The Turkana Basin Institute is pleased to announce it has awarded two new graduate fellowships. Natasha Gownaris is a second year doctoral student at the Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Science's Institute for Ocean Conservation Science. She is interested in how planned hydroelectric development and climate change might impact the fisheries of Lake Turkana and the [...]
Celebrating decades of groundbreaking exploration in East Africa, these renowned paleoanthropologists will make this joint appearance to discuss the overwhelming evidence for evolution in the hominid fossil record and why understanding our evolutionary history is so important. Known for such landmark discoveries as "Lucy" (Johanson) and "Turkana Boy" (Leakey), the work of these [...]
Professor John Shea presents evidence that early human behavior was no less complex than that of living humans. Stone points dating to at least 104,000 years ago from Omo Kibish, Ethiopia. These points, shaped by pressure-flaking and likely used as projectile points are more than 65,000 years older than the oldest similar artifacts from the [...]
Another update from Ileret with images and text by Fraser Smith. This is the progress report on the water pipeline and the generator house that is being built near the borehole. We had decided it best to fill the ditch once we had pumped water through the pipe and checked for leaks. In [...]
Due to the remoteness of Ileret and the expense of transporting building materials is very costly. Therefore new techniques are to be employed in the buildings on this side of the lake to try to reduce costs. One approach is to use concrete waffles that are made from a mould for the roofing of the [...]
I have a few recent images of the large laboratory that is under construction at Turkwel. The basement which will be used as storage area, is now complete and the large slab has mostly been laid. The wall on the ground floor will be the constructed next. I have a few recent images of the [...]
The welding the 7m lengths of pipe into 351m rolls was completed last week. Now the laying of the pipes along the 8 km trench has begun. The rolls of pipe were transported to the trench and were be fed down the pipeline. The final welding together of the 351m pipe lengths is then done [...]
The ninth annual Stony Brook Human Evolution Workshop, “Our ancestors’ ancestors: the Miocene roots of the hominin tree” took place in Kenya, August 17 – 21, 2010. The ninth annual Stony Brook Human Evolution Workshop, “Our ancestors’ ancestors: the Miocene roots of the hominin tree” took place in Kenya, August 17 – 21, 2010. Participants [...]
The TBI Turkwel campus construction is still in progress. The sixth cottage is being fitted with doors and is being painted. The TBI Turkwel campus construction is still in progress. The sixth cottage is being fitted with doors and is being painted. A constructed wall of the big laboratory. Construction continues at TBI Turkwel and [...]
The Turkana Basin Institute is pleased to share our new TBI video channel on YouTube. The Turkana Basin Institute is pleased to share our new TBI video channel on YouTube. Our new video channel is designed to bring you interesting and educational videos of lectures, interviews, symposia, television programming and more, relating to the various [...]
In October, Richard, Meave and Louise Leakey spent time making public appearances, lecturing, and visiting with old friends and new across the United States. In October, Richard, Meave and Louise Leakey spent time making public appearances, lecturing, and visiting with old friends and new across the United States. Richard Leakey speaks at the Greenwich Public [...]
The TBI Ileret borehole is located some 8 kilometers from the camp. The water needs to be piped to the field center so that construction work can begin at the beginning of next year. This is a brief report of the work in progress from the Ileret water pipeline. The TBI Ileret borehole is located [...]
The laboratory at Turkwel now has some walls in place. Kyalo has just sent these images to me from the site. With a lot more construction to do on this building there will be several posts to follow. The laboratory at Turkwel now has some walls in place. Kyalo has just sent these images to [...]
Construction continues at Turkwel on the large laboratory. The basement slab has been laid and walls are going up. The foundations for the main part of the laboratory are being dug as the images sent this morning from the TBI Turkwel campus show. Construction continues at Turkwel on the large laboratory. The basement slab has [...]
The construction at TBI Turkwel continues and foundations are going in for the second large laboratory. The construction at TBI Turkwel continues and foundations are going in for the second large laboratory. The foundations of the second large laboratory currently under construction at TBI Turkwel. Work began on this at the beginning of August 2010, [...]
TBI postdoctoral fellow Amanuel Beyin recently received a grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation in the amount of $20,000 to conduct field research in the western Turkana Basin region this fall. TBI postdoctoral fellow Amanuel Beyin recently received a grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation in the amount of $20,000 to conduct field research in the western [...]
The Office of International Academic Programs at Stony Brook University has announced that the deadline for applying to TBI's field school program has been extended to December 15, 2010. The Office of International Academic Programs at Stony Brook University has announced that the deadline for applying to TBI's field school program has been extended to [...]
Here are a few recent aerial views of TBI Turkwel to share with you. Once the six cottages are complete, construction will begin on the second large laboratory. You can also view this post in Google Earth/Maps. Here are a few recent aerial views of TBI Turkwel to share with you. Once the six cottages [...]
The construction is ongoing at the TBI Turkwel campus. Six self contained cottages are being built, the first of which is now complete. The remainder should be finished in the next two months. Here are a few recent images. You can also view this post in Google Earth/Maps. The construction is ongoing at the TBI [...]
TBI’s second Visiting Senior Scholar, Professor Simiyu Wandibba, has enjoyed a productive semester at Stony Brook University. You can also view this post in Google Earth/Maps. TBI’s second Visiting Senior Scholar, Professor Simiyu Wandibba, has enjoyed a productive semester at Stony Brook University. Professor Simiyu Wandibba, TBI’s current Visiting Senior Scholar. Since January, Professor Wandibba, [...]