Neil Shubin
A paleontologist, professor of anatomy, and author, Neil Shubin speaks to student and community audiences about his discoveries on human evolution as described in his book, Your Inner Fish. Enlightening and accessible, his lectures make audiences look at themselves and the world in an illuminating new light. Read Full BiographyAbout Neil Shubin
Neil Shubin, professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago, is widely celebrated for discovering the fossil fish Tiktaalik roseae, dubbed the “missing link” between fish and land animals. His research focuses on the evolution of limbs, and he uses his diverse fossil findings to determine how anatomical transformations have occurred throughout the ages. His book, Your Inner Fish: A Journey Through the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body, was published in January 2008 and is now available in paperback.
His research on anatomical features of animals has taken him all over the world—he has conducted fieldwork in Greenland, China, Canada, much of North America and Africa. Demand from audiences clamoring to hear the story behind his discovery has led him to speak at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, Indiana University South Bend, and the University of Tulsa among others. In addition to his speaking, he has published multiple articles in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleobiology, as well as more than 18 articles in Science and Nature.
A John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellow, Shubin earned a Ph.D. in organismic and evolutionary biology from Harvard University in 1987 and joined the University faculty as Chairman of Organismal Biology & Anatomy in 2001. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and was elected a Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.
