The vast landscape of the Turkana Basin. Photo credit: Lawrence Martin.

Nearly four decades of research have resulted in an excellent understanding of the Lake Turkana Basin's geological history and the distribution and age of the extensive fossil exposures. Fossil deposits in the Turkana Basin range from the Cretaceous at 165 million years through to excellent exposures as recent as 100,00 years. Fieldwork has traditionally been conducted during short field seasons run by multidisciplinary investigators. Due to the remote location of the Turkana Basin, field work is often costly and logistics are complex.

The Turkana Basin Institute has established two field stations, in the west and east sides of the Lake. The first of these at Ileret is now fully functional. It is hoped that with the facilities now available including accommodation, storage, laboratories, equipment and vehicle hire, that this will make it considerably easier for investigators to carry out their field work. Thus the discoveries and publications accruing from field research should be dramatically increased.

A major component of the Institute will be the Web-based availability of information, digitized archives of collections, field dispatches and other useful resources.

This initiative will also provide financial and material benefits to the local communities. The creation permanent field stations will result in the direct involvement of local people, and will generate sustainable employment opportunities as well as improved local infrastructure. These activities and benefits will increase appreciation of their natural heritage and will provide a better understanding of the importance of these research activities in the international arena. At present, all the recovered fossils and artifacts are taken to a central institution in Kenya’s capital city, where local communities have minimal participation in the research activities.

The Turkana Basin Institute is registered as a Kenyan entitiy that will act as the subcontractor for the Stony Brook Foundation and for Stony Brook University. It is affiliated with a number of other academic institutions including United States International University, University of Utah. As the academic center of the Institute, Stony Brook university will ensure sustainability of the Turkana Basin Institute and the future of its research programs. The Institute will provide opportunities for field training for students from Africa and across the globe.

The potential of this initiative is enormous. It will undoubtedly generate and disseminate new and unsuspected discoveries about the human past that will both astonish us and revolutionize the way we understand ourselves.