Part of learning about the geology of the Turkana basin is to visit and examine rock exposures related to archaeological and fossil sites and how to interpret the former landscape of past life. For this next part of the field school, Dr. Feibel told of the geologic history and gave us a tour of the [...]
It might seem impossible, but one of the most important forces of nature changing the landscape in the Turkana Basin is water. The Turkana Basin environment is arid, but even today water moves sediments around, shaping the geology of the area. Many wet and dry cycles have impacted the Turkana Basin – both on annual [...]
So far in the field school we have learned all about the modern local environment and the history of life in the areas surrounding Ileret. But how do we measure this great depth of time? How can we know why and how the environments changed and the effects on the life they sustained over time? [...]
Week two of the Paleontology module was packed with field methods, a special visitor, and lots of work on student projects. We headed back out to Area 8b to learn more about Paleontological field work. After an hour of prospecting for fossil finds, we began a session on field collection methods. All sciences require some [...]
We know that the Earth is between 4-5 billion years old. Its vast life history recorded in the ground. Paleontologists use evidence of past life on Earth from fossils (of plants and animals) to understand the many changes in climates and environments that took place. Professor Mikael Fortelius arrived, and we began our lessons in Paleontology. Prof. [...]
We safely arrived at Ileret, excited to start the second half of the ecology module (don't worry, the rest of the students made it too). Kenya contains a wide variety of environments and habitats within its boundaries. At Mpala, we observed savannah and woodland environments that were very green following good amounts of [...]
On January 30th and 31st the TBI field school students were able to take part in a historically important effort across Kenya. The Great Grevy’s Rally is part of a huge attempt to help stop declining population numbers of the endangered Grevy’s Zebra (Equus grevyi). A mother and infant Grevy's zebra pose for a [...]
After learning about the primary producers (vegetation) and their primary consumers (herbivores), we moved on to discuss those animals higher up the food chain. Carnivores play crucial roles in ecological systems – they keep prey species’ populations in check, allowing for natural regenerating of grazed areas on the landscape. They also cull sick animals to [...]