Lecture Night: Human Evolution & Skin Color

Hear about human evolution through the lens of skin color from Dr. Ellen Quillen of Wake Forest University. Our skin is a phenomenal organ: it protects us from the sun and rain, helps us regulate heat, and keeps microbes out and our insides in. Not only that, but it encodes the last two million years of human evolutionary history. From losing our fur to walking upright to our remarkable range of variation in skin color, we will discuss how our skin made us the species we are today. Trained in evolutionary and statistical genetics and anthropology, Dr. Quillen is a professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine where her research focuses on understanding how human evolutionary history and the interactions of our genes with the environment influence our health. This event is free and open to the public.