Before examining fossilized bones and ancient life, it is important to look at the anatomy of modern mammals. Our next activity looked at skulls, limbs, axial skeletons, and teeth of various carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores in present-day Africa. Sam examines the teeth of a zebra while Aileen looks at the mandible of a warthog. [...]
The Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoecology Module began last week under the instruction of paleontologist Dr. Mikael Fortelius from the University of Helsinki. After an introductory lecture on processes that affect the preservation of organisms and their traces, we set out to unearth crockery that was buried within the TBI facility. As part of a taphonomy experiment, TBI students [...]
Here are a few images from our day off at the end of the Ecology module. More pictures will be added to this post. Anna looks like she doesn't need the extra hour to sleep in. Jayde and Larisa have a mudfight At sunset... Jayde and Rachel doing yoga. Dr. Mikael [...]
This past Saturday, TBI Field School students ended their Ecology module and finished their major project on disease vectors. Their professor, Dr. Dino Martins, had noticed that a blinding disease called trachoma was endemic in the Turkana area and almost no data existed for this remote region. Therefore, students researched background information on trachoma and conducted [...]
On Sunday, the TBI Field School students spent a hot day out on Lake Turkana with a boat ride to Central Island. Our first stop was to a small fishing village to talk with the locals and to observe life at the lakeshore. Sacred Ibis at the shoreline with a locally made raft in the [...]
Map: The Kerio delta is a one hour drive from the TBI Turkwel facility. We visited the Kerio Delta a few days ago to get a first glimpse of the complex freshwater ecology and dynamics that affect the deltas of Lake Turkana. We were hosted by a group of local fishermen whose boats we used to [...]
Hello! I'm Dr. Jason E. Lewis, incoming Director of the TBI Origins Field School and a Research Assistant Professor at Stony Brook University. I am co-director of the West Turkana Archaeological Project and my research focuses on analyzing fossil animal remains from ancient archaeological sites to reconstruct the evolution, ecology, and behavior of our ancestors [...]
The Spring 2015 Origins Field School students are now settled in at the Turkana Basin Institute and have been busy with the Ecology Module for the past few days. One of our first lessons has been looking at the vegetation. In this arid region, plants are essential for animals, including livestock, which is what supports [...]
The Spring 2015 TBI Origins Field School students have been on four-day trip to Mpala Ranch located on the Laikipia plateau north of Mt Kenya. We have had an amazing safari so far - learning about and encountering many different species of plants and animals, exploring different habitats, climbing small rocky hills, watching birds and [...]
The Spring 2015 Turkana Basin Institute Origins Field School has begun! Students arrived in Kenya and travelled to Mpala Ranch where we are staying at the Mpala Research Centre. Spring 2015 Origins Field School Students exploring the ecology of the African Savannah! On the way up here we spent some time in Nanyuki, [...]
The Turkana Basin Institute Fall 2014 Field School ended last Sunday. As part of this we held a graduation ceremony where students were presented by Dr Leakey to travelled to TBI to congratulate the students. Dr Leakey and Dr. Sonia Harmand, the Archaeology Professor talk to students about their time at TBI [...]
We are almost at the end of the archaeology module, and thus at the end of the Fall 2014 Field School. Ten weeks have flown by! This week, students got to try their hand at knapping stone tools, a much-anticipated activity. Dr. Harmand accompanied students on a trip to collect raw materials, in this case [...]
Today, students headed out for their last day in the field before the Field School ends on Sunday. It's hard to believe that we have already reached the last week! Dr. Harmand took the students to Napaget, a very rich Holocene archaeological site right next to beautiful Lake Turkana. Both the view and the artifacts [...]
Yesterday, students participated in an illustration competition. After learning about the Acheulean stone tool industry in lecture, Dr. Harmand showed the students several Acheulean artifacts from the TBI collections, including handaxes, cleavers, and cores. Students were then tasked to accurately illustrate one of the artifacts. Artists at work. Students worked extra diligently when [...]
The Field School is in its final two weeks, and that means we are in the final module, Archaeology, taught by Dr. Sonia Harmand. So far, students have learned about the Oldowan and Acheulean stone tool industries, with lots more coming in the next week and a half. A box of various geofacts and [...]
Yesterday, the Field School students got to take part in an excavation, giving them the opportunity to hone recently acquired skills and learn new ones. A fossil elephant skeleton had been eroding out of deposits near South Turkwel, only 30 minutes from the TBI compound. Previous Field Schools have worked at extracting the bones, but [...]
Hi, we’re Katie and Letty and we’re students from UCL. On Thursday, we went on a trip to South Turkwel and some deposits nearer the TBI compound to learn about surveying and excavation techniques used in Paleoanthropology. Currently we are taking a course on Human Evolution led by Dr. Jason Lewis. In the morning, we [...]
Hi, I’m Melina, a sophomore from Stony Brook University. I’m interested mainly in archaeology and came to TBI for the amazing experience. Two Sundays ago we went to Eliye Springs for a well-deserved break. We started out after lunch for an afternoon of swimming at Lake Turkana. Tom, our resident pet, looked so sad as [...]
Yesterday marked the beginning of the third Field School module, Vertebrate Paleontology, taught by Dr. Doug Boyer of Duke University. Students have already learned about the geologic time scale, biostratigraphy, and the history of evolutionary thought in lecture, and today they got some first-hand experience working with fossil material from a wide variety of taxa. [...]
Hi, we’re Eloise and Stacey, third year Archaeology and Anthropology students from University College London. We are interested in hominin evolution and behaviour, as well as past environments. Just three days into the geology module, it was time for a two day camping trip to Lothagam, an ancient lake and river bed system to the [...]