FORA.tv Speaker - Tanya M. Smith

Assistant Professor, Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, and Associated Scientist, Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig, Germany)

Tanya conducted field work in Costa Rica, Madagascar, Nicaragua, and Wyoming, in addition to extensive laboratory and museum work in Europe and Africa. Her current research is focused on the study of ape and human dental development, which provides important insight into evolutionary developmental biology. Teeth -- an often under-appreciated aspect of our anatomy -- preserve permanent records of an organism's daily, near-weekly, and yearly biological rhythms.

Her work has been featured in National Geographic, Science, Smithsonian, Slate, and Discovery magazines, as well as on PBS, History Channel, Voice of America and BBC broadcast media. At Harvard University she offers courses on human evolutionary anatomy, Neanderthals and evolutionary theory, and a hands-on research seminar on primate dental histology.