Lake Turkana (Present); Lokochot Lake (3.5 Ma); Lonyumun Lake (4.1-3.95 Ma) The idea that the same natural laws and processes that operate on Earth today have operated in the past is an assumption many geologists use in order to better understand the geologic past. This idea is known as uniformitarianism, also defined as “the [...]
Understanding the basin's fluctuating history provides a more complete picture of what factors may have affected early life in this region. Vital to this research is mapping, the ability to show features on the landscape and to mark areas of interest that can be relocated. Back in the 1970s when some of the first paleoanthropological expeditions began, navigating in the field [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]