Jared Diamond

Jared Diamond is Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), with additional appointments as Professor of Physiology in the David Geffen School of Medicine and Professor in the Fielding School of Public Health. He earned a B.A. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, England. Diamond's research bridges molecular biology, evolutionary biology, biogeography, geography and human society, digestive physiology, the biology of New Guinea birds, and conservation biology. His studies examine the evolutionary design of biological capacities through natural selection, such as the Vmax of enzymes or transporters, ion channel numbers, tissue masses, and bone strength. He investigates ultimate causation, selective pressures, and biological safety factors—typically 1.2 to 5—using nutrient transporters and hydrolases. Laboratory approaches involve stressing animals to metabolic ceilings, comparing transporter capacities to dietary loads, and analyzing safety factors across metabolic pathways.

Diamond is the author of five Pulitzer Prize-winning and best-selling books on human societies and evolution, translated into 38 languages, including Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (1997), Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2005), The World until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies? (2012), Natural Experiments of History (2010, with James A. Robinson), Why Is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality (1997), and The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal (1991). These works have significantly shaped scholarly and public discourse on environmental, geographical, and biological influences on civilizations. His scientific publications include seminal papers such as 'Rapid up-regulation of snake intestine in response to feeding' (1994) and studies on bird extinctions and intestinal adaptation. Awards encompass the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction (1998), Japan's Cosmos Prize (1998), U.S. National Medal of Science, Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, and election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. As a biological explorer, he rediscovered the Golden-fronted Bowerbird in New Guinea's Foja Mountains. Diamond serves as a director of World Wildlife Fund/U.S. and Conservation International, and teaches courses on world regions and past societies.

Professional Email: jdiamond@geog.ucla.edu