john hawks weblog

paleoanthropology, genetics and evolution

Hawks lecture in Denver March 1

Mon, 2012-02-20 10:19 -- John Hawks

I'll be traveling to Denver next week to give a public lecture at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The lecture will be at 7:00 on Thursday, March 1. Details are below.

I'm really excited about this because the DMNS was the first natural history museum I visited when I was a kid. Well, after the Sternberg Museum in Hays, which used to be in a little space in the Geology department on campus but was still totally awesome.

This is a fun public talk with lots of my own research work interspersed with great stories about Neandertals, archaeologists, and the feel of these ancient places where we find skeletal remains. If you're in the Denver area and follow this stuff, by all means come out and see it!

For those who may be associated with the University of Colorado in Denver, I have a seminar presentation the following day as well.

Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Exploring the Genomes of Neandertals

Thursday, March 1

7:00 p.m.

What happened to Neandertals? Are their genes among us today? Paleoanthropologist John Hawks will present new genetic discoveries that are shaping our understanding of human biology. Learn about Neandertal lifestyles and their relationship with modern Homo sapiens, and get a first-person account of Denisova Cave, where a Neandertal relative was discovered based only on its genome. Find out more about Hawks's research and why he spells Neanderthal without the h at http://johnhawks.com/weblog.

Neandertals

For years, I've worked on their bones. Now I'm working on their genes. Read more about the science studying these ancient people.

Denisova

From a finger bone of an ancient human came the record of a completely unexpected population. My lab is working on the science of the Denisova genome.

Acceleration

The advent of agriculture caused natural selection to speed up greatly in humans. We're uncovering some of the ways that populations have rapidly changed during the last 10,000 years.

Malapa

Just outside Johannesburg, the Malapa site is producing some of the most exciting finds in human evolution. This site is the headquarters of the Malapa Soft Tissue Project.