14/01/2026
Sabancı University Foundations Development Directorate hosted Prof. Andrew Berry from Harvard University for a University Courses (UC) Talk on December 17, 2025, titled “Humans: greatest evolutionary force in history?”. The talk brought together Sabancı University students and faculty as well as student groups from Koç and TEVİTÖL high schools to reflect on the far-reaching impact of human activity on the evolution of other species.
In his talk, Andrew Berry examined how humans have become a major evolutionary force, shaping ecosystems and influencing natural selection across the planet. He discussed how human expansion into new regions has led to large-scale ecological transformations, resulting in decline, disappearance and even hybridization of local flora and fauna.
To illustrate these dynamics, Andrew Berry shared a series of concrete examples. He noted that in response to poaching pressures, some elephant populations are increasingly evolving into tusklessness, while fishing practices that selectively target larger individuals are contributing to smaller body sizes in fish populations. Berry also pointed to the effects of human-mediated climate change, explaining how climate change brings previously isolated species into contact with one another, resulting in hybrid species. Together, these examples highlight how human activity can act as a powerful selective force, shaping evolutionary pathways and, inadvertently, broader tree of life.
Hosted by the Foundations Development Directorate, the event encouraged interdisciplinary engagement and critical reflection on humanity’s role in shaping biological diversity. The talk aligned closely with the FDD’s aim of fostering scientific literacy, ecological awareness and thoughtful discussion of global challenges with the core curriculum.
