(Scientist) Jeffrey Meldrum
Born in 1958, D. Jeffrey Meldrum, Ph.D., is currently an associate professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University and an affiliate curator of vertebrate palaeontology at the Idaho Museum of Natural History.
Through his work in the field of physical anthropology and his specialization in foot mechanics, Meldrum has studied the implications for bipedal adaptation and locomotion in early hominids. He has also participated in palaeontological field projects to South America, collecting new fossil primate specimens from the Miocene of Columbia and Argentina.
Meldrum is best known for his open-minded yet scientific approach to the bigfoot phenomenon. Because he grew up in the Pacific Northwest, Meldrum was no stranger to the subject, having heard sasquatch stories from an early age. His interest in the legendary creature took a back burner as he continued his formal education and teaching until 1996, when he found and cast a series of fresh sasquatch prints in Washington and, the following year, northern California. Meldrum has since gathered and purchased collections of purported track casts as part of his research into sasquatch foot anatomy, and his lab now houses what may be the world's most extensive collection of sasquatch track casts. Meldrum is widely considered the leading expert on sasquatch footprints as well as the derived morphology and functional anatomy of the foot.
Starting in the late 1990’s, Meldrum has frequently appeared, often with J. Richard Greenwell, in documentaries discussing his insights into amateur videotapes allegedly showing the creatures known as bigfoot and Yeti, in addition to sharing his research pertaining to derived foot anatomy and locomotion. He has spoken at many sasquatch conferences and symposia, including the Willow Creek International Bigfoot Symposium in 2003 and the "Bigfoot in Texas?" museum and speaker series sponsored by the University of Texas and the Institute of Texan Culture in 2006.
Meldrum received his B.S. in zoology specializing in vertebrate locomotion at Brigham Young University in 1982, his M.S. at BYU in 1984 and a Ph.D. in anatomical sciences, with an emphasis in biological anthropology, from State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1989. He held the position of postdoctoral visiting assistant professor at Duke University Medical Center from 1989 to 1991. Meldrum worked at Northwestern University's Department of Cell, Molecular and Structural Biology for a short while in 1993 before joining the faculty of Idaho State University where he currently teaches.
Published works
Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science (2006, Forge Books)
