While the region surrounding Lake Turkana, in northern Kenya, is far from the major cities that dominate today’s global economy, it is central to the human story. The Turkana Basin holds the world’s richest record of human prehistory, and a fossil heritage that stretches back over 100 million years, into the age of the dinosaurs. Sediments brought into the lake basin buried our own ancestors, who made Turkana their home. More recent faulting and erosion have brought this evidence of human prehistory to the surface, where it awaits discovery.
The Turkana Basin encompasses Africa’s largest desert lake, a wilderness of rugged beauty. It is populated by Kenyan and Ethiopian pastoral communities that herd livestock and live a traditional life untouched by modern conveniences.
Ancient sediments, laid down over millions of years, have preserved vignettes of the past. From them we can piece together our evolutionary story and that of the many other animals that lived alongside our ancestors.
Looking back at 40 years of work in the Turkana Basin underlines how much more can and must be done. - Dr. Richard Leakey
Opportunities for Students and Scientists
TBI funds the training of scholars with competitive two-year post-doctoral fellowships. These are of particular help to African scholars, who have limited research and funding opportunities to launch their careers. The Institute’s post-doctoral fellows have already made path-breaking discoveries.
A Commitment to Sustainable Development
TBI supports social and economic growth in this very marginal area by:
- Providing full-time jobs to more than 50 local residents who have few other employment prospects
- Purchasing food and supplies from local entrepreneurs
- Providing bursaries to local teachers to ensure that more local children get basic education
- Providing local students with scholarships for secondary education
- Improving health facilities in local clinics
