1. Jennifer Raff specializes in anthropological genetics relating to the initial peopling of the Americas and subsequent prehistory of Indigenous populations throughout North America.
25 Facts About Jennifer Raff
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Jennifer Raff is the President of the American Association of Anthropological Genetics.
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Alongside her research, Raff is a science communicator who writes and gives public talks about topics in science literacy.
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Jennifer Raff moved from Missouri to Indiana when she started high school.
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Jennifer Raff received a master's degree in anthropology in 2008, and a doctoral degree in genetics and biological anthropology in 2008, from Indiana University.
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Jennifer Raff's research involves the analysis of genomes in ancient and contemporary DNA, which she uses to understand the histories of human populations.
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In particular, Jennifer Raff has focused on the development of new approaches to extract ancient DNA.
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In 2019, Jennifer Raff was awarded a $450,000, three-year National Science Foundation Search Grant to investigate the genetic history of the Aleut people.
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The project will see Jennifer Raff investigating genomic information from ancient people for the Aleutian Islands.
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Jennifer Raff teaches courses on Fundamentals of Physical Anthropology, on Human Evolution, and on Critical Analysis of Scientific Literature.
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Jennifer Raff is a faculty member with the Summer Internship for Indigenous Peoples in Genomics, a program designed to increase representation of Indigenous peoples in the field of genetics.
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In 2018, Jennifer Raff was made Vice President of the American Association of Anthropological Genetics and promoted to president in 2019.
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Jennifer Raff has written for public audiences on her blog "Violent Metaphors", in the Huffington Post, for Forbes and for The Guardian.
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Jennifer Raff has spoken about the dangers of scientific racism and, in particular, Nicholas Wade's book A Troublesome Inheritance.
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Jennifer Raff was included in Angela Saini's Superior: The Return of Race Science.
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Jennifer Raff provided testimony to the Texas Board of Education concerning the teaching of evolution in schools.
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Jennifer Raff provided a commentary about the information that could be learned from Elizabeth Warren's DNA test.
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Jennifer Raff has worked to improve public understanding of the scientific process.
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Jennifer Raff has appeared on several podcasts, including Science for the People, NPR Science Friday, Inside Science and on the BBC World Service.
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Jennifer Raff was part of The Nature of Things with David Suzuki episode on the Ice bridge.
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Jennifer Raff frequently gives public talks on science literacy issues, and was an invited speaker at Skepticon.
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Jennifer Raff has trained in various martial arts alongside her sister, retired mixed martial artist Julie Kedzie.
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Jennifer Raff holds a third dan black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
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Jennifer Raff reached the semifinals in the Chicago Golden Gloves Women's 156 pound Senior Novice division in 2012, but lost the title bout to Allie Ayers.
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Jennifer Raff is married to Kenneth Colin McRoberts, and lives in Lawrence, Kansas.