The students have been learning more about the geology of the Turkana Basin. Today they learned about how layers of sediment form (stratigraphy) and what these layers can tell us about the nature of past environments. Sediments are particularly useful in telling us about the topography (profile) of landscapes and the presence of rivers, lakes or [...]
The second module - The Geology of the Turkana Basin- kicked off yesterday. Students first learned how to use the Brunton compass to map areas. Their first assignment was to map the 100 acre TBI compound. Students had to measure distances among structures such as the fence and buildings, and had to use the compass [...]
The first module of the Turkana Basin Institute of Ecology is just coming to and end. We spent a couple of days this week learning about and exploring the aquatic habitat of the Turkwel River next to TBI. One of the amazing things was both how tough life can be in the [...]
Good Bugs and Bad Bugs One of the important topics that we have been exploring as part of the Ecology Module is the question of ‘ecosystem services’ and how biodiversity, basically wild species, contribute to human livelihoods. TBI is working with the community to address various issues, and one of these is [...]
Goats vs. Grasshoppers The two main herbivores present around the Turkana Basin Institute are goats and grasshoppers. The goats are obvious as you travel around – there are small groups of them moving about or resting in the shade of trees during the day. Grasshoppers are also common out here, though [...]
The TBI Field School Students visited the Kerio Delta this weekend. We visited the Kerio Delta as part of the Ecology module, looking at some of the different vegetation types and learning about some of the species that live in the deltas of Lake Turkana. One of the most important and beautiful groups of insects [...]
The Spring Field School has taken off at the Turkana Basin Institute at South Turkwel. Students have started exploring the ecology of the area. Understanding ecology involves an appreciation of the vegetation. Students have been conducting vegetation surveys to learn about the density, patterns and relationships between plants at TBI. We have been spending time [...]
Stony Brook University's Dr. Lawrence Martin has agreed to serve, on a full-time basis, as Director of the Turkana Basin Institute. Martin has been at the heart of TBI activities since its creation in 2005, and has worked closely with Richard Leakey on fundraising, developing a field school, developing a self-sustaining business plan for TBI [...]
On Friday 18 November, TBI Students completed their last course, Archaeology of the Turkana Basin, taught by Sonia Harmand. Students learned about the major steps in the development of early technologies in Africa, from the appearance of the first stone tools 2.6 Myrs ago to the Neolithic. Through practical study, drawing and refitting of archaeological [...]
Dr. Louise Leakey (TBI, Stony Brook University) and 3D software company Autodesk have teamed up with the National Museums of Kenya to create an ongoing interactive showcase famous fossil discoveries from the Turkana Basin in virtual 3D. Newley launched, AfricanFossils.org enables visitors to explore a virtual "lab" filled with numerous famous fossil finds which can [...]
Stony Brook University is hosting a Turkana Basin Field School information session on Wednesday, December 7th from 1:00-2:00 in the TBI Seminar Room.
This weekend TBI Students completed their third course, Vertebrate Paleontology and Ancient Environments in the Turkana Basin. The course was taught by René Bobe with contributions by Frederick Kyalo Manthi and Meave Leakey. Students learned about vertebrate osteology, the evolutionary history of the major groups of mammals in the region as well as how [...]
Building on the success of last year’s January overseas Writers Conference in Florence, Italy, the Stony Brook Southampton MFA in Creative Writing and Literature has organized a Writers Conference and “Poetry Workshop in the Land Where Language Began” starting January 2, 2012 and running through January 11. The conference kicks off with two [...]
The students have been studying Vertebrate Paleontology with Profs Rene Bobbe and Kyalo Manthi for the current module As part of this they recently made a timeline of the Earth's History using toilet paper. Here are some of the highlights from this fun exercise... [...]
Hello - we have had a couple of interesting visitors at TBI last night and this morning. Just as I was heading to bed, the students came to get me saying there was a snake in the mess hall. I went over and found this beautiful snake clinging to one of the table legs. This [...]
Yesterday Kenya and the world celebrated the life of Prof. Wangari Maathai, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning environmentalist who recently passed away.
After the visit to the Kerio Delta, closer to ‘home’ at TBI, we investigated the riverine ecology. This involved jumping into the river and getting wet. It wasn’t hard to convince everyone to do so in the middle of a hot sunny morning!
The Lake Turkana Basin, while being a hot and dry area, includes several river systems and the 6,000 km2 + lake Turkana. Three rivers feed into the lake: The Turwel, Kerio and Omo. The Omo, from the highlands of Ethiopia contributes about 90 % of the lakes’ waters. The Kerio River comes from the south, [...]
A few days ago we all took a trip to the Napedet Hills that lie southwest of TBI. The drive to the hills was partly across grass-covered plains. A rare and beautiful sight in the desert. The last time we climbed the hills in February earlier this year there wasn't a blade of grass to [...]
The rains that have brought out the flowers around TBI have also brought out a large number of insects. Like many of the plants, the insects are active and taking opportunity of the greenery to forage and breed. And like the plants they are all under intense pressure to complete their life-cycles. For insects this [...]