(Professor) Eugene E. Harris

Dr. Eugene E. Harris is a molecular anthropologist with a background in both genetics and anatomical evolution. He is Professor of Biology at the City University of New York and is an affiliated researcher with the Center for the Study of Human Origins at New York University. He has conducted genetic research on the evolutionary relationships among African baboons and their close relatives - the mangabeys, mandrills and geladas. This research led to the widespread appreciation amongst anthropologists that anatomical features can be potentially misleading when reconstructing the evolutionary trees of our ancestors. Eugene Harris is also one of the earliest researchers to collect and analyze nuclear DNA sequences to study the evolution and origins of modern humans. His research also includes the study of genetic variation in howler monkeys from the Atlantic Coastal Forest in Brazil.

Dr. Harris publishes in scientific journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Current Biology, Journal of Human Evolution, American Journal of Physical Anthropology and others. His teaching includes courses in human evolution, human anatomy and physiology and musculoskeletal function.