A collaboration between colleagues at George Washington university (GWU), Pennsylvania State University (PSU), Duke University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) will conduct a training program for 8 undergraduates in 2019, 2020, and 2021 that integrates diverse fields of archaeology, paleontology, ethnoarchaeology, and human biology in the unique setting of the Turkana Basin of northern Kenya.
Students will receive a variety of learning opportunities through online learning modules, 6 weeks of field-work based, hands-on research, and follow-up virtual and in-person workshops aimed to increase participation of underrepresented groups in STEM sciences.
Students will work alongside faculty mentors from diverse backgrounds to develop hypothesis-driven research questions associated with a variety of current field field research methodologies. The PIs of this project have developed a rich collaborative research agenda with partners from NMK and KEMRI offering dynamic and integrated field-based research opportunities ideally suited to student participation. This integrated framework incorporates students in international collaborative research and highlights the importance of interdisciplinary science for understanding and addressing the challenges facing modern communities.
Projects
1. Turkana Basin ecosystem variability and its impacts on human/hominin adaptation and health through time: How Have Changing Patterns of paleogeography(e.g., lake basin evolution) and resource availability affect human/hominid adaptation over the course of 3 million years in the Turkana Basin? The Turkana Basin provides a natural laboratory to understand human adaptation in tropical arid landscapes. A rich archaeological/ paleoecological database records major changes in human land use, technology, subsistence behavior, and paleoenvironmental conditions over a broad time scale. These include major changes in the dietary ecology of ancient communities and the appearance of stone artifact and tool-assisted carnivory in our lineage. Major trophic position changes ancient and modern communities result in specific nutritional stresses in diverse habitats. Varied subsistence strategies (e.g. hunter-fishers, pastoralist) are associated with distinct challenges for communities that inhabit Turkana Basin especially during major changes in lake level. Recent variability in precipitation predictability and frequency or severity of drought and concomitant effects on water access and animal forage are of major importance to contemporary pastoralist populations.
Access to water and food in arid eastern African habitats has likely been a critical factor shaping human behavior, health, and physiology for 3 million years. Recent research on paleoenvironments suggests that parts of the Turkana Basin have been similarly hot and dry for much of the last 2 million years. The deep sedimentary packages of the Koobi Fora (4 Ma-750 Ka) and Galana Boi (10-1 Ka) Formations provide a long-term record of changing habitats which can be studied via multiple proxies (e.g. animal community structure and phytolith reconstructions of vegetation). These different proxies allow for a deep time perspective environmental impacts on water security. Ongoing research has addressed these effects in the deep and more recent past, yet the role of water and nutrition on health and development of contemporary pastoralists in arid landscapes is relatively understudied. Expanding the focus in the Turkana Basin to include challenges facing contemporary populations and adaptive practices is particularly relevant and timely given the increasing challenges of meeting water and nutritional needs in developing economies, especially in hot, arid climates where reports of food insecurity and water insecurity are increasing.
Students in this REU will be involved in research investigating changing ecological conditions and their impacts on human adaptation. In prehistoric contexts, these investigations will primarily focus on Pleistocene changes to vegetation structure and mammalian communities. The spatial and temporal distribution of mammal taxa across modern and ancient landscapes can be used to understand ecosystem changes and heterogeneity. Certain groups of mammals, particularly ungulates, are linked to specific vegetation types. Thus, the taxonomic and functional composition of fossil faunas can be used as a proxy for vegetation cover through time. This research will also be situated within the context of long-term lake basin evolution and lake level fluctuations. To investigate these relationships amongst contemporary populations, students will work alongside US and Kenyan researchers and members of the local community. Specific investigations into the impact of environmental variables on human health will be augmented by access to long-term data on disease incidence and nutrition provided by our collaboration with KEMRI. Likewise, interviews and focus groups with pastoralists, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officials, and local NGO’s will record perceptions of recent and decade-scale changes in environmental factors (e.g. precipitation, forage quality) and its effects on livestock. Student projects will emphasize an understanding of environmental stressors for modern and ancient communities(e.g. water, and food access, ecosystem biodiversity) and change through time.
