BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//The Leakey Foundation - ECPv6.15.18//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:The Leakey Foundation X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://leakeyfoundation.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for The Leakey Foundation REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20230312T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20231105T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20240310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20241103T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20250309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20251102T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20230312T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20231105T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20240310T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20241103T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20250309T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20251102T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20260308T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20261101T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20270314T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20271107T090000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Chicago BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:20240310T080000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:20241103T070000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:20250309T080000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:20251102T070000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:20260308T080000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:20261101T070000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240403T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240403T200000 DTSTAMP:20260403T155421 CREATED:20240311T202702Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240615T001610Z UID:10000426-1712170800-1712174400@leakeyfoundation.org SUMMARY:Climate Control DESCRIPTION:Humans evolved in the natural world with little to no control over our environment. \n\n\n\nOver time\, humans began to find ways to adapt to varying climates by making clothing and shelter\, and\, eventually\, by controlling fire. This ultimately led to central heating and air conditioning\, but at great cost.   \n\n\n\nIn this SciCafe\, join Kevin Uno\, associate professor in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University\, for a discussion on the ways in which humanity’s need to control its own environment has led to dire impacts on global climate and where do we go from here.   \n\n\n\nPlease note\, SciCafe is intended to be a casual\, social environment. Seating is not guaranteed.   \n\n\n\nASL interpretation will be provided for this program.   \n\n\n\nNote: SciCafe is 21+ and free with RSVP. This event is an in-person lecture in New York. Sign up for our events newsletter for an update when the recording is available. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr. Kevin Uno is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He is a paleoecologist whose primary research focuses on the role of climate and environmental change on mammalian and human evolution. He has led or co-authored a series of papers that linked dietary changes in mammals and hominins to late Neogene vegetation change. Since 2013\, he has focused on the development and application of molecular biomarker analyses on terrestrial and marine sediments to reconstruct ecosystem structure\, hydroclimate\, and fire in ancient environments. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis program is presented in collaboration with the American Museum of Natural History. \n\n\n\nSponsored by:The Ann and Gordon Getty FoundationCamilla and George SmithThe Joan and Arnold Travis Education Fund URL:https://leakeyfoundation.org/event/climate-control/ LOCATION:American Museum of Natural History\, 56 West 81st St.\, New York\, NY\, 10024\, United States CATEGORIES:Speaker Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://leakeyfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/climate-control-amnh-2024-thumbnail.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240914T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240914T113000 DTSTAMP:20260403T155421 CREATED:20240615T010315Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240914T025612Z UID:10000430-1726308000-1726313400@leakeyfoundation.org SUMMARY:Lucy and the Taung Child: A Century of Science DESCRIPTION:A century ago\, a small skull discovered at a South African quarry challenged what we thought we knew about human origins. Fifty years later\, the discovery of Lucy in Ethiopia further transformed our understanding of how we became human.  \n\n\n\nJoin experts from Ethiopia\, South Africa\, and North America for a free online event that examines a hundred years of challenges and progress in paleoanthropology. \n\n\n\nThe speakers will explore the historical context and lasting significance of the Lucy and Taung Child discoveries. They will discuss what these fossils meant at the time and how they impacted the African scientific community. Looking to the future\, they will address the vital need for funding African scholars and strengthening African scientific collaboration. \n\n\n\nThis program is presented in partnership with the Institute of Human Origins (IHO) and the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST). It is made possible by generous support from Camilla and George Smith\, the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation\, and the Joan and Arnold Travis Education Fund. \n\n\n\nRegister for free\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nModerator and speaker bios\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nProgram Moderator \n\n\n\nDr. Lauren Schroeder is a paleoanthropologist who studies how hominin skulls and jaws have changed and evolved over time. She is an associate professor at the University of Toronto Mississauga.  \n\n\n\nDr. Shroeder is a Leakey Foundation grantee and Baldwin Fellow from South Africa who earned her PhD at the University of Cape Town. She has been involved in both the Malapa (Australopithecus sediba) and Rising Star (Homo naledi) projects as part of the research team studying the fossil hominin discoveries from these sites. Her current research includes collaborative projects on the evolution\, integration\, and variability of the primate skeleton. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr. Yohannes Haile-Selassie is Virginia M. Ullman Professor of Natural History and the Environment in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change and Director of the Institute of Human Origins at ASU. He is a multiple-time Leakey Foundation grantee who has made numerous important fossil discoveries\, including the “cranium of a 3.8-million-year-old Australopithecus anamensis. Dr. Haile-Selassie leads an international multidisciplinary team that conducts fieldwork in the Afar Region of Ethiopia\, 30 miles north of Hadar\, where the Lucy fossil was discovered. His research interest is understanding the paleobiology and paleoecology of early human ancestors based on the fossil record. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr. Dipuo Kgotleng is Director of the Palaeo-Research Institute at the University of Johannesburg\, which she helped establish. Dr. Kgotleng has vast experience in South Africa’s heritage policy development and management. When Taung Skull World Heritage Site and Vredefort Dome World Heritage were inscribed into the World Heritage Register in 2005\, she was appointed as the first archaeologist for both sites. She was the lead project manager for the establishment of South Africa’s Strategy for the Palaeosciences which is the blueprint for for the management of the discipline in South Africa. She is also a champion for the transformation of the palaeosciences and was one of the first people to call for a transformation charter in archaeology in South Africa.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr. Denise Su is an associate professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change and research associate in the Institute of Human Origins. She joins ASU from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History where she was chief academic engagement officer and curator\, integrating research with public outreach and education and leading initiatives to increase access to and diversify participation in science. Her research focuses on the paleoecology of early hominins and explores environments in which our early ancestors lived in order to provide insight into how environmental factors shaped the trajectory of hominin evolution. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr. Mirriam Tawane is a core business executive for the National Heritage Council of South Africa. She is a paleoanthropologist who earned her PhD at the University of the Witwatersrand. \n\n\n\nDr. Tawane served as curator of Plio-Pleistocene paleontology at the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History. She has been involved in science outreach for the past ten years\, participating in projects to teach learners and the general community about their heritage with respect to paleosciences\, including Heritage Day celebrations at Taung\, where the famous Taung Child was found. URL:https://leakeyfoundation.org/event/lucy-and-the-taung-child-a-century-of-science/ LOCATION:https://leakeyfoundation.org/event/lucy-and-the-taung-child-a-century-of-science/ CATEGORIES:Speaker Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://leakeyfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024-square-featured-image-century-of-science-witz-credit.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241021T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241021T193000 DTSTAMP:20260403T155421 CREATED:20240622T003340Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250124T224323Z UID:10000553-1729535400-1729539000@leakeyfoundation.org SUMMARY:Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas DESCRIPTION:Houston Museum of Natural ScienceHouston\, Texas \n\n\n\n\n\nHow—and when—did people first come to the American continents? As researchers have worked to construct and test new models for the initial peopling of the Americas\, they have increasingly incorporated ancient DNA evidence\, which reveals a complex story of migrations\, isolation\, and adaptation. \n\n\n\nIn this talk\, geneticist and bestselling author Jennifer Raff examines the strengths and weaknesses of these different models\, paying special attention to findings that have emerged within the last two years. We will root our discussion in the context of the history of the discipline of anthropology: its colonial origins\, and current challenges\, and discuss ways to confront the legacy of harm it has caused Indigenous peoples. \n\n\n\nThis talk is presented in partnership with the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The lecture is eligible for CPE credits. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the speaker\n\n\n\nDr. Jennifer Raff is an anthropological geneticist and science writer. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the book Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas. Dr. Raff is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Kansas with a dual PhD in anthropology and genetics and over fourteen years of experience in researching ancient and modern human DNA from the Americas. She works with tribes and communities across North America to use ancient and contemporary genomes as tools for investigating historical questions. Her research focuses on the initial peopling of the Americas as well as more recent histories in the North American Arctic and mid-continent. \n\n\n\n\n\nSponsors\n\n\n\nThis lecture is generously sponsored by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation\, Camilla and George Smith\, and the Joan and Arnold Travis Education Fund. URL:https://leakeyfoundation.org/event/origin-a-genetic-history-of-the-americas/ LOCATION:CA CATEGORIES:Speaker Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://leakeyfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/bison-square-1080.webp END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250305T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250305T200000 DTSTAMP:20260403T155421 CREATED:20250124T233842Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250303T222445Z UID:10000557-1741201200-1741204800@leakeyfoundation.org SUMMARY:SciCafe: Why Humans Are Unremarkable DESCRIPTION:Location: American Museum of Natural HistoryNew York\, NYTickets: Free | Ages 21+ \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFrom an evolutionary perspective\, modern human bodies are surprisingly unremarkable compared to other species. But what does that really mean? \n\n\n\nIn this SciCafe\, Habiba Chirchir\, Leakey Foundation grantee and assistant professor of anthropology at The Ohio State University\, will explore the evolution of the “gracile\,” or “slender-boned”\, skeletons that characterize modern humans. \n\n\n\nDrawing on her research on the relationship between skeletal structure and behavior\, Chirchir examines evidence from the human fossil record\, contemporary populations\, and intriguing comparisons among closely related species\, such as wolves versus domesticated dogs\, arguing that humans have “domesticated” ourselves––and revealing the profound ways our biology and behavior have evolved. \n\n\n\nNote: SciCafe is 21+ and free with RSVP. This event is an in-person lecture in New York. Sign up for our events newsletter for an update when the recording is available. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the speaker\n\n\n\nDr. Habiba Chirchir is a biological anthropologist and anatomist at The Ohio University. She’s a Leakey Foundation grantee and Baldwin Fellow whose research focuses on understanding the relationship between skeletal anatomy and behavior. She studies the evolution of modern human skeletal anatomy and how we evolved anatomical features that distinguish us from our ancestors. She also looks at the features we have in common with other mammals with whom we share certain behavioral traits.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nResources to learn more  \n\n\n\nQuick picks:  \n\n\n\nGracilization of the modern human skeleton \n\n\n\nDr. Chirchir’s Skeletal Anatomy Lab \n\n\n\nBig bite: \n\n\n\nLunch Break Science: Behavior and Morphology  \n\n\n\nHow Humans Domesticated Themselves \n\n\n\nDeep dives: \n\n\n\nGracialization of the Modern Human Skeleton \n\n\n\nRecent Origin of Low Trabecular Bone Density in Modern Humans \n\n\n\n\n\nSponsors\n\n\n\nThis lecture is in partnership with the American Museum of Natural History and is generously sponsored by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation\, Camilla and George Smith\, and the Joan and Arnold Travis Education Fund. URL:https://leakeyfoundation.org/event/scicafe-why-humans-are-unremarkable/ LOCATION:American Museum of Natural History\, 56 West 81st St.\, New York\, NY\, 10024\, United States CATEGORIES:Speaker Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://leakeyfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/human-origins-hall-2460-1384_wideexact_800-1-e1737763084330.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20250531T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20250531T150000 DTSTAMP:20260403T155421 CREATED:20250502T164256Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250529T200637Z UID:10000561-1748700000-1748703600@leakeyfoundation.org SUMMARY:First Stories: The Ice Age Art of Sulawesi DESCRIPTION:Location: The Field MuseumChicago\, ILTickets: Free | Registration required \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIce Age Art of Sulawesi\n\n\n\nA 44\,000-year-old hunting scene painted on a cave wall in Sulawesi.\n\n\n\nHear about the discovery of the oldest cave art in the world! \n\n\n\nIn the 1950s\, the discovery of prehistoric rock art was reported for the first time on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. These images were found in limestone caves in the karst hills of Maros-Pangkep. At the time\, it was believed this art had been left by early Neolithic farmers\, making them about 4\,000 years old. However\, in 2014\, an Australian-Indonesian team dated the Maros-Pangkep art for the first time using a uranium-series analysis of natural mineral coatings that had formed on some of the images. \n\n\n\nThe earliest dated image yielded a minimum age of 40\,000 years\, making it compatible with cave art in Spain\, the oldest known art in the world at the time. The Sulawesi art challenged the long-accepted story that the birthplace of human art and culture had been in Europe. \n\n\n\nThe earliest painting\, with a minimum age of 51\,200 years\, is a scene portraying human-like figures interacting with a pig. It is the oldest cave art attributed to humans and the earliest known examples of visual storytelling in the world\, providing crucial insights into the development of human cognition. \n\n\n\nRegister to attend in person or online\n\n\n\nYou can attend this free event at the Field Museum in Chicago or online. Registration is required. Click here to register for in-person or online attendance. Registered attendees get free admission to the Field Museum! \n\n\n\nParking may be impacted by a nearby event. We encourage taking a taxi or public transportation. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the speaker\n\n\n\nAdam Brumm is a professor of archaeology at Griffith University in Queensland\, Australia. His contributions to the field span 21 years of research in Indonesia\, including extensive fieldwork on Flores and Sulawesi\, two islands that loom large in our understanding of early humans. In Flores\, his team unearthed fossils of archaic hