People & Affiliations

Collaborative projects with other institutions, with researchers both local and foreign are integral to the success of the research. Collaborations with scientists investigating other sites in sub-saharan Africa are important for comparisons with evidence from elsewhere. The collaborations will continue to be developed. These projects are important in facilitating comparative studies and also in providing important training opportunities for students.

Colleagues from other institutions:

Dr. Ian McDougall
Australia National University

Dr. Frank Brown
Dr. Thure Cerling
University of Utah

Dr. Fred Spoor
University College London

Dr. Nina Jablonski
California Academy of Sciences

Dr. George Chaplin
GIS project advisor

Drs. Rene Bobe
Smithsonian Institution

Kay Behrensmeyer
The Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems Program (ETE)

Dr. John Harris
Los Angeles County Museum

Dr. Craig Feibel
Rutgers University

Dr. Susan Anton
New York University

Dr. Friedemann Schrenk
Forschungsinstitut Senkenberg

Josephine Joordens
Free University Amsterdam

Dr. Matthias Glaubrecht
Humboldt University, Berlin

Dr. Lars Werdelin
Swedish Museum of Natural History

Fredrick Kyalo Manthi – microfauna from Kanapoi
Cape Town University, South Africa

Kenyan scientists

Anthony Macharia
California State University

Nasser Malit
Binghamton, State University of New York

Francis Kirera
University of Arkansas

Patrick Gathogo
University of Utah

Maina Gachaga
BSc graduate from the University of Nairobi is further developing the GIS component of the Turkana Basin research.

Field crew

With out the field crew nothing would be found. It is their keen eyes and skill in finding small fragments of fossil on the surface, their ability to recognise a fragment of pig tooth from an antelope tooth, a carnivore toe bone from that of a hominid or a piece of skull the size of a bottle top that result in the spectacular finds. Each day we are in the field the crew go out into the fossil exposures and walk slowly over the surface looking for anything that might be eroding out of the slopes. Some of the field crew are from the west side of Turkana, some from the east and others are the relations of the previous generation who worked at Turkana in the 1970’s. The field operation also includes a full time mechanic, a cook and camp crew.