Herman Pontzer, Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology and DUPRI Scholar, has been elected a 2025 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Pontzer, along with Duke computer engineer Hai “Helen” Li, is among the nearly 500 scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognized for their scientific and social achievements by one of the world’s largest general scientific societies and publisher of the Science family of journals.
“This year’s AAAS Fellows have demonstrated research excellence, made notable contributions to advance science, and delivered important services to their communities,” said Sudip S. Parikh, AAAS chief executive officer and executive publisher of the Science family of journals. “These Fellows and their accomplishments validate the importance of investing in science and technology for the benefit of all.”
Pontzer explores how the human body evolved and how that affects our health and physiology today, combining fieldwork in Africa and South America with metabolic experiments in the lab. He has been elected “for distinguished contributions to anthropology, particularly how the deep evolutionary history of our species, diets, physical activities, and ecological settings affect our metabolism and health.”
Pontzer is a professor of evolutionary anthropology at Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, as well as an associate research professor of global health at the Duke Global Health Institute and an associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society.
Read more about Pontzer at the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and in a recent Magnify Magazine piece from Duke University School of Medicine.