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Heather Heying

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Heather Heying
Heying in 2019
EducationUC Santa Cruz (BA)
University of Michigan (PhD)
Occupation(s)Author, podcaster
SpouseBret Weinstein
Scientific career
FieldsEvolutionary biology
ThesisThe evolutionary ecology and sexual selection of a Madagascan poison frog (Mantella laevigata) (2001)
Doctoral advisorArnold Kluge[1]
Websitewww.heatherheying.com

Heather E. Heying (born 1969) is an American evolutionary biologist, former professor, and author, who came to national attention following the Evergreen State College protests in 2017. She has been associated with the informal group known as the intellectual dark web[2] and testified at the US Department of Justice forum on Free Speech on College Campuses in 2018.[3] Heying opposed COVID-19 vaccines and promoted the unproven belief that the drug ivermectin is effective in treating the disease.[4]

Early life and education

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Heying was born in Santa Monica, California in 1969 and grew up in Los Angeles.[5][6] She obtained a BA degree in Anthropology from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1992, and subsequently went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where she received a PhD in Biology in 2001,[6][7] with the dissertation titled "The evolutionary ecology and sexual selection of a Madagascan poison frog (Mantella laevigata).[8]

Career

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Until 2017, Heying was a professor of biology at Evergreen State College in Washington State. Her doctoral research focused on the evolutionary ecology and sexual selection of Mantella laevigata, a Madagascan poison frog.[9] In addition to papers in the reproductive evolutionary adaptations of frogs, Heying has also published a popular work describing her graduate student research in Madagascar, Antipode: Seasons with the Extraordinary Wildlife and Culture of Madagascar (2002).[10][11]

Evergreen State College protests

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In July 2017, following a year of student protests at Evergreen State College, which disrupted the campus, including one altercation between protesters and Heying's husband and fellow professor of biology at Evergreen, Bret Weinstein, the pair brought a lawsuit against the college; the $3.85 million suit alleged the college failed to "protect its employees from repeated provocative and corrosive verbal and written hostility based on race, as well as threats of physical violence."[12][13][14][15][16] A settlement was reached in September 2017, in which both Heying and Weinstein resigned, and received $250,000 each.[15]

Post-Evergreen

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Following her resignation, Heying has written articles and opinion pieces related to evolution and cultural politics for journals and newspapers such as The New York Times and The Chronicle of Higher Education.[17][18] She co-hosts a weekly podcast, the Darkhorse Podcast, with her husband on his YouTube channel.[19]

Heying was a 2019–2020 James Madison Program Visiting Fellow at Princeton University, a fellowship which continued for the 2020–2021 year.[20][21] With Weinstein, they presented a theory on the evolutionary adaptation of consciousness on April 29, 2020.[22]

In 2021, Heying and Weinstein's book, A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century, was published. Reviewing it for The Guardian, Stuart J. Ritchie wrote that the authors "lazily repeat false information from other pop-science books", and that overall the book was characterized by an annoying, know-it-all attitude.[23] Writing for Willamette Week, Nancy Koppelman and Leo Blakeslee said that the book did well at covering basic topics around evolution and biology, but faltered when the authors claim expertise beyond their own fields such as in matters related to politics.[24] Another review, written for Areo Magazine by English Literature graduate Daniel James Sharp, said the book was "a great, if also greatly flawed, achievement.".[25]

COVID-19

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Further information: Ivermectin during the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 lab leak theory

On January 29, 2021, Heying appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher along with Weinstein, presenting the "Lab Leak" hypothesis around the origins of SARS-CoV-2.[26]

Heying has said that she has taken ivermectin to guard against COVID-19 and that she and Weinstein have not been vaccinated "because we have fears [about the side-effects of the COVID-19 vaccines], as we have discussed at length on this podcast." Heying compared the use of ivermectin for this purpose to taking anti-malarial drugs.[4] Whereas all WHO-approved vaccines have shown a high level of safety and efficacy in all populations,[27] there is no good evidence of benefit from ivermectin in preventing or treating COVID-19.[28][29]

Publications

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  • Heying, Heather; Weinstein, Bret (2021), A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life, Portfolio, p. 320, ISBN 978-0593086889
  • Heying, Heather E. (2001). The evolutionary ecology and sexual selection of a Madagascan poison frog (Mantella laevigata). Dissertation.

References

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  1. ^ Heying, Heather Elizabeth (2001). Deep Blue, University of Michigan Library. "The evolutionary ecology and sexual selection of a Madagascan poison frog (<italic>Mantella laevigata</italic>)" (Thesis). Deepblue.lib.umich.edu. hdl:2027.42/123092. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  2. ^ Weiss, Bari (May 8, 2018). "Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web". newyorktimes.com. Archived from the original on May 8, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  3. ^ MacDonald, Heather (September 17, 2018). "Justice Department Forum on Free Speech in Higher Education". manhattan-institute.org. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Anna Merlan (June 24, 2021). "Why Is the Intellectual Dark Web Suddenly Hyping an Unproven COVID Treatment?". Vice.
  5. ^ Antipode, About the author - website of the San Diego Public Library
  6. ^ a b Heather Heying, About - official website of Heather Heying
  7. ^ Effinger, Anthony (September 15, 2021). "A Progressive Biologist From Portland Is One of the Nation's Leading Advocates for Ivermectin". Willamette Week. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  8. ^ Dissertations and Theses (Ph.D. and Master's: The evolutionary ecology and sexual selection of a Madagascan poison frog (<italic>Mantella laevigata</italic>) - website of University of Michigan Library
  9. ^ Heying, Heather E. (2001). The evolutionary ecology and sexual selection of a Madagascan poison frog (Mantella laevigata) (Thesis). hdl:2027.42/123092.
  10. ^ Heying, Heather E. (August 3, 2002). "Excerpt: The lady and the lemur". The Globe and Mail: D6.
  11. ^ "A skillful example of notes from the field: lively, discerning, and full of an ingrained enthusiasm for science". Kirkus Reviews. May 1, 2002. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  12. ^ Volokh, Eugene (May 26, 2017). "'Professor told he's not safe on campus after college protests' at Evergreen State College (Washington)". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  13. ^ Weinstein, Bret (May 30, 2017). "The Campus Mob Came for Me—and You, Professor, Could Be Next Whites were asked to leave for a 'Day of Absence.' I objected. Then 50 yelling students crashed my class". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  14. ^ Bradford, Richardson (May 25, 2017). "Students berate professor who refused to participate in no-whites 'Day of Absence'". Washington Times. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  15. ^ a b Abspegman (September 16, 2017). "Evergreen settles with Weinstein, professor at the center of campus protests". The Olympian. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  16. ^ Spegman, Abby (September 16, 2017). "Evergreen professor at center of protests resigns; college will pay $500,000". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  17. ^ Heying, Heather (April 30, 2018). "Nature is Risky. That's Why Students Need It". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  18. ^ Heying, Heather E. (November 2018). "Exposing the Madness of Grievance Studies". The Chronicle of Higher Education. 65.
  19. ^ "Bret Weinstein | DarkHorse Podcast". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
  20. ^ "The James Madison Program announces 2019–20 fellows". Princeton University. 2019-04-12. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  21. ^ "Current Visiting Fellows | James Madison Program". jmp.princeton.edu.
  22. ^ "Culture vs. Consciousness: A Core Human Tension". princeton.edu. April 29, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  23. ^ Stuart J. Ritchie (September 26, 2021). "A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century review – self-help laced with pseudoscience". The Guardian (Book review).
  24. ^ Kopelman N, Blakeslee L (October 20, 2021). "Book Review: 'A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century' by Heather Heying and Bret Weinstei". Willamette.
  25. ^ "The Lessons of Evolution: A Review of "A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century" by Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein". Areo. October 27, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  26. ^ "Bill Maher Talks Mutating Viruses and a Changing Climate on "Real Time"". InsideHook.com. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  27. ^ "Safety of COVID-19 Vaccines". World Health Organization. March 31, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  28. ^ Bartoszko JJ, Siemieniuk RA, Kum E, Qasim A, Zeraatkar D, et al. (April 2021). "Prophylaxis against covid-19: living systematic review and network meta-analysis". BMJ (Systematic review). 373: n949. doi:10.1136/bmj.n949. PMC 8073806. PMID 33903131.
  29. ^ Therapeutics and COVID-19: living guideline, 6 July 2021 (Report). World Health Organization (WHO). 2021. hdl:10665/342368. WHO/2019-nCoV/therapeutics/2021.2.
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