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John D. Hawks

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For persons of a similar name, seeJohn Hawks (disambiguation).
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For American government official, seeJohn D. Hawke.
John D. Hawks
Born
United States
Alma mater
Known forPaleoanthropology
Scientific career
FieldsAnthropology
InstitutionsUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
ThesisThe Evolution of Human Population Size: A Synthesis of Paleontological, Archaeological, and Genetic Data.
Doctoral advisorMilford Wolpoff
Websitejohnhawks.net

John Hawksis a professor ofanthropologyat theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison.[1]He also maintains apaleoanthropologyblog. Contrary to the common view that cultural evolution has made human biological evolution insignificant, Hawks believes that human evolution has sped up in recent history.

Biography

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Hawks graduated fromKansas State Universityin 1994 with degrees in French, English, and Anthropology. He received both his M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from theUniversity of Michiganwhere he studied underMilford Wolpoff.His doctoral thesis was titled, "The Evolution of Human Population Size: A Synthesis of Paleontological, Archaeological, and Genetic Data." After working as a postdoctoral fellow at theUniversity of Utah,he moved to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he is currently a member of the Anthropology department,[2]teaching courses including Human Evolution, Biological Anthropology, and HominidPaleoecology.In 2014, Hawks launched anonline courseonCourseraunder the University of Wisconsin–Madison banner, on "Human Evolution: Past and Future".[3]

Areas of interest

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Hawks believes thathuman evolutionhas actually sped up in recent history[4] in contrast to the common assumption that biological evolution has been made insignificant by cultural evolution. He covers recent developments on this topic at his blog.[5]

Hawks has predictedintrogressionincluding theNeanderthal admixture hypothesis[6]which gained further evidence by theNeanderthal genome projectin May 2010.

Hawks believes that contemporaryhuman mitochondrial genetics,including lack of anyhuman mitochondrial DNA haplogroupsfrom Eurasianarchaic Homo sapiensmay be in part due tonatural selectionofmtDNAon metabolic or other factors, rather than simple total replacement andgenetic drift.

Hawks has also discussed thecladisticclassification of theHominidae[7]and has criticized the proliferation of terms likehominin.[8]

The John Hawks Blog

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The John Hawks Weblog is a widely read and referenced science blog as measured byTechnorati's ranking.[9][10]

The blog deals primarily with Paleoanthropology. The blog provides analysis of current research in Paleoanthropology, discussing the significance and implications of fossils related to human evolution, genetics and genomics of hominid populations (alive and extinct), archaeological topics, as well as general commentary and review of both scientific and popular literature.

Hawks has also written extensively about the experience of blogging about one's field while working in academia.[11]He is one of few academics to publish both a widely read daily blog and remain an active researcher and professor at a major research university, though he notes that this trend seems to be changing.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Hawks, John".Department of Anthropology.Retrieved16 July2023.
  2. ^McAuliffe, Kathleen (September 2010)."If Modern Humans Are So Smart, Why Are Our Brains Shrinking?".Discover.
  3. ^"Hawks launches 'Human Evolution: Past and Future' pilot MOOC".University of Wisconsin–Madison News Release.Archived fromthe originalon 2014-04-23.Retrieved2014-04-23.
  4. ^Hawks, J; Wang, ET; Cochran, GM; Harpending, HC; Moyzis, RK (2007)."Recent acceleration of human adaptive evolution".Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.104(52): 20753–8.Bibcode:2007PNAS..10420753H.doi:10.1073/pnas.0707650104.PMC2410101.PMID18087044.
  5. ^"Recent selection, the new paradigm".john hawks weblog.Retrieved2010-09-08.
  6. ^"introgression".john hawks weblog.Archived fromthe originalon 2010-11-23.Retrieved2010-09-08.
  7. ^Hawks, John (2004). "How much can cladistics tell us about early hominid relationships?".American Journal of Physical Anthropology.125(3): 207–19.doi:10.1002/ajpa.10280.PMID15386256.
  8. ^"Who's your favorite hominin?".john hawks weblog.
  9. ^Technorati."What is" Technorati authority "".Archived fromthe originalon July 14, 2010.
  10. ^"John Hawks weblog".Technorati. Archived fromthe originalon May 15, 2010.
  11. ^abJohn Hawks (July 28, 2008)."How to blog, get tenure, and prosper".
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