STONY BROOK, NY–Frederick Kyalo Manthi, Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Scholar-in-Residence at the Turkana Basin Institute, recently received an award to attend and present a paper at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP).
The award enabled Dr. Manthi to travel to Brisol, U.K., to attend the Society’s annual meeting and present his paper, "The taphonomy of two microfaunal fossil assemblages from northwestern Kenya."
Made available for the first time this year, the Program for Scientists from Economically Developing Nations was established to offer annual awards to promote opportunities for international scientists who are otherwise unable to attend the annual meeting of the SVP. The award provides travel expenses to enable the recipient to present research in any area of vertebrate paleontology at the annual meeting.
In addition to his appointments at Stony Brook and the Turkana Basin Institute, Dr. Manthi is a Senior Research Scientist at the National Museums of Kenya, where he conducts paleontological field research in various parts of the country. He is also Chair of the Prehistory Club of Kenya.
In 2000, Manthi, then a graduate student working as part of Dr. Meave Leakey’s team on the east side of Lake Turkana near Ileret in northern Kenya, discovered a Homo erectus cranium, notable both for its excellent preservation and its small size relative to other known erectus crania.
