., Hunt, C., Manser, J., McLaren, S., Paz, V., Piper, P., Pyatt, B., Reynolds, T., Rose, J., Rushworth, G., and Stephens, M. (2001) The Niah Cave Project: the second (2001) season of fieldwork. Sarawak Museum Journal 56 (n.s. 77): 36-119.