About TBI
The Vision
Nearly four decades of research have resulted in a good understanding of the lake basin’s geological history and the distribution and age of the extensive exposures. Thus significant research programs can be built on this knowledge. Sediments from the last 10,000 years are particularly well exposed at Turkana but to date this important phase of human evolution has been little investigated. Until recent times, a waterway directly connected the Lake Turkana Basin to the civilizations in the Upper Nile and the Sudan. It is therefore likely that excavations of the extensive Turkana Holocene sites will provide evidence of links with these cultures and may even show that the origins of the ancient Egyptian cultures came as much from Africa as from further north. The last 10,000 years are critical in disclosing these links.
Until now, research in the Turkana Basin has largely been led by Europeans and Americans who have access to substantial governmental funding. Limited access to research funds, as well as scarce research opportunities in government institutions has, until now, presented a major deterrent to Africans who wish to continue Africa-based research in paleontology and paleoanthropology. This new initiative will provide the opportunity to involve indigenous Africans as key members and leaders of the research efforts. Through private funding, they will have the ability to develop a career in this field, based in their home continent, but with strong links to academic institutions in the rest of the world. If associated with the Turkana Basin Institute, international funding (such as from the National Science Foundation) will become accessible.
In addition, this initiative will provide financial and material benefits to the local communities. At present, all the recovered fossils and artifacts are taken to a central institution in Kenya’s capital city, where local communities have minimal participation in the research activities. The creation of permanent research stations will result in the direct involvement of local people, and will generate sustainable employment opportunities as well as improved local infrastructure. These activities and benefits will increase appreciation of their natural heritage and will give a better understanding of the importance of these research activities in the international arena.
Stony Brook University has a long tradition of involvement and initiatives in human evolution. As the academic center of the Institute, Stony Brook will ensure sustainability of the Turkana Basin Institute and the future of its research programs. The Institute will provide opportunities for field training for both African and American students that will stimulate further research and educational programs being developed using the Internet.
The potential of this initiative is enormous. It will undoubtedly generate and disseminate new and unsuspected discoveries about the human past that will both astonish us and revolutionize the way we understand ourselves.
The Plan
Current field research in paleoanthropology is generally carried out by individually funded short-term expeditions that waste time, effort, and expense in setting up, closing down, and transporting equipment. The Turkana Basin Institute will establish two or three fully equipped research centers over the next nine years that will serve as bases from which researchers can operate, store equipment, and hire well-trained professional field workers on a year-round basis. The first of these centers will be constructed on the east side of the lake and will include housing for researchers and guests, dormitories for students, dining facilities, laboratories and storage facilities, classrooms, and telecommunications. A second similar center will be constructed on the west side of the lake, and eventually a third facility is planned in the Omo valley of Ethiopia to the north.
With research and laboratory facilities on site, the active survey, discovery, and collection of fossils and artifacts will increase from the current 10 weeks to as much as 10 months a year. In this way, the discoveries accruing from field research will be dramatically increased. The laboratories for storage, preparation, and curation of fossils will provide space and security for the specimens, which is increasingly lacking in larger centralized museums in Africa. A major component of the Institute will be Web-based availability of information. This will include readily accessible digital archives of the collections, field dispatches, and Web sites. The Institute will also offer educational components including online courses in many languages that can be taken for academic credit to service a variety of worldwide educational institutions. The Institute will act as an up-to-date resource for information about all aspects of human evolution.
The Leakey Team
Dr. Richard Leakey will serve as the overall project and construction manager of the Turkana Basin Institute. Dr. Meave Leakey will serve as the field director, coordinating research activities and the development of the facilities. Dr. Louise Leakey will serve as the educational programs director, and will plan, develop, and operate educational programs in the field and develop Internet-based courses.