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Meave Leakey Meave Leakey Paleoanthropologist Paleontologist and zoologist Meave Leakey is a prominent member of the famed Leakey family of paleoanthropologists who have dominated their field for over a century. Her life-long search for clues about our past has led her to every corner of the remote, windswept semi-deserts of Kenya’s Lake Turkana Basin. In 2013, the National Academy of Science elected her a Foreign Associate. Over the last four decades, the Koobi Fora Research Project, which she co-directs with her eldest daughter Louise, has unearthed much of the evidence behind our current understanding of our past. Dr. Leakey is focused on the origins of our own genus, Homo, and the emergence of Homo erectus, the first human ancestor to move out of Africa. Her research focuses on the sites around Lake Turkana, which are between 8 and 3 million years old. In 1999, 2000, and again in 2007 the project made sensational new discoveries of early Homo that indicate Ausralopithecus afarensis (also known as the skeleton named “Lucy”) might not be the only species from which the human race descended. National Geographic remarked that Dr. Leakey's findings “challenge the straight-line story of human evolution.” The announcement of these discoveries was featured in Nature and The New York Times. In August 2012 Dr. Leakey and Louise announced the discovery of 3 new fossils that indicate there were more extinct human species than previously thought. Dr. Leakey is a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence in recognition of the 50-year relationship between “the National Geographic Society and the Leakey family dynasty of pioneering fossil hunters.” She is also a Research Professor at Stony Brook University and was the head of the division of paleontology at the National Museums of Kenya for over 30 years. Alongside husband Richard and daughter Louise, she appeared in the National Geographic film, Bones of Turkana. A masterful storyteller, Dr. Leakey conveys the importance of studying our origins in the context of the modern world with vivid images, real-life stories and provocative questions. “We are one species that originated in Africa,” says Dr. Leakey, “If we can understand our past, we can better understand our future." ...Dr. Leakey was fantastic! We sold out the event and the talk was amazing. I was especially touched by the number of young women who approached you after your lecture. You certainly are an inspiration for all young people considering future careers in science Ontario Science Center Royce Carlton. Inc.866 United Nations Piaza New York NY 10017-1880 1.800. LECTURE 212.355.7700 fax 212.888.8659. email:[email protected] website: www.roycecarlton.com Meave Leakey Suggested Topics The Search & Discovery of Our Earliest Ancestors My Life in Science: An Evening with Meave Leakey Emerging Humans: Are We Really Different? Human Development & the Brain: Why Are We Born Dependent? Royce Carlton. Inc.866 United Nations Piaza New York NY 10017-1880 1.800. LECTURE 212.355.7700 fax 212.888.8659. email:[email protected] website: www.roycecarlton.com Meave Leakey Books and Other Works Ancestral Passions: The Leakey Family and the Quest for Humankind's Beginnings Published 1996 The Leakey family and their quest for human origins is revealed in a survey of the family and their involvements. There are plenty of titles which revolve around their discoveries and research: now enjoy a healthy dose of biographical detail which includes insights on how personalities can influence the course of scientific investigation. Royce Carlton. Inc.866 United Nations Piaza New York NY 10017-1880 1.800. LECTURE 212.355.7700 fax 212.888.8659. email:[email protected] website: www.roycecarlton.com Meave Leakey Biography Meave Leakey obtained her B.S. and Ph.D. from the University of North Wales. First interested in following a career in marine zoology, Meave initially undertook a joint-honors in Zoology and Marine Zoology. However, her career would soon take another path. In 1965, while studying for her Ph.D., she took a position at the Tigoni Primate Research Centre, a small facility under the auspices of Louis Leakey and located just outside of Nairobi. In 1968, she finished her Ph.D. and a year later was invited by Richard Leakey to join his field expedition investigating the newly discovered palaeontological site at Koobi Fora on the eastern shore of Kenya’s Lake Turkana. This would mark the beginning of her long-term involvement with the highly successful Turkana Basin Koobi Fora Research Project, which she now heads. In 1970, Meave and Richard Leakey were married. They have two children: Louise, born in 1972, and Samira, born in 1974. In addition to her field work at Turkana, Meave’s research has focused on the evolution of East African fossil mammals and mammalian faunas as documented in the Turkana Basin. Her special interests include monkeys, apes and hominids. The richly fossiliferous Turkana Basin sites cover a time interval dating from 27 Ma until the recent past. In 1989, Richard Leakey left his job as Director of the National Museum to take over management of Kenya’s wildlife, and Meave became the coordinator of the palaeontological field research in the Turkana Basin. She initially focused her field research at Turkana on finding evidence of the very earliest human ancestors, concentrating on sites between eight and four million-years-old. Currently the field project, which is co-directed by Meave and her daughter Louise, is searching for clues about the origins of our own genus Homo and the emergence of Homo erectus, the first human ancestor to move out of Africa. In 1994, remains of some of the earliest hominids known were discovered at Kanapoi, a 4.1 Ma site to the south west of the present lake. Not only do these finds represent a new species — Australopithecus anamensis, (a likely ancestor to Australopithecus afarensis, the earliest hominid species previously recognized), but these finds also provide the earliest secure evidence of bipedality. In 1999, Dr. Leakey’s research team found a 3.5 million-year-old skull and partial jaw said to belong to a new branch of our early human family. Dr. Leakey named the new genus Kenyanthropus platyops, or flat-faced man of Kenya. This amazing discovery, announced in the journal Nature, has profound implications in understanding the origins of mankind. In its front page story on March 22, 2001, The New York Times wrote that the discovery “threatens to overturn the prevailing view that a single line of descent stretched through the Royce Carlton. Inc.866 United Nations Piaza New York NY 10017-1880 1.800. LECTURE 212.355.7700 fax 212.888.8659. email:[email protected] website: www.roycecarlton.com Meave Leakey early stages of human ancestry.” Meave has worked at the National Museums of Kenya since 1969 and was head of the division of paleontology from 1982 to 2001. She now continues her research as a Research Affiliate of the National Museums. Meave is also a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence in recognition of the 50-year relationship between “the National Geographic Society and the Leakey family dynasty of pioneering fossil hunters.” In addition to her work in Kenya, she is currently a Research Professor at Stony Brook University. Royce Carlton. Inc.866 United Nations Piaza New York NY 10017-1880 1.800. LECTURE 212.355.7700 fax 212.888.8659. email:[email protected] website: www.roycecarlton.com .
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