Spencer Wells — SPARQNOW

At-a-Glance

Led The Genographic Project (2005-2015) as an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society.
Co-hosts The Insight podcast.
Authored "The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey" (2002).
Holds a Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University (1994).
Conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University (1994-1998) and was a research fellow at the University of Oxford (1999-2000).
His work helped establish the critical role of Central Asia in the peopling of the world.
Credited with creating the personal genomics industry through The Genographic Project.

Biography

Rush Spencer Wells is an American geneticist, anthropologist, author, and entrepreneur. He co-hosts The Insight podcast with Razib Khan. From 2005 to 2015, Wells led The Genographic Project as an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society. This project, undertaken by the National Geographic Society, IBM, and the Waitt Foundation, aimed to map human migration patterns by analyzing DNA samples globally and is credited with creating the personal genomics industry.