Jennifer Raff, an anthropologist, geneticist, science writer, and author of an award-winning bestseller, will speak on “Ancient DNA and the Peopling of the Americas,” a free lecture sponsored by the J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee June 24 at 7 p.m. in the Duane Smith Auditorium in Los Alamos. Photo Courtesy JROMC
Clovis points, like the one shown here, were once accepted as the oldest evidence of ancient people in North America. However, genetic and archaeological discoveries, such as the fossilized footprints found at White Sands, challenge early models of human migration. Photos Courtesy Bandelier National Monument, left, and National Park Service, right.
JROMC NEWS RELEASE
The J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee is pleased to sponsor its 51st memorial lecture. Dr. Jennifer Raff will speak on “Ancient DNA and the Peopling of the Americas,” June 24 at 7 PM in the Duane Smith Auditorium. Raff was proclaimed one of Forbes magazine’s eight awesome anthropologists and recently won a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship. She is also the author of the award-winning, bestselling book Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas.
Years ago, after watching Jurassic Park, Jennifer decided that she wanted to study ancient DNA. Fortunately, her interest shifted from dinosaurs to humans. At Indiana University Jennifer studied biology and anthropology and earned a doctorate in anthropology with a focus on genetics. She is currently an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Kansas.
Working with tribes and communities across North America, she uses genetic material to study how and when people first came to the American continents. Along with recent archaeological discoveries (such as the 22,000-year-old footprints at White Sands), her research with ancient and contemporary genomes shows that the process of populating the American continents was far more complex than previously understood.
Professor Raff is concerned about “harmful and abusive research practices that have led to an understandable distrust of non-Native geneticists by some tribes.” She works to mend relationships, acknowledge the harms that have been done, and consciously improve research practices to be sensitive to Indigenous cultures.
Professor Raff has written for the public in various publications, including The Guardian, New York Times, Scientific American, Nature, Forbes, and her popular blog, Violent Metaphors: Thoughts from the Intersection of Science, Pseudoscience, and Conflict. Her Guggenheim Fellowship will support work on her second book, which will be about how we became human.
The free lecture will be followed by a reception in the extended lobby at the Duane Smith Auditorium,1300 Diamond Drive, Los Alamos.
The J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee is a nonprofit organization that honors the legacy and spirit of the Scientific Director of the Manhattan Project by promoting the love of learning and the power of discovery in ways that have a positive impact on our world. With financial support from community donors, the committee honors Oppenheimer’s legacy through thought-provoking public lectures by distinguished speakers, a scholarship program for high school students, and science-education outreach activities in northern New Mexico.
For more information, please see www.JROMC.org.