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’ 7 p.m., June 24 in the Smith Auditorium. Courtesy/JROMC
JROMC News:
The J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee (JROMC) is sponsoring its 51st memorial lecture. Dr. Jennifer Raff will speak on “Ancient DNA and the Peopling of the Americas” 7 p.m., June 24 in the Duane Smith Auditorium at 1300 Diamond Dr.
Dr. 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, Raff decided that she wanted to study ancient DNA. Fortunately, her interest shifted from dinosaurs to humans. At Indiana University she studied biology and anthropology and earned a doctorate in anthropology with a focus on genetics. She is 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.
Raff said she 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.
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.
About the J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee:
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.