Rick Potts
Director of the Human Origins Program,
Paleoanthropologist
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution, USA

Dr. Rick Potts is Director of the Human Origins Program and Curator of Anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. He received his B.A. in Anthropology from Temple University (1975) and his Ph.D. in biological anthropology from Harvard University (1982). He then went to teach at Yale University from 1981 to 1985, where he was also Curator of Physical Anthropology in the Yale Peabody Museum. He has been with the Smithsonian since 1985, developing a program of international collaboration among scientists interested in the ecological aspects of human evolution. Over the past decade, Rick has led excavations at early human sites in the East African rift valley, and currently directs a multidisciplinary research team at the famous handaxe site of Olorgesailie, Kenya. In 1995, he also began a project in southern China, devoted to comparing evidence of early human behavior and environments from eastern Africa to eastern Asia. Rick has authored numerous research articles and three books. The three books are titled Early Hominid Activities at Olduvai, Terrestrial Ecosystems Through Time, and most recently a book written for a general audience titled Humanity's Descent: The Consequences of Ecological Instability. His ideas and comments have been aired on several occasions on National Public Radio's All Things Considered and PBS's The Jim Lehrer Newshour, and he was awarded a Certificate of Honor by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for the Emmy-winning Tales of the Human Dawn on PBS.

In his spare time he enjoys classical music, sports, and Halloween.

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