Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny

Before CARTA was established as a UC San Diego-recognized center, a multidisciplinary effort to study human origins had already been underway in the La Jolla area for over a decade, coordinated by the then "UCSD Project for Explaining the Origin of Humans" (POH). The POH group involved local experts in San Diego as well as many others throughout the world. The primary activity of the POH was to organize multi-disciplinary interactions amongst members (via meetings in La Jolla), and via secure internet-based mechanisms. These efforts were converted into a larger and more publicly active center, which facilitates graduate education in relevant departments and programs.

"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."[http://carta.anthropogeny.org/about/policies/full-mission-statement/ CARTA website].

The current co-directors of CARTA are Pascal Gagneux (Executive Co-Director; Professor of Pathology and Anthropology, UC San Diego); Katerina Semendeferi (Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Laboratory for Human Comparative Neuroanatomy, UC San Diego), and Gerald Joyce (president and professor, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies). CARTA Emeriti co-directors (2008-2022) include founding co-director, Ajit Varki (Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Cellular & Molecular Medicine, UC San Diego, and adjunct professor, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies), Margaret Schoeninger{{cite web|url=http://anthropology.ucsd.edu/Faculty_Profiles/schoeninger.html |title=:: Ucsd : Department of Anthropology :: |access-date=2010-07-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616084421/http://anthropology.ucsd.edu/Faculty_Profiles/schoeninger.html |archive-date=2010-06-16 }} (Distinguished Professor Emerita and former Chair of the Department of Anthropology, UC San Diego), and Fred Gage (Professor, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and Adjunct Professor of Neurosciences, UC San Diego).{{Cite web |title=Organization {{!}} Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA) |url=https://carta.anthropogeny.org/about/organization |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=carta.anthropogeny.org}}

CARTA sponsors a symposium series on human origins{{Cite web|url=http://carta.anthropogeny.org/symposia/past_list|title=Symposia Archive | Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA)}} for both researchers and the public. It also partners with other San Diego institutions and organizations in sponsoring public lectures, and offers a graduate specialization available to students in participating PhD programs at UC San Diego.{{Cite web|url=http://carta.anthropogeny.org/training/specialization-track|title = Specialization Track | Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA)}}

The Center sponsors the {{visible anchor|Matrix of Comparative Anthropogeny}} (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.{{Cite web|url=http://carta.anthropogeny.org/content/about-moca|title=MOCA | Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA)}} It also compiles a chronological list of book titles relevant to exploring human origins and human evolution.{{Cite web |url=http://carta.anthropogeny.org/libraries/anthropogeny/biblio |title=Library of Anthropogeny | CARTA |access-date=2012-07-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004040904/http://carta.anthropogeny.org/libraries/anthropogeny/biblio |archive-date=2012-10-04 |url-status=dead }}

It curates the Museum of Primatology (MOP),{{Cite web|url=http://carta.anthropogeny.org/museum|title=Museum of Primatology (MOP) | Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA)}} a collection of chimpanzee and nonhuman primate skeletons, which are currently undergoing 3D digitization and IT integration.{{cite web|url=http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2009/jul/13/1c13chimps19498-skeleton-keys/?science&zIndex=130932|title=Skeleton keys|author=Scott LaFee|publisher=UT San Diego|date=July 13, 2009}}{{cite web|url=http://www.calit2.net/newsroom/release.php?id=1555|title=CARTA to digitize extensive skeleton collection this summer|author=Calit2|publisher=California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology|date=June 16, 2009}}{{cite journal|url=https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.328.5974.43|title=Cutting to the bone of human origins|author=Jon Cohen|journal=Science|date=April 2, 2010|volume=328 |issue=5974 |page=43 |doi=10.1126/science.328.5974.43 |pmid=20360089 |url-access=subscription}}

CARTA does not directly fund or organize research by its members, but provides a forum for researchers in varied fields to come together in venues across the UC San Diego campus "to explore and explain the human phenomenon.”{{Cite web |title=UCSD {{!}} Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA) |url=https://carta.anthropogeny.org/venues/ucsd |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=carta.anthropogeny.org}}

• Human and primate genetics and evolution{{cite web|url=http://biology.ucsd.edu/news/article_041008.html|title=Final "Evolution Matters" Lecture Finds Clues to Human Disease in Genetics of Primates|author=Paul K. Mueller|publisher=UCSD Division of Biological Sciences|date=April 10, 2008|access-date=September 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121131005/http://biology.ucsd.edu/news/article_041008.html|archive-date=January 21, 2012|url-status=dead}}
• Paleoanthropology and hominid origins
• Mammalian and primate neuroscience
• Primate biology and medicine
• Language, communication and cognition
• Nature-nurture interactions in explaining language and cognition
• Human and primate society and culture
• Comparative developmental biology of primates
• General theories for explaining humans

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• {{Official website|https://carta.anthropogeny.org}}

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Category:University of California, San Diego

Category:Biological research institutes in the United States

Category:Research institutes in California

Category:Research institutes established in 2008

Category:2008 establishments in California