Daniel R. Green, PhD Get in touch

Harvard University · Human Evolutionary Biology

Turning sparse, noisy natural records into reliable evidence.

I'm a scientist working across climate science, stable isotope geochemistry and evolutionary biology. I build forward and inverse models in Python, teach computational methods at Harvard, and lead international field teams of up to thirty people in Kenya.

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Portrait of Daniel R. Green
DirectorHarvard–Kenya Field Program

Published in

NaturePNASScience AdvanceseLifeGeochimica et Cosmochimica ActaChemical Geology

Research funded by

NSFNIHSimons FoundationLeakey FoundationWenner-GrenAustralian Research Council

Work covered by

Nature News The Economist Reuters CNN CBC Smithsonian

25

Peer-reviewed papers, 10 as lead or co-lead author, including Nature in 2025 and 2026

$1.1M

In competitive grants and fellowships across 11 awards

15–30

People in the field team I lead each summer, from several institutions and countries

18 Ma

Age of the oldest enamel proteins we recovered (Nature, 2025)

Expertise

What I bring to a problem

01

Quantitative modelling

Forward and inverse models that recover what actually happened from records that are smoothed, sparse or incomplete, with honest uncertainty.

  • Bayesian inference / MCMC
  • Forward & inverse models
  • Python
  • Machine learning
  • Regression

02

Climate & geochemistry

Reading past climate from stable isotopes and ancient proteins, and testing those records against climate models.

  • Stable isotopes (δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C)
  • Paleoclimate
  • Model–data integration
  • Mass-spec proteomics
  • Synchrotron & micro-CT

03

Leading international teams

Field teams of 15–30 (students, staff and faculty from different institutions and countries) working for weeks in remote parts of Kenya. I handle financial planning and management for the full program budget, lead international emergency planning and response, and manage domestic and international stakeholders.

  • Financial planning & management
  • International emergency response
  • Stakeholder management
  • Field operations

04

Teaching & communication

Computational and climate courses at Harvard, short courses in Kenya, and science writing read by millions.

  • Python & agentic coding
  • Harvard teaching distinction
  • Wikipedia: 4M+ views

Methods, and where they're published

Each method below is backed by peer-reviewed work or courses I've taught.

Publications

Selected papers

Eight of 25 peer-reviewed papers, chosen to show the quantitative and technical work. Also on Google Scholar and ORCID.

