Zeresenay Alemseged, researcher at the Max Planck Institute's Department of Human Evolution in Germany, gave a lecture at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History on his recent discovery of a juvenile fossil. The 3.3 million year old fossil, nicknamed "Selam," has become the second most extraordinary archeological discovery of 2006. The most complete fossil to date of Selam was found in the Afar Region of Ethiopia.

During his lecture, Dr. Alemseged talked about human evolution through his experiences, fieldwork and research. About four hundred people attended the lecture. Among his current works are descriptions of new hominine and non-human primate fossils; growth and development in early hominines; and analysis of environmental and ecological factors affecting primate and human evolutionary processes.

Zeresenay Alemseged earned a B.Sc. in Geology at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, a M.Sc. in paleontology from the University of Montpellier II and Paris VI, France in 1994, and a Ph.D. in paleoanthropology and paleoenvironment from the University of Paris VI and the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle et Paris VI. VOA’s Fregenet Asseged spoke with Zeresenay Alemseged about his many achievements.

(Click the link above to listen to Fregenet Asseged's interview with Dr. Zeresenay Alemseged in Amharic)