“It was the color, the texture, the shape that stood out in the landscape and when I examined it for a closer look someone in the distance started shouting: Hominid! Hominid!” ~ Anjali Biju, Graphic Design MFA student at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and EcoDepot intern. [...]
Amongst the huge sedimentary rocks that stand tall in Turkana Basin’s landscape, the Harvard Summer Program students spent their time at Lothagam, a site with a lot to offer for archaeological and paleontological studies, as well as geological studies, which is what the students were here for. The sedimentary rocks span across the landscape, [...]
The Harvard Summer Program of 2025 was in full swing as students were learning about the different components of the East African Rift System. A very important part of this system is Lake Turkana itself. A day was spent next to the lake and even in the river, amongst Doum Palm trees that decorate [...]
When Katie Swartvagher graduated early this in May 2025, with a BA in Anthropology from Stony Brook University, she carried more than a degree. She carried the imprint of a landscape thousands of miles away, Turkana, Kenya and a field school experience that transformed her understanding of science, community, and herself. [...]
Welcome to the Buluk Blog of the TBI Origins Field School: Spring 2025. I’m your author, Katie, a senior at Stony Brook University majoring in Anthropology. In this blog, I am going to take you through our field trip to Buluk, a fossil locality approximately 4 hours east of the TBI [...]
The Spring 2025 Origins Field School launched earlier this year with students from Stony Brook, University College London, the University of Helsinki and Kenya heading into the field with Professor Dino J. Martins to explore the world around them and uncover the connections between People and Nature. How and why do [...]
In the Turkana Basin, where fossils tell stories of evolution, a different kind of exploration is taking place. Scientists at the Turkana Basin Institute (TBI) have spent decades uncovering secrets of human evolution from sediments, a new group of explorers is looking in the opposite direction, toward the stars. This year, [...]
Something exciting is happening at the Turkana Basin Institute (TBI), 16 students from Stonybrook University under the Simons STEM Scholars Program are experiencing hands on research and learning scientific discoveries beyond class walls. Supported by faculty members from Stony Brook University and TBI, Dr Dino Martins- Turkana Basin Institute Director, Medina [...]
The sixth and final week of the Harvard Summer Program in Kenya began with a day of R&R back at the Eliye Springs Resort on the shores of Lake Turkana, about 10 kilometers from the TBI camp. Monday, July 8th began with a lecture by Emmanuel about primate evolution and anatomy, [...]
Week five of the Harvard Summer Program in Kenya began on Sunday, June 30th: our first full day back at TBI after the Lothagam visit. On Sundays, breakfast is served at 8:00am instead of 6:30am. Students had the morning to relax and/or work on readings, and some of us purchased merchandise that had [...]
The fourth week of the Harvard Summer Program in Kenya began with a day of rest and relaxation at Eliye Springs Resort on the western shores of Lake Turkana. Students swam, roasted coffee, and pet kittens, and a few of us bought handmade baskets after finding a group of people selling them nearby. For [...]
The third week began with a rest day on Sunday, June 16th. Students practiced Swahili with Duncan over lunch and organized a soccer match in the afternoon. On Monday, we left camp early for a trip to Ngare Ndare forest, which is about two hours away by car. The [...]
After a rest day on Sunday, June 9th, Monday began with a Swahili lesson followed by the introduction of a new module on infectious diseases. Dr. Jon Epstein, an infectious disease specialist who works at EcoHealth Alliance in New York City and who spent a few days with us at Mpala, gave a lecture [...]
The Harvard Summer Program in Kenya commenced on the morning of June 1, 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya. There are 16 students in the program, 9 of whom are Harvard University undergraduates, 1 of whom is a graduate student from China, and 5 of whom are students from Kenya at various stages in their academic [...]
For the final two weeks of the fieldschool, the students returned across to the West side of Lake Turkana to the TBI Turkwel campus. Although it was hard to say goodbye to the wonderful staff, wildlife and landscapes of Ileret, we were also excited to get back to Turkwel, especially to see the camp [...]
Hello! It’s Ruth and Libby here to tell you all about our human evolution module, taught by Dr. Carrie Mongle and Dr. Louise Leakey. We started our week out with some lectures about why we are here in the Turkana Basin to learn about human evolution. East Africa and Kenya specifically have been at [...]
Hello readers of the TBI Origins Field School blog, providing updates and a recap of this past week are students Maddie, an undergraduate at Stony Brook University, and David, a postgraduate student at Kenyatta University! After a relaxing Sunday at Ileret spent playing football alongside the locals at the nearby village, and some sodas [...]
This week’s blog comes from Simone and Sedona, and we’ll be talking about our experiences during the first week of the vertebrate paleontology course, which is also the field school’s first week while staying at TBI Ileret on the east side of Lake Turkana! Simone is a recent graduate from Boston University with a [...]
In our final week of Geology, Dr. Gathogo took the students out in the field to explore the Miocene and Pliocene sediments in the Turkana Basin. This provided an opportunity for the students to apply their sedimentology skills. An early morning excursion to Lothagam on Tuesday had students practice their geological skills, which [...]
Greetings from the hot and sunny Turkwel, Turkana! It's Mishy and Alisa reporting on our first week of the Geology module with Professor Patrick Gathogo. Let’s go through some highlights and key points: On the first Monday, February 5, we were briefed on safety measures (S, H, E) for keeping safe, hydrated [...]