  1. 01 Enamel nanocrystal misorientation increased with meat-eating and agriculture Nanoscale crystal structure in enamel shifted with two major dietary changes in the human past. O'Hara M, Green DR, Gilbert P Nature 2026Materials
  2. 02 Inverse methods for extracting seasonality signals from ungulate tooth enamel Inverse methods for recovering the seasonal signal hidden in the enamel isotope records of hoofed mammals. Norwood AL, Green DR, Pobiner BL, Faith JT Chemical Geology 2026Inverse modelling
  3. 03 Eighteen million years of diverse enamel proteomes from the East African Rift Protein fragments recovered from fossil enamel up to 18 million years old, in one of the warmest places on Earth. Green DR, Uno KT, Miller ER, Feibel CS, Aoron EE, … Cleland TP Nature 2025Proteomics · Lead
  4. 04 How teeth record and attenuate seasonal signals How much of the environment's seasonal range survives in each layer of enamel, and how to correct for what is lost. Green DR, Smith TM, Olack G, Williams IS, Tafforeau P, Colman AS, Uno KT J. Archaeological Science 2025Forward modelling · Lead
  5. 05 Fine-scaled climate variation in equatorial Africa revealed by modern and fossil primate teeth Near-weekly isotope records from living primates, and two-season rainfall in the world of a 17-million-year-old ape, tested against an Earth-system model. Green DR, Ávila JN, Cote S, Dirks W, Lee D, Poulsen CJ, Williams IS, Smith TM PNAS 2022Climate · Lead
  6. 06 A simple CO₂ equilibration method for measuring blood oxygen isotope compositions A practical laboratory method for measuring the oxygen isotope composition of blood water. Cover article. Green DR, Olack G, Tütken T, Leichliter J, Winkler DE, Clauss M, Vonhof H, Colman AS Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2022Analytical method · Lead
  7. 07 Quantitative reconstruction of seasonality from stable isotopes in teeth A Bayesian inverse model that recovers the original seasonal signal from enamel, tested with a controlled experiment. Green DR, Smith TM, Green GM, Bidlack FB, Tafforeau P, Colman AS Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 2018Bayesian inversion · Lead
  8. 08 Synchrotron imaging and Markov Chain Monte Carlo reveal tooth mineralization patterns Synchrotron scans and MCMC fitting map how enamel mineralizes over time, the basis for later forward models. Green DR, Green GM, Bidlack FB, Colman AS, Tafforeau P, Smith TM PLoS ONE 2017MCMC · Lead
All 25 peer-reviewed papers
  1. A body mass-based approach to inverse modeling of seasonality through enamel isotopes of Bovidae. Norwood AL, Green DR, Faith JT. Chemical Geology 719:123568 (2026).
  2. Stable refugial environment for Late Pleistocene fauna in southern Peloponnese, Greece: insights from enamel isotopes of ruminants. Tzortzi M, Lugli F, Golfinopoulos V, Green DR, et al. Quaternary Science Reviews 388:110074 (2026).
  3. Enamel nanocrystal misorientation increased with meat-eating and agriculture. O'Hara M, Green DR, Gilbert P. Nature 654:76–84 (2026).
  4. Eemian climate seasonality reconstructed from intra-tooth oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen stable isotopes in equid enamel from Neumark-Nord 2, Germany. Vink M, Leichliter JN, Green DR, et al. Quaternary Science Reviews 373:109724 (2026).
  5. Inverse methods for extracting seasonality signals from ungulate tooth enamel. Norwood AL, Green DR, Pobiner BL, Faith JT. Chemical Geology 123191 (2026).
  6. Eighteen million years of diverse enamel proteomes from the East African Rift. Green DR, Uno KT, Miller ER, Feibel CS, Aoron EE, et al. Nature 643:712–718 (2025).
  7. How teeth record and attenuate seasonal signals. Green DR, Smith TM, Olack G, Williams IS, Tafforeau P, Colman AS, Uno KT. Journal of Archaeological Science 175:106148 (2025).
  8. Primate teeth are good proxies for understanding past water inputs and seasonality. Smith TM, Ávila JN, Eerkens JW, Green DR, et al. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 402:200–216 (2025).
  9. Investigating relationships among strontium, barium, and seasonality in wild baboons. Bharatiya M, Austin C, Arora M, et al. Archaeometry (2025).
  10. Oxygen isotopes in orangutan teeth reveal recent and ancient climate variation. Smith TM, Arora M, Austin C, et al., Green DR. eLife 12:RP90217 (2024).
  11. Past rainfall patterns in Southeast Asia revealed by microanalysis of δ¹⁸O values in human teeth. Vaiglova P, Ávila JN, Buckley H, et al. Journal of Archaeological Science 162:105922 (2024).
  12. Formation and replacement of bone and tooth mineralized tissues in green iguanas (Iguana iguana) revealed by in-vivo fluorescence marking. Green DR, Winkler D, Leichliter J, Harms G, Hatt J-M, Clauss M, Tütken T. Integrative and Comparative Biology (2023).
  13. Fine-scaled climate variation in equatorial Africa revealed by modern and fossil primate teeth. Green DR, Ávila JN, Cote S, Dirks W, Lee D, Poulsen CJ, Williams IS, Smith TM. PNAS 119:e2123366119 (2022).
  14. Permanent signatures of birth and nursing initiation are chemically recorded in teeth. Smith TM, Austin C, Ávila JN, Dirks W, Green DR, Williams IS, Arora M. Journal of Archaeological Science 140:105564 (2022).
  15. A simple CO₂ equilibration method for measuring blood oxygen isotope compositions. Green DR, Olack G, Tütken T, et al. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 36:e9256 (2022). Cover article.
  16. Teeth reveal juvenile diet, health and neurotoxicant exposure retrospectively: what biological rhythms and chemical records tell us. Smith TM, Austin C, Cook L, Dirks W, Green DR, Arora M. BioEssays 43:2000298 (2021).
  17. Tooth tales told by dental diet proxies: an alpine community of sympatric ruminants as a model to decipher the ecology of fossil fauna. Merceron G, Berlioz E, Vonhof H, Green DR, et al. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 562:110077 (2021).
  18. Crystal misorientation correlates with hardness in tooth enamels. Stifler CA, Jakes J, North JD, Green DR, Weaver JC, Gilbert PU. Acta Biomaterialia 120:124–130 (2021).
  19. Mapping the tooth enamel proteome and amelogenin phosphorylation onto mineralizing porcine tooth crowns. Green DR, Hardt M, Schulte F, Lee K-H, Pugach MK, Bidlack FB. Frontiers in Physiology 10:925 (2019).
  20. Salivary N1-methyl-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide, a biomarker for uranium uptake, in Kuwaiti children exhibiting exceptional weight gain. Goodson JM, Hardt M, et al. Frontiers in Endocrinology 10:382 (2019).
  21. Wintertime stress, nursing, and lead exposure in Neanderthal children. Smith TM*, Austin C*, Green DR*, Joannes-Boyau R*, et al. Science Advances 4:eaau9483 (2018). *Equal contribution.
  22. Quantitative reconstruction of seasonality from stable isotopes in teeth. Green DR, Smith TM, Green GM, Bidlack FB, Tafforeau P, Colman AS. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 235:483–504 (2018).
  23. Determinants of blood water δ¹⁸O variation in a population of experimental sheep: implications for paleoclimate reconstruction. Green DR, Olack G, Colman AS. Chemical Geology 485:32–43 (2018).
  24. Synchrotron imaging and Markov Chain Monte Carlo reveal tooth mineralization patterns. Green DR, Green GM, Bidlack FB, Colman AS, Tafforeau P, Smith TM. PLoS ONE 12:e0186391 (2017).
  25. Evolution of the complementary sex-determination gene of honey bees: balancing selection and trans-species polymorphisms. Cho S, Huang ZY, Green DR, Smith DR, Zhang J. Genome Research 16:1366–1375 (2006).

