Beth Shapiro, PhD profile page

Beth Shapiro, PhD, is an evolutionary biologist and CSO at Colossal Biosciences. A pioneer in the scientific field “ancient DNA,” Beth travels extensively in the Arctic collecting bones and other remains of long-dead creatures including mammoths, giant bears and extinct camels and horses. She uses DNA extracted from these remains to better understand how communities responded to past climate changes, with a goal to help develop strategies to conserve endangered species and ecosystems today. A MacArthur Fellow, National Geographic Explorer and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Beth is highly acclaimed for both her research and her popular science communication. Her books “How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-extinction” (Princeton University Press 2015, 2020) and “Life As We Made It” (Basic Books 2021) explore how humans have been manipulating life on Earth for as long as we have existed and the potential of using our biotechnologies to bring extinct species back to life.