Department of Human Evolutionary Biology
Welcome!
In both research and teaching, Harvard's Department of Human Evolutionary Biology focuses on a fundamental question: "How did humans evolve to be the way they are?" HEB students and faculty are also interested in the related question: “How are evolutionary perspectives on human biology relevant to contemporary human opportunities and challenges?”
Why do we use the lens of evolution for these questions? The simple answer is because humans weren't designed or engineered. We evolved. It follows that to understand why humans are the way we are in terms of every aspect of our biology, we need to consider that evolutionary history.
Research and teaching in HEB thus encompass a diversity of fields including human and non-human primate paleontology, anatomy, physiology, behavioral ecology, genetics, cultural evolution, developmental biology, and more. As a department, we continue to be committed to using the lens of evolution to further our understanding of the human condition using both experimental and observational methods. We are also committed to using those insights to address the challenges we face.
Our Research Groups
The Skeletal Biology & Biomechanics Lab
Studies how and why the human body is the way it is, focusing on the musculoskeletal system.
The Developmental and Evolutionary Genetics Lab
Focuses on identifying the DNA changes underlying human and non-human primate biological adaptations.
The Evolutionary Neuroscience Lab
Studies brain adaptations resulting from selection pressure on behavior in humans and other species, including domestic dogs.
The Culture, Cognition, and Coevolution Lab
Aims to construct an approach to culture and cultural evolution that synthesizes theory and methods from across the sciences.
The Nutritional and Microbial Ecology Lab
Studies how humans and gut microbes interact to acquire and utilize energy.
The Pan Lab
Studies the behavioral ecology of non-human animals to understand selective forces shaping our own evolutionary past.
The Uno Lab
Studies past changes in climate, ecosystems, and mammalian and human evolution, with a focus on their interconnectedness.
The Song Lab
Aims to identify and characterize the variants that contributed to human-specific traits, with a particular focus on the evolution of the human brain.
The David Reich Lab
Building an Ancient DNA Atlas of Humanity, making ancient DNA accessible to archaeologists, and leveraging ancient DNA to understand human adaptation and population history.
The Kuzawa Group
Spanning developmental and intergenerational biology, brain energetics and evolution, epigenetics, health inequality, the biology of reproduction, the history and misuse of the race concept, and the psychobiology of social relationships.
Latest News
The Harvard Anthropologist Who’s Skewering His Own Field
When Joseph Henrich, an anthropologist at Harvard University, agreed to study the question of whether his field is overly politicized, he knew he “wasn’t going to make everyone happy,” he says.
The optimal diet? Kitchen experiment leads scientist to answer
Single Mothers, Social Animals: What Bonobos Can Teach Us
Deep in the Congo Basin, Harvard PhD candidate and Pan Lab member Lily Fornof looks at how motherhood shapes the social lives of wild bonobos, one of humanity's closest genetic relatives, spending months at a time living alongside the primates at the...
How a little nurture, a little nature shaped your dog’s brain
Brain scans reveal how selective breeding and individual training have forged canine communication skills. Postdoctoral fellow Mélina Cordeau and Associate Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology Erin Hecht hypothesized that dogs’ brains have been shaped...
Which diet is right for you? Wrong question.
The Harvard Gazette features a quiz based on Daniel Lieberman’s new book, which looks at food fads through an evolutionary lens.
Upcoming Events
Human Evolutionary Biology Initiative Symposium: Intergroup Cooperation
HEB Fall 2026 Colloquium Series: Dr. Anna Kukekova
HEB Fall 2026 Colloquium Series: Dr. Carrie Mongle
Meet Our Faculty
Terence D. Capellini
tcapellini@fas.harvard.edu
Rachel Carmody
carmody@fas.harvard.edu
Joseph Henrich
henrich@fas.harvard.edu
Christopher Kuzawa
ckuzawa@fas.harvard.edu
Daniel E Lieberman
danlieb@fas.harvard.edu
David Reich
reich@genetics.med.harvard.edu
Kevin Uno
kevinuno@fas.harvard.edu
DIB Call To Action
The Department of Human Evoluitonary Biology invites you to learn more about our enduring commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
Employment opportunities in HEB
For more information regarding employment opportunities in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, please click here.