Leadership

Leading the Harvard–Kenya Field Program

Since 2023 I've built and directed a six-week, credit-bearing field program run by Harvard's Departments of Human Evolutionary Biology and Anthropology with the Turkana Basin Institute. Each summer I lead a team of 13–17 from Nairobi, Naivasha, Mount Kenya, Tsavo and the Indian Ocean coast to the fossil-rich badlands of Lake Turkana: the team I lead is sometimes as large as 30 people and often includes 3–4 faculty, from different institutions and countries.

  • Curriculum across evolutionary biology, savannah ecology, infectious disease, sedimentary geology, paleontology and paleoanthropology, with Python climate labs and student-designed research
  • Operations across three research stations, remote camps and flights to the eastern shore of Lake Turkana
  • Partnerships with the Turkana Basin Institute, National Museums of Kenya, A Rocha Kenya and the community of Nekichechok
  • Faculty in 2026 included Daniel Lieberman, Eric Rubin (editor-in-chief, NEJM), Craig Feibel, Louise Leakey, Tina Warinner, Kevin Uno, Matthew Collins, Emmanuel Ndiema and William Stafford Noble
  • Convened an international paleoproteomics workshop on Lake Turkana, funded by my Turkana Basin Institute–Simons Foundation grant
Geologist Craig Feibel explaining rock strata to a group of students and scientists
Craig Feibel of Rutgers explains the hominin-bearing strata of East Turkana to students and visiting scientists, 2026.
Team in the field
15–30
Students
13–17
Staff
2–12
Faculty
3–4
Weeks
6
Students on financial aid
85%

“I had not done research before, and I loved having the opportunity to go through trial and error and learn as we went.”

Harvard student, 2026

Program informationPhotographs from Kenya

Teaching

Teaching computation, climate and evolution

Lecturer and head instructor at Harvard since 2018, and short courses for Kenyan students.

Harvard · 2026 · Head instructor

Into the Whirlwind: Computational Methods in Archaeology and Paleontology

Students learn linear algebra, multiple-parameter regression, machine learning and Bayesian inverse modelling in Python, and how to build research tools with AI coding agents.

  • Python
  • Linear algebra
  • Regression
  • Machine learning
  • Bayesian inversion
  • Agentic coding
  • GENED 1027: Human Evolution, Climate, and Health2026
  • The Devil's Teeth: Archives of Health, History, and Climate2025
  • African Climate: Earth's History, Humanity's Future2023, 2025
  • Advanced Topics in Human Evolution2024
  • Graduate Introduction to the Hominin Fossil Record2021
  • Climate Change and Human Evolution2018, 2020
  • Stable isotopes in hydrology, ecology and paleontology: short course, Mpala, Kenya2023
  • Introduction to stable isotopes in ecology and paleontology, Turkana University College2021

Also: "Coding teeth and climate in Google Colab," a workshop for the Australasian Research Cluster for Archaeological Science (2023) · Harvard Certificate of Distinction in Teaching (2012, 2020) · Research mentor to students at Harvard, Columbia, the University of Chicago, the Forsyth Institute, the Turkana Basin Institute and Turkana University College

Experience

Career and funding

  1. 2023–nowField Program Director & LecturerHuman Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
  2. 2021–2023Earth Institute Postdoctoral FellowLamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia Climate School
  3. 2019–2021Lecturer, College Fellow & Concentration AdvisorHuman Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
  4. 2017–2019NIH Kirschstein T90 Postdoctoral FellowThe Forsyth Institute & Harvard School of Dental Medicine
  5. 2017–nowResearch AssociateTurkana Basin Institute & National Museums of Kenya
  6. 2017PhD, Human Evolutionary BiologyHarvard University, as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow (AM 2012; BS University of Michigan 2008)

Selected funding

  1. 2025–2027Cenozoic African mammalian phylogeny through paleoproteomicsTurkana Basin Institute – Simons Foundation$99,710
  2. 2022–2024Seasonal water use across Miocene apes and homininsTurkana Basin Institute – Simons Foundation$99,545
  3. 2022–2024Chimpanzee oxygen isotope ecology as a model for hominin and paleoclimatic patternsLeakey Foundation$24,767
  4. 2021–2023Orbital forcing and rainfall seasonality in the Pleistocene East African RiftEarth Institute Fellowship, Columbia University$157,000
  5. 2021–2023Constructing robust climate proxies to explore human and primate evolution (joint)Australian Research Council Discovery Project$349,765
  6. 2018–2019Inferring toxicant exposure timing and magnitude from human deciduous teethNational Institutes of Health, T90 Fellowship$144,000

Earlier awards from the National Science Foundation (Graduate Research Fellowship; Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant), the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Leakey Foundation, the Australian Academy of Science, and beam time at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.

Recent invited lectures

  • Kimball Lecture, Wilkes University (2026)
  • Universität Wien, Human Evolution & Archaeological Sciences (2025)
  • Turkana Basin Institute Seminar, Stony Brook University (2025)
  • European Geosciences Union (2024) · American Geophysical Union (2023)
  • National Museums of Kenya (2023)

Peer reviewer for

  • Nature · Nature Ecology & Evolution
  • Science Advances · Scientific Data
  • Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta · Chemical Geology
  • Journal of Archaeological Science · Leakey Foundation

Training & skills

  • Learning the Earth with AI and Physics (LEAP), Columbia–Google (2022)
  • Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry & Ecology, University of Utah (2010)
  • East Turkana Geological Field School, NSF (2011)
  • Python · agentic coding · QGIS · HTML · French

Get in touch

I welcome conversations about research collaboration, advisory and consulting work, teaching, and speaking.

drgreen@fas.harvard.edu Download CV