BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 X-WR-CALNAME;VALUE=TEXT:The Rising Star Expedition and the discovery of Homo naledi PRODID:-//Harvard events data//EN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:event_547656_0 SUMMARY:The Rising Star Expedition and the discovery of Homo naledi DESCRIPTION:

Dr. John Hawks, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
 
John Hawks is the Vilas-Borghesi Distinguished Achievement Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. His work is primarily focused on the fossil and genetic record of human evolution. As part of his research, he uses bioinformatics methods to work with whole genome sequences from thousands of living people (and a few ancient ones). Dr. Hawks is interested in uncovering the patterns of relationships that connect people, and the subtle changes by which we adapted to ancient environments. He is an expert in population dynamics and the process of natural selection on both genes and morphological traits.
 
Dr. Hawks' most recent fieldwork experience was part of the Rising Star Expedition, which has shown the potential of open science approaches during paleoanthropological fieldwork. In 2013 expedition researchers recovered more than 1200 hominin specimens from the Rising Star cave system in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa – including fossils from a newly-identified species known as Homo naledi. This project was led by Dr. Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand. In May 2014, a workshop of more than 30 early career scientists from 15 countries was convened to carry out the first description and analysis of the fossils at the University of the Witwatersrand. The findings were recently published in the journal eLife: http://elifesciences.org/content/4/e09560
 

LOCATION:Haller Hall, Geological Museum Room 102, 24 Oxford Street STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20151001T200000Z DTEND:20151001T200000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR