DR. SPENCER WELLS

National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence
and Genographic Project Director

Photographer: Becky Hale,
National Geographic Society

JANUARY 15, 2008 (MIAMI) - Where do we come from, and how did we get to where we live today? The story of humanity’s journey can be found within each of us—encoded in our DNA.  As a scientist, author, and documentary filmmaker, Dr. Spencer Wells has dedicated much of his career to studying humankind's family tree and closing the gaps in our knowledge of human migration. Wells, author of The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey (2002) and Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project (2006) will be discussing his work as a population geneticist on January 31, 2008 at 4:00PM in the FIU Graham Center Ballrooms.

Dr. Wells graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas at Austin at the age of 19 going on to pursue his Ph.D. at Harvard University and his post-doctoral training at Stanford University with noted geneticist D. Luca Cavalli-Sforza. It was there that Wells became committed to studying genomic diversity in indigenous and traditional populations and unraveling age-old mysteries about early human migration.

In 2005, Wells lead a team of scientists from 10 global research centers to launch the groundbreaking multiyear Genographic Project, undertaken by the National Geographic Society, IBM and the Waitt Family Foundation, which uses DNA samples to help trace human migration out of Africa over 60,000 years ago.

This event is co-sponsored by the Student Government Association and open the public.

For immediate release

CONTACT:   
Juan Carlos Espinosa
Associate Dean, The Honors College
(305-348 -4100)
espinosj@fiu.edu

For more information about the Honors College, please visit our website at http://honors.fiu.edu.