Dr. Michael Rivera is one of Hong Kong's few bioanthropologists and bioarchaeologists, and the first Hongkonger to obtain a PhD in this field from the University of Cambridge. In this talk, he will share with us how he is currently working to establish a greater presence of bioanthropological science in Hong Kong, with new research, teaching, laboratory and field projects, and public engagement initiatives. These involve the establishment and bringing together of various collaborators and students in human genomics, human skeletal/dental studies, biology and anatomy, geology and isotopic chemistry, primatology, ecology and environmental studies, as well as history, archaeology and museum studies.

He is also the lead archaeologist managing the excavated remains of a US Navy plane that crashed in Hong Kong in 1945. He has worked in/has other active bioarchaeology/bioanthropology projects in East Asia, Southeast Asia, the U.S. and Europe. Finally, Dr. Rivera has also worked extensively in making scientific work and research ideas accessible through various forms of teaching, social media and public engagement.