Doug Erwin

Doug Erwin is an independent researcher in Santa Fe, after retiring as Senior Scientist and Curator of Paleobiology at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution (1990-2024). He is currently Section Editor for Earth, Environmental, Ecological and Space Sciences at the AAAS journal Science Advances. His primary research interests are in evolutionary novelty and innovation across biological, cultural and technological domains; the evolution of animal regulatory genomes; the origin and early evolution of animals; and the nature of historical sciences. Various field projects have taken Doug to Canada, China, Australia, west Texas, South Africa, and Namibia. Erwin received an A.B. from Colgate University in 1980 and a Ph. D from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1985. He has a forthcoming book entitled Origins of the New: Novelty and Innovation in Life, Culture and Technology (Princeton February 2026) and is the author or editor of a number of other books. At SFI, he has been a Resident faculty member (part-time), Chair of the Science Steering Committee, Chair of Faculty, and is now a member of the External faculty.