Title: Career Profile: Dr Darren Curnoe
Author: Jacqueline Nguyen
Category: Career Profile


Dr Darren Curnoe is a lecturer in the Department of Anatomy, in the School of Medical Sciences at UNSW. His research interests fall within three major areas: human evolution, skeletal biology of hunter-gatherers, and comparative anatomy and systematics of primates.

Dr Darren Curnoe studied biological anthropology at the Australian National University, graduating with first class honours. He went on to complete a PhD in palaeoanthropology and geochronology at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the ANU. Curnoe spent 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa as a post-doctorate fellow in the School of Anatomical Sciences at the University of Witwatersrand, working with Professor Phillip Tobias. There he worked on an anatomical reconstruction of a Homo habilis fossil, dated from about 1.5 million years ago (MYA). He then trained to teach anatomy and joined UNSW in November 2002.

Dr Darren Curnoe

Thoughts on Biological Anthropology

Biological anthropologists study how evolution has shaped us and compare the way we look and behave with other primates. Curnoe believes that biological anthropology is important because it allows us to gain insight into our own existence. "Evolution is one of several ways of understanding ourselves, but it’s an important one. Many of us are interested in the human condition, and it’s interesting to think about why we are the way we are from an evolutionary perspective."

Philosophers think about the human mind and condition; psychologists think about human thought and behaviour; and sociologists think about the way we structure ourselves in communities and societies. There are many similarities between these schools of thought and that of biological anthropologists.

“Anthropology is also important because we know more about our anatomy, behaviour, genetics, diseases, pathology and evolution more than any other species. That makes humans a very important test case for evolutionary biology. If we can truly understand our own evolution, then I think we will gain a lot of insights into the mechanisms, the broad picture of evolution, why evolution works.”

Thoughts on Science

When asked why he thought science was important, Darren answered, “What impresses me the most about science is the scientific method. It differs from ordinary thinking in that we set out to reject ideas. We propose a hypothesis, then go about trying to show it’s wrong. That’s its strength. In ordinary thinking we don’t tend to do that. We just believe things and see things that fit the way we think, or the way we believe. That’s what’s nice about science, you can approach the natural world and go about trying to understand it in a systematic and, as much as possible, an objective way to understand natural processes.”

“Karl Popper, a great scientific philosopher, stated that what makes a good scientific hypothesis is that it stands the test of time. In other words, the reason why a hypothesis is accepted, or becomes a scientific law, is because it survived repeated attempts to show it’s wrong. The fascinating thing about science is that many people have tried to show it as wrong and have been unable to refute it. The real strength of science is the way we go about trying to show that things are wrong and after a time, if we can’t, then we realise there’s obviously something to it, even though later on some information might come along and we might be able to reject it. And it’s true that we’ve built up this incredible body of knowledge and understanding about the world.”

“I think a lot of people who don’t practice science see it as a cold, clinical way of thinking. But it’s not; it’s about the passion of discovery. Many scientists have a true sense of awe of nature, that’s almost spiritual. I think that the natural world is incredible and I feel a real sense of awe and mystery about the natural world, and I want to understand that. And the only rational way I can do that is to use the scientific method.”

Darren also believes imagination is important in science. “I think the difference between an average scientist and a good scientist is imagination. It’s not about whether you’re technically competent or good at testing theories, it’s about having imagination. A lot of people don’t realise it, but science is a creative process, being able to look at facts, analyse facts, look at patterns, interpret, come up with explanations -- all those sorts of things take a lot of creativity.”

“The next step is when you go about testing it in a rational way, is where the hard, systematic, objective part comes in. But to get there, and come up with sensible explanations or hypotheses you’ve got to have some imagination. It has a strong creative part to it as well, which is very satisfying too.”

Best and worst aspects of his job

When asked about the best and worst aspects of his job Darren replied, “There aren’t many things about my job I don’t like and that’s in all honesty.”

“I love the research, that’s what really drives me. I have a real passion for the study of human evolution. I get very enthusiastic about it. It’s what keeps me going at the end of the day, but I really enjoy teaching too. I love helping students learn. That’s a lot of fun and it’s very satisfying, particularly when students are enjoying what they’re learning.”

Darren says the worst aspect of his job is that “sometimes things get too busy. I don’t always get time to put my feet up and read journal articles, or think about research problems. Things are sometimes rushed because there’s a constant heavy teaching load and administrative duties.” Getting grant money is also a downside to Darren’s job. “In an area like mine there isn’t much money around. It’s very competitive and hard to get money.”

“But I’d recommend the career for anyone who has the passion for research and finds an area that they’re really interested in. It’s worth putting in the hard work, getting through the post-grad and post-doc, to get a job where you know that you’re doing something you love. I don’t have a hobby; this is my job and my hobby. I feel very privileged to be able to do what I love for a living.”


See OnSET's Chiselling away at the traditional way of thinking

Further Reading

Wright, L. (2003) Shaking the Evolutionary Tree. UNSW Uniken Magazine, Issue 4.

Curnoe, D. & Thorne, A. (2003) Number of Ancestral Human Species: A Molecular Perspective. Homo 53, 201-224

Thorne, A. Grün, R. Mortimer, G. Spooner, N.A. McCulloch, M. Taylor, L. and Curnoe, D. (1999) Australia's Oldest Human Remains: Age of the Lake Mungo 3 Skeleton. Journal of Human Evolution 36, 591-612.

Glossary

Biological anthropology: using biological principles and approaches for the study of humans.

Geochronology: the chronology of the earth’s history as determined by geological events

Homo habilis: an early member of the human genus Homo, appearing in the fossil record about 2.5 MYA.

Paleoanthropology: the study of early humans and non-human primates, and their evolution.

Systematics: the study of the classification and evolutionary history of a species, or group of species.