Dr. Deena Emera

Deena Emera, PhD, is an evolutionary biologist, author, and teacher. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley, a master’s degree in Physical Anthropology from NYU, and a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Yale. She has focused much of her career on the evolution of female biology, currently investigating the genetic basis of reproductive longevity in female whales at the Buck Institute’s Women's Healthy Aging Innovation Center. Deena is also committed to science communication, writing articles and being featured in news outlets such as the Boston Globe and Time magazine, and recently publishing a book. In A Brief History of the Female Body (Sourcebooks, 2023), Deena draws on her expertise as a biologist and experience as a mother of four to explore the mysteries of the female body through an evolutionary lens.