| 1 | Name: | Dr. Christopher Stringer | |
| Institution: | Natural History Museum, London | ||
| Year Elected: | 2019 | ||
| Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 203. Evolution & Ecology, Systematics, Population Genetics, Paleontology, and Physical Anthropology | ||
| Residency: | International | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1947 | ||
Christopher Stringer is the Research Leader in Human Origins at London's Natural History Museum. He is also co-director of the follow-up Pathways to Ancient Britain project. He earned his Ph.D. in 1974 and his D.Sc. 1990, both from the University of Bristol. He has spent most of his career at the Natural History Museum, first starting as a Researcher in 1973. Stringer is a leading proponent of the Out-of-Africa theory for the origin and spread of modern humans. Beginning with his seminal 1988 Science paper on the "Genetic and Fossil Evidence for the Origin of Modern Humans" (with Peter Andrews) he has worked with archaeologists, dating specialists and geneticists to further develop and refine our understanding of the evolution of our own species. He has recently formulated a modified version of this model, the Coalescent African Origin model. He carried out significant fieldwork on Neanderthals and since 2001 has directed the "Ancient Human Occupation of Britain" and "Pathways to Ancient Britain" projects, which have produced significant new findings about the spread of hominids into the British Isles. He is also the author of numerous bestselling books on human evolution including Our Human Story (with Louise Humphrey), Britain: One Million Years of the Human Story (with R Dinnis), and Homo Britannicus. He received the Royal Anthropological Institute's Rivers Memorial Medal in 2004 and the Zoological Society of London's Frink Medal in 2008. Stringer was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 New Year Honors for services to the understanding of human evolution. He has been a member of the Royal Society since 2004 and is a member of the Society of Antiquaries. Stringer was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2019. | |||