Beth Shapiro

Beth Shapiro is an associate director for conservation genomics at the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, and a faculty member in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Currently, she is on a three-year sabbatical from her teaching role as she serves as the chief scientific officer of Colossal Biosciences, a position she assumed in March 2024. Shapiro's work is primarily focused on the analysis of ancient DNA, a topic she has spoken about in a TEDx talk titled "Ancient DNA -- What It Is and What It Could Be."

Shapiro's expertise in genomics and ancient DNA has led to numerous publications in scientific journals such as Molecular Biology and Evolution, PLOS Biology, Science, and Nature. She has also authored several books in her field, including "How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction" and "Life as We Made It: How 50,000 years of human innovation refined – and redefined – nature." In addition, she co-edited the book "Ancient DNA: Methods and Protocols," published in 2012.

Shapiro's contribution to the scientific community has been recognized through numerous awards and fellowships. In 2009, she received a MacArthur Fellowship, and in 2006, she was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. She was also named as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2023. Earlier in her career, she was selected as a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and received the Young Alumnus Award from the Odom School of Ecology at The University of Georgia.