Dr. Cameron M. Smith

Cameron M. Smith, Ph.D. has been teaching at Portland State University (PSU) since 1999, and earned his doctorate in Archaeology at Canada’s Simon Fraser University in 2004.
 
Cameron currently teaches a variety of 100–400-level courses in world prehistory, field and lab methods, and regional topics. He also advises students and is on an MA thesis board. Research interests include archaeology of the Northwest Coast, evolution of hominid cognition, evolution in general, aboriginal watercraft, experimental archaeology, use-wear analysis, and quantitative methods.
 
Cameron has recently published his second popular science book on evolution, titled The Fact of Evolution. He was interviewed on national radio by both Dr. Michio Kaku (co-founder of string theory and popularizer of science) for the Science Fantastic Radio Show as well as the legendary Bob Edwards, for the Bob Edwards Weekend Show.
 
He is completing an introduction to an archaeology text and planning two field projects; a summer field school in wetland and landscape archaeology on the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, Washington, and a preliminary aquatic survey of archaeological potential of the Isla de la Plata, off the coast of Ecuador, in collaboration with Linfield College and Professor Florencio Delgado of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito.
 
Recently Cameron coauthored with Julia Ruppell “What Anthropologists Should Know About the New Evolutionary Synthesis” in the University of California peer-reviewed e-journal Structure and Dynamics, and he is currently writing an evolution-related feature article for Scientific American. He is also beginning a new popular-science book on the most common misunderstandings of human prehistory, and continuing to analyze the artifacts recovered from the Meier and Cathlapotle archaeological sites with Professor Emeritus Dr. K.M. Ames.
 
Cameron coauthored Anthropology For Dummies, Wilderness Survival For Dummies, The Top 10 Myths About Evolution, and Emigrating Beyond Earth: Human Adaptation and Space Colonization.
 
Watch DIY Spacesuit PSU prof builds pressure suit in living room and DIY Pressure Suit Test with Ben Wilson. Listen to Darwin in Space: How Multigenerational Missions Could Shape Human Evolution. Read Voices 2014: Space Travel Can Be For Everyone, Guest Blog: Dr. Cameron M. Smith and His DIY Suit, and Star-Crossing Lovers: How will humans reproduce on centuries-long interstellar journeys? Read his blog.