2) Human Impacts on Ecosystems Through Time: How have changes in human behavior impacted ecosystems through time? Although it is clear that human activity has altered, and continues to alter, the structure of ecosystems, creating robust connections between human activity and environmental change has been difficult. The Turkana Basin provides the unique opportunity to evaluate the connection between humans and their environment over 3million years. The movement of humans into a predatory niche clearly had consequences for ecosystem structure but our understanding of human impacts on paleo-communities is in its infancy.
Recent evidence suggests humans may have taken advantage of fire to gain access to a variety of resources and this may have had impacts on ancient ecosystems, as it does today. To study anthropogenic environmental impacts, we will investigate specific aspects of ecosystems that can be studied in ancient and modern systems: 1) Changes in human hunting practices and its impact on ecosystems; 2)The introduction of fire and its ecological consequences; 3) The introduction of different subsistence strategies (specifically agro-pastoralism) and their impact on natural resources. These specific impacts can be studied in archaeological and paleontological contexts and require the integration of multiple datasets. Changes in the way humans access animal resources will be investigated using zooarchaeological analysis. We will characterize the structure of predator-prey food webs through deep time in the Turkana Basin, to better characterize human impacts on predator and prey interactions. Interviews with local pastoralists, KWS, and natural resource officers for NGO’s will be used to assess more recent impacts on wildlife from hunting and competition from grazing. Impacts of changes in fire frequency on ancient and modern landscapes will be investigated through studies of archaeological sediments as well as changes in vegetation structure. In contemporary scenarios we will monitor landcover range quality (i.e. changing vegetation structure) through longitudinal study of historic aerial imagery. These investigations will be further supported with field classification of vegetation around abandoned Daasanach homes to study the effects of nutrient hotspots that are known to alter vegetation structure (heterogeneity) and promote positive ecological conditions for wild herbivores. We will analyze phytoliths from modern surface soils to determine the relationship between modern vegetation structure and pastoralist land use. Phytoliths can also be used in archaeological contexts to understand vegetation changes associated with the introduction of animal husbandry and regular firing of the landscape. Anthropogenic impacts on ecosystems have direct consequences for modern communities as well. Large-scale pastoralism likely modified ancient ecosystems and has impacts on modern day resources. Water quality analysis in 2017 and 2018 indicated variation in contamination of water sources in relation to the intensity of pastoral land use. Hand-dug wells are contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, which have significant health implications for disease risk, hydration, and nutrition. The onset of pastoralism may have affected water security issues in the past.
3) Movement Ecology of Turkana Basin Landscapes: How do measures of past and present movement and land use relate to how populations used the Turkana Basin landscape to meet nutritional and social needs and how have these patterns changed over time? Humans are the most physically active hominoid species, with adults in traditional societies ranging farther and working harder to procure food than any of the living ape species. Indeed, since at least the evolution of the genus Homo, over 2million years ago, the human lineage has been under selection for high levels of physical activity. These high activity levels appear to have played a critical role in the evolution of our large brains, ecological flexibility, and life history. To investigate prehistoric movement and land use patterns, we will utilize a variety of different data sources. We will investigate the anatomical consequences of changes in locomotor strategies and its consequence for the dietary requirements of humans on the ancient Turkana landscape. This will be compared with studies of stone artifacts that document patterns of ancient movement. This will take advantage of new methods to characterize assemblage diversity characteristics and site distribution through time. High levels of physical activity continue today in non-industrialized societies. Physical activity levels are under-studied in modern pastoralist societies or in arid landscapes like those in the Turkana Basin, particularly as they undergo change. To study movement ecology, we will utilize (tracking studies), interviews about mobility and land use, and GIS analysis of aerial imagery spanning several decades to investigate the distribution and density of bomas (i.e. houses and corrals) over the study area. Understanding modern land use and movement is particularly relevant and timely given the pace of economic development and lifestyle transitions in this region and the effect of decreased physical activity on health in emerging economies.
KOOBI FORA RESEARCH AND TRAINING PROGRAM
Since 2012, the George Washington University has partnered with the National Museums of Kenya to offer students on-the-ground experience in paleoanthropology at the Koobi Fora Field School (KFFS). Located on the eastern shore of Lake Turkana, Kenya, KFFS is the world’s premier field research and training program in paleoanthropology.
Over the course of the program, students earn credit through lectures, specialized laboratory exercises and one-on-one training with senior scientists on site. They explore remote and dramatic landscapes and search for evidence of hominins going back millions of years as well as detailed investigation of the biology and ecology of the modern world. Additionally, students benefit from the interaction with their international peers, which can broaden their worldview and enhance their future working relationships.
Mentors for REU Program
David R. Braun
Professor of Anthropology, The George Washington University
David R. Braun has conducted fieldwork in Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Mozambique and Guinea. His research focuses on the origins of technology in hominins and the implications for the evolution of our genus. His research incorporates a variety of excavation techniques as well as geochemical approaches
Emmanuel K. Ndiema
Senior Research Scientist and Head of Archaeology, National Museums of Kenya
Emmanuel K Ndiema is an archaeologist who has worked in the Turkana Basin for more than 19 years. His fieldwork in East Turkana has been focused on investigating human cultural responses to climatic variability during the last 10,000 years. He is particularly interested in the subsistence and land use patterns among pastoralist communities
Purity Kiura
Purity Kiura is a Senior Research Scientist and Head of the Archaeology Section in the Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya. She completed her Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Anthropology at Rutgers University, New Jersey in 2005. Her research interests have included human origins and technology as well as human subsistence and settlement patterns. In addition, she is also interested in the study of modern peoples, landscapes and environments in East Africa
Ashley Hammond
Biological Anthropology Curator, American Museum of Natural History
Ashley Hammond is a paleoanthropologist and functional morphologist who has worked in the Turkana Basin for more than 10 years. Her fieldwork in East Turkana has been focused on reconstructing Pliocene and early Pleistocene hominin evolutionary history and paleoenvironments.
Asher Rosinger
Assistant Professor of Biobehavioral Health and Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University
Asher Rosinger is a human biologist who has worked with the Daasanach pastoralist population in Northern Kenya since 2017. His field research is designed to understand how humans meet their water needs, how this relates to perception, environmental resources and water insecurity, and the resulting health, hydration and disease consequences.
Herman Pontzer
Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University
Herman Pontzer is a human evolutionary biologist who works with hunter-gatherers, pastoralists and other small-scale societies to investigate connections between lifestyle, diet, physiology and health. His work with the Koobi Fora Field School centers on biological and ecological research with the Daasanach pastoralist community in the East Turkana region.
Matthew Douglass
STEM Education Development Specialist for the Master of Applied Science Program, University of Nebraska
Matthew Douglass’s research expertise concerns the study of long-term human-environmental interaction. He characterizes human movement patterns and land-use within semi-arid landscapes. He has recently initiated a study of changing pastoralist land use in the East Turkana Basin. He coordinates the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) component of the REU program.
Maryse Biernat
Graduate Student, School of Human Evolution and Social Change and the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University
Maryse Biernat has participated in field research at Koobi Fora for five years, focusing on reconstructing and understanding changing Plio-Pleistocene mammalian communities through time.
Rahab Kinyanjui
Senior Research Scientist, Palynology and Paleobotany Section, Earth Sciences Department at the National Museums of Kenya
Rahab Kinyanjui is a palynologist and paleobotanist who has been engaged in various research projects in the Turkana Basin for more than 10 years. Her main focus is the application of phytolith studies in reconstructing vegetation during Plio-Pleistocene and Holocene environments of the east Turkana Basin.
Amanda McGrosky
Graduate Student, Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University
Amanda McGrosky is broadly interested in the influence of the environment on human and non-human primate evolution and life history. Prior to joining Koobi Fora in 2017, she worked at paleontological and bioarchaeological sites in Europe and South America.
Frances Forrest
Physical Anthropology Educator, Sackler Educational Laboratory for Comparative Genomics and Human Origins at the American Museum of Natural History
Frances Forrest’s research interests focus on reconstructing the ecology of Early Stone Age hominins in Africa by exploring the relationship among the hominins, the adjacent mammalian community and the physical environment. In particular, she is interested in the significance of meat in the diet of early members of the genus Homo and the degree to which environmental conditions may have influenced hominin access to large herbivores.
Kathryn Ranhorn
Assistant Professor, Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University
Kathryn Ranhorn has conducted fieldwork in the Turkana Basin since 2013, leading efforts to find, date and excavate Late Pleistocene archaeological sites. Her research focuses on the technological and social behaviors of early Homo sapiens, as well as community archaeology.
Program Details
The Koobi Fora Field School (KFFS) is open to undergraduate and graduate students who wish to learn the basic principles and field methods of paleoanthropology on location. Students receive hands-on introductory training in all of the major disciplines within paleoanthropology: paleontology, archaeology, geology, taphonomy and ecology.
The Koobi Fora area is protected within the Sibiloi National Park in Kenya and is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Its rich Pliocene, Pleistocene and Holocene sedimentary deposits have yielded a treasure trove of fossils and archaeological materials.
Who Can Attend
You need not be a GW student to attend KFFS. Our experts and student attendees come from a wide array of disciplines and geographical regions.
Enrollment is limited. Applicants will be screened on the basis of academic records. The George Washington University, the National Museums of Kenya and KFFS reserve the right to make any changes to this program as necessary, which may include delay and/or cancellation of this program.
Lodging: During your stay in Kenya, all food and housing expenses will be covered from the night before formal instruction begins until the night you arrive back in Nairobi (after the trip down from Koobi Fora).
Transportation: REU Fellows will have their transport covered from their home to Nairobi. All travel within Kenya will be organized by the KFRTP. We will collect you from the airport and provide transportation to the airport on the return.
Preventative vaccinations and malarial prophylaxis: The use of malaria prophylactics is required for KFFS attendees. Speak to your doctor to obtain the pills prior to traveling. Learn more about health and safety on the trip.
Equipment: Good boots, a tent, a backpack, at least two water bottles, a field notebook, sunscreen and loads of enthusiasm. A full list of recommended materials will be distributed once you have been accepted to the program.
Fellowship
Fellowship packages are available for both GW and non-GW students. The Koobi Fora Field School Fellowship Program covers airfare to Kenya as well as student expenses during the program. The fellowship also supports students’ participation in the required follow-up program in the United States. Students will receive a stipend as well during their stay in Kenya (this is a standard amount intended to insure that students that usually work during the summer are not prevented from participating).
We have developed a curriculum focused on student training that provides an opportunity for students to learn about the process of research by being a part of active research in the Koobi Fora region. This means our students are actively engaged in primary data collection. All students must be a part of an active research project and make meaningful contributions to our understanding of the geology, human biology, ecology, anthropology, or archaeology of this region.
Students who want to be considered for the fellowship program must be U.S. citizens. Students must have all of their applications materials completed by the time of the selection dates (see our KFRTP page for selection dates for each year: ). In order for a student's application to be considered they must have all applications materials completed (letter of recommendation, statement, transcript, and application materials- as outlined in the passport.gwu.edu application system) completed by the time of the selection dates.
Fellowship Application Requirements
Students must complete all requirements outlined in the Passport application system, including letter of recommendation, statement and transcript.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens who can commit to the entire Koobi Fora Field School program — online course, fieldwork and follow-up workshop. GW students interested in fellowship opportunities should contact David R. Braun as soon as possible to discuss options.
National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates
In 2019 the Koobi Fora Research and Training Program received support from the National Science Foundation to support undergraduate research with support from the Research Experience for Undergraduate Program. This award allows 8 students per year to attend our training program. We plan to include students from non-R1 institutions and a diversity of backgrounds. We look forward to training students in a wide array of fields including archaeology, geology, biological anthropology, human biology, ethnography and interdisciplinary approaches. The program will support students beginning in 2020.
The intention of this program was to provide training and support for students interested in developing skills that they will be able to use in a career in STEM sciences. The fellowship program is focused on supporting students with excellent academic backgrounds so that they can use their experience on the Koobi Fora Field School to further explore aspects of our lineage's past.