Turkana Basin Institute Celebrates Two Decades

November 7, 2025

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By Jess Stallone

The Turkana Basin Institute (TBI), in partnership with Stony Brook University, celebrated its 20th anniversary with a special conference titled TBI@20: Two Decades of Daring to Dig Deeper. The event, held at the Wang Theater on October 22, highlighted the institute’s two decades of paleosciences research in northern Kenya.

Founded in 2005, TBI is an international research institute that operates two field stations situated on opposing sides of Lake Turkana, which collectively facilitate year-round scientific research and educational opportunities.

An indoor archaeological workspace featuring wooden tables with fossilized bones arranged in trays. A researcher is shown in the background, working on a project in a room with large windows.

Fossil preparation laboratory at the Turkana Basin Institute

Since its founding, TBI has served as a beacon for international scientific research, particularly in the areas of human origins and evolution. As noted by Richard Leakey, the world-renowned paleoanthropologist and founder of TBI who passed away in January 2022 at age 77, “TBI represents a platform for unlocking the clues of human beginnings by attracting the best scientific minds from around the world.”

The conference featured a day of talks, panels, roundtable discussions and student presentations. Attendees heard from distinguished keynote speakers, including renowned entomologist Dino Martins and paleoanthropologist Louise Leakey, Richard’s daughter and third-generation Kenyan paleoanthropologist.

“What began in 2005 as a dream for two field centers supporting the paleosciences in northern Kenya has grown into a reality – one that is transforming scientific discovery in northern Kenya and creating lasting opportunities for local communities,” said Louise Leakey.

This past January, an exciting partnership brought 16 Stony Brook University Simons STEM Scholars — a highly-competitive high school program funded by the Simon Foundation — to TBI where the students engaged in a field excursion, allowing students to connect academic learning directly to the environment and the communities in northern Kenya that depend on it. A larger group of scholars will be going in January 2026.

The conference underscored the importance of training future researchers. Erwin Cabrera, executive director of the Simons STEM Scholars Program, spoke directly to the impact on students, “The TBI environment is a hands-on research opportunity where our Simons STEM Scholars connect classroom knowledge with real-world discovery. This immersive model is invaluable for training scientific leaders who will shape the future of human health and environmental understanding for generations to come.”

The conference was partially funded through the Research Conference Workshop Seed Grant Program and organized in collaboration with the Department of Research and Innovation.

Learn more about the latest discoveries announced at the Conference by visiting gosbu.co/tbi20.

A look back at the Turkana Basin Institute.

Four researchers examining skeletal remains on a table at an archaeological site. The group includes two women and two men, engaged in discussions, with tools and materials in the background.

A man wearing a gray hat and a plaid shirt interacts with a group of children in a rural setting, with trees in the background. The children show excitement and joy during the interaction.

Three people carefully excavating a dinosaur fossil in a sandy area, using tools to brush away dirt. The setting is well-lit with natural sunlight, highlighting the fossil's features.

Two individuals outdoors on rocky terrain, one is kneeling and assisting the other, who is seated. Both are dressed in casual, light clothing suitable for warm weather. Sparse vegetation and a distant landscape are visible in the background.