The Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA) is an Organized Research Unit (ORU) at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is ...

. Formally established in 2008, CARTA is a collaboration between faculty members of UCSD main campus, the UCSD School of Medicine, the

Salk Institute for Biological Studies The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a scientific research institute located in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California, U.S. The independent, non-profit institute was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio va ...

, and interested scientists at other institutions from around the world. CARTA was formed in order to promote

transdisciplinary Transdisciplinarity connotes a research strategy that crosses many disciplinary boundaries to create a holistic approach. It applies to research efforts focused on problems that cross the boundaries of two or more disciplines, such as research o ...

research into anthropogeny - the study of human origins - drawing on methods from a number of traditional disciplines spanning the humanities, social, biomedical, biological, computational & engineering and physical & chemical sciences.

History of CARTA

Before CARTA became an established and formal UCSD recognized Organized Research Unit, a

multidisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

effort to study human origins had already been underway in the

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

area for over a decade, coordinated by the UCSD Project for Explaining the Origin of Humans (POH). The group involved local experts in San Diego as well as many others throughout the world. The primary activity of the group was to organize multi-disciplinary interactions amongst members (via meetings in

), and via secure internet-based mechanisms. These efforts have now been converted into a larger and more publicly active research program, which facilitate graduate and postgraduate education in relevant departments and programs.

Mission statement

"Use all rational and ethical approaches to seek all verifiable facts from all relevant disciplines to explore and explain the origins of the human phenomenon, while minimizing complex organizational structures and hierarchies, and avoiding unnecessary paperwork and bureaucracy. In the process, raise awareness and understanding of the study of human origins within the academic community and the public at large."

Organization and leadership

The co-directors of the Institute are Ajit Varki, Professor of Medicine and Cellular & Molecular Medicine, UCSD, Margaret Schoeninger, Professor and former Chair of the Department of Anthropology, UCSD, and Fred Gage, Professor,

, and Adjunct Professor of Neurosciences, UCSD

Activities

The Center sponsors a symposium series on human origins for both researchers and the public. It also partners with other San Diego institutions and organizations in sponsoring public lectures It offers a graduate specialization available to students in participating PhD programs at UC San Diego. It sponsors the (MOCA), formerly known as the "Museum of Comparative Anthropogeny", an online compilation of comparative information that highlights the differences between humans and the “great apes,” with an emphasis on uniquely human features. It also compiles a chronological list of book titles relevant to exploring human origins and human evolution. It houses the Museum of Primatology, a collection of chimpanzee and human skeletons, which are currently undergoing 3D digitization and IT integration. CARTA does not directly fund or organize research by its members, but provides a forum for researchers in varied fields to come together "to explore and explain the human phenomenon.”

Areas of interest

Human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

and

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter includin ...

genetics and

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

Paleoanthropology Paleoanthropology or paleo-anthropology is a branch of paleontology and anthropology which seeks to understand the early development of anatomically modern humans, a process known as hominization, through the reconstruction of evolutionary kinsh ...

and hominid origins *

Mammalian Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fu ...

and primate

neuroscience Neuroscience is the science, scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a Multidisciplinary approach, multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, an ...

* Primate

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

and

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

Language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...

and

cognition Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, though ...

* Nature-nurture interactions in explaining language and cognition * Human and primate society and culture * Comparative developmental biology of primates * General theories for explaining humans

References

External links

* {{authority control University of California, San Diego Biological research institutes Research institutes in California Research institutes established in 2008 2008 establishments in California