Published: Feb. 5, 2003

Peter Ellison, a leading researcher in human reproductive physiology, will give a public talk at the University of Colorado at Boulder on Thursday, Feb. 13.

Ellison, who will be on campus as part of the CU-Boulder anthropology department's Distinguished Lecturer series, will speak at 5:30 p.m. in the Hale Science building, room 270. The event is free and open to the public.

During his talk titled "On Fertile Ground: Ecology and Human Reproduction," Ellison will explore ways in which our changing relationship to the environment affects human reproductive potential. His lecture will focus on research he has conducted around the world and will examine how the evolutionary past of humans is shaping our future and the interface between human biology and culture.

Much of Ellison's lecture is drawn from his recently published book "On Fertile Ground: A Natural History of Human Reproduction," which addresses some of the most intriguing aspects of human reproductive biology.

Ellison received his doctorate in anthropology in 1983 from Harvard University and currently is the dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard and editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Human Biology. He has conducted research among the Efe Pygmies in the Congo, tribal farmers in Africa and most recently among Toba women in Argentina.

Ellison's lecture is the latest in the CU-Boulder anthropology department's Distinguished Lecturer series aimed at bringing top researchers from around the world to campus.

For more information call (303) 492-2547