Jeremy DeSilva

Jeremy “Jerry” DeSilva is a paleoanthropologist, specializing in the evolution of early human ancestors (hominins). He is part of a research team that discovered and described two ancient members of the human family tree—Australopithecus sediba and Homo naledi. He has studied wild chimpanzees in Western Uganda and digs for ancient human fossils at sites in Eastern and South Africa. From 1998-2003, Jerry worked as an educator at the Boston Museum of Science and continues to be passionate about science education. He is the author of the 2021 book First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human. Jerry lives in Norwich, Vermont, with his wife Erin and their twins Ben and Josie.