About The Turkana Basin Institute

The Turkana Basin Institute is a collaborative, international, multi-disciplinary project which facilitates research in the Turkana Basin of Northern Kenya.

TBI is a working partnership between Stony Brook University, the National Museums of Kenya and the United States International University of Kenya. Other scientific institutional partners are expected to be involved in the next few years.

The Turkana Basin Institute provides logistical support to researchers, greatly facilitating fieldwork in this remote and extensive area of northern Kenya. TBI also aims to provide a valuable online resource to a broader community interested in the region. A major commitment of TBI is to safeguard the extensive fossil deposits in the region through engagement with the local communities. In addition to the employment and training of individuals from the local community, the TBI community program includes the provision of student bursaries and scholarships, teacher salaries at local schools and a mobile outreach health service.

Our international offices and faculty are centered in Stony Brook, New York. TBI offers several postdoctoral and graduate fellowships to promote the long-term engagement of African scholars. Since its inception in 2006, successful annual international scientific meetings have been held at each of the two field campuses at Lake Turkana as well as at the University of Stony Brook in New York. These workshops further the TBI goal of promoting multidisciplinary, collaborative research, and bringing together experienced professors and younger minds to exchange ideas and research results in an informal setting. A full semester of Field Education taught through Stony Brooks Study abroad program gives students worldwide an opportunity to experience and learn about prehistory first hand.

The Turkana Basin Institute has two field research facilities, on the east and west sides of Lake Turkana, in northern Kenya. Both are fully operational, with laboratories, accommodations, fossil preparation facilities and communications. Although construction is ongoing, the normally significant problems of provisioning an expedition with daily essentials such as food, water, and fuel, have been greatly eased.