 Priv. Doz. Dr. Katerina Harvati
Priv. Doz. Dr. Harvati is a paleoanthropologist specializing in Neanderthal evolution, modern human origins and the application of 3-D geometric morphometric methods to anthropology. Her broader research interests include primate and human evolution; evolutionary theory and the species question in the human fossil record; evolution of primate and human life-history; evolution of H. erectus and Middle Pleistocene humans; the relationship of morphological variability to genetics and environment; and Paleolithic archaeology. She has conducted fieldwork in Europe and Africa, and recently directed paleoanthropological fieldwork in Greece (Aliakmon Paleolithic/ Paleoanthropological Survey project) and Tanzania (Lake Manyara Paleoanthropological Fieldwork). Dr. Harvati has organized international symposia on Neanderthal evolution ("Neanderthals Revisited: New Approaches and Perspectives", with T. Harrison) and modern human origins ("Transition from archaic to modern: Quantitative approaches", with J.-J. Hublin) (more about the conferences). Her edited volume of the articles presented at the "Neanderthals Revisited" conference was published by Springer in 2006.
Priv. Doz. Dr. Harvati studied at Columbia University (BA, summa cum laude) and the City University of New York (MA, PhD), and held a doctoral fellowship at the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Before joining the Max Planck Institute for Human Evolution in 2004, she was Assistant Professor at the Dept. of Anthropology, New York University. In addition to her current post as senior researcher at the MPI, Harvati is adjunct Professor of Anthropology at the City University of New York Graduate Center and Priv. Doz. at the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen.
Her research is published in Nature, Science, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Human Evolution, American Journal of Physical Anthropology and International Journal of Primatology.
December 17, 2007: Time Magazine Top 10 Scientific Discoveries of 2007
The recent Science article on the early modern human fossil from Hofmeyr, S. Africa, co-authored by Katerina Harvati and colleagues, was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the top ten scientific discoveries of the year 2007.
Time
Press Release:
 September 13, 2007: Climate - no smoking gun for Neanderthals
New study on role of climate in Neanderthal extinction
Questions remain unresolved as to whether the Neanderthals died out because of competition with modern people or because of deteriorating climatic conditions. Although scientists have gained increased knowledge of past climate it has been difficult to pinpoint the climatic character at the time of the Neanderthal disappearance. A new study by an international team of researchers, published this week in the prestigious journal Nature, has developed a breakthrough approach to address this issue (Nature, September 13, 2007).
→ Download press release (pdf) |
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