Primatologist to lead next STEM Cafe

Posted January 17, 2015 10:00 pm

Submitted by NIU

Northern Illinois University invites you to its next STEM Cafe, "More Fun than a Barrel of Monkey Bones: What Primate Fossils Can Tell Us About Ourselves," by Elgin resident Dan Gebo from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, at Eduardo's, 214 E. Lincoln Hwy., DeKalb.

"Professor of the Year" and world renowned primatologist, Gebo has traveled the globe studying living and extinct primates to understand the diversity of life and the progress of primate and human evolution. Join us to explore his latest discoveries and gain a better understanding of life itself.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education named Gebo as the 2014 Illinois Professor of the Year.

A comparative anatomist and paleontologist, Gebo specializes in the evolution of monkeys, apes, humans and lower primates. He teaches introductory physical anthropology and a wide range of courses in primate and human anatomy and evolution. Over the course of his 27-year career at NIU, nearly 7,000 students have taken his classes.

In 2000, he led a team that discovered the fossils of 45-million-year-old, thumb-length primates in China that represent the origin of all monkeys, apes and humans. The find made the front page of The New York Times, Washington Post and newspapers worldwide. Recent work in China has further illuminated primate origins dating back 60 million years. Gebo also has conducted fieldwork in such places as Colombia, Costa Rica, Egypt and Madagascar. He has written or cowritten nearly 80 publications in top-tier professional journals, including Nature and Science.

Join the monthly STEM Cafés. They are fun, casual gatherings where adults can eat, drink, and chat with STEM professionals about the latest scientific research. These events are free and open to the public. Food and drinks are available for purchase from the host restaurant.

For information, contact Judith Dymond at (815) 753-4751 or jdymond@niu.edu. Visit niu.edu/STEM_Cafes/index.shtml.

Dan Gebo, who was named the 2014 Illinois Professor of the Year by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, specializes in the evolution of monkeys, apes, humans and lower primates. Courtesy of Northern Illinois University

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