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.