Impact of grazers at Mpala and Ileret

While at Mpala, Dr. Martins took the students out into the field to learn about the different species of plants surrounding the area. Similar to the overall theme that Kimani introduced, Dr. Martins had the students work on a project that stressed the differences of vegetation inside and outside of the compound. The students conducted [...]

By |2017-01-04T18:04:33+03:00September 25th, 2016|Fall 2016, Field Schools|Comments Off on Impact of grazers at Mpala and Ileret

Ecology Week 2: Vectors

The field school spent a few days learning about vectors, parasites, and the effect they have on people and the communities in the Turkana Basin. A vector is an animal that actively or passively transmits a pathogen from one organism to another; the most obvious example would be the mosquito, whose diverse family is known [...]

By |2017-01-04T18:04:33+03:00September 25th, 2016|Fall 2016, Field Schools|Comments Off on Ecology Week 2: Vectors

Trip to Ol Pejeta Conservancy!

On Thursday, the students traveled to Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the world's largest black rhino sanctuary and home to three of the worlds last remaining northern white rhinos. Ol Pejeta is not only home to these extremely rare rhinos but hundreds of zebra, gazelle, impala, elephants, baboons and even lions! Although not native to Kenya, the students even had the [...]

By |2017-01-04T18:04:34+03:00September 19th, 2016|Fall 2016, Field Schools|Comments Off on Trip to Ol Pejeta Conservancy!

Ecology Week 1: Vegetation and Herbivory at Mpala

On Monday and Tuesday, we had the opportunity to learn from Mpala researcher Kimani Ndung'u who specializes in vegetation studies and is currently investigating the effects of termite mounds on the locale-specific environment. He is also a part of a project (www.forestgeo.si.edu/site/mpala) run by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute where they are collecting data for the only savannah plot in their global network. [...]

By |2017-01-04T18:04:34+03:00September 17th, 2016|Discovery, Fall 2016, Field Schools|Comments Off on Ecology Week 1: Vegetation and Herbivory at Mpala

Fall 2016 Origins Field School Begins!

Welcome to the Turkana Basin Institute Field School blog. We will post weekly updates of students’ adventures and will also discuss what we are all learning along the way. There are 5 modules over the next 10 weeks- Ecology, Geology, Paleontology, Human Evolution, and Archaeology. Please share with others that might be interested in what the [...]

By |2017-01-23T09:50:18+03:00September 12th, 2016|Fall 2016, Field Schools|Comments Off on Fall 2016 Origins Field School Begins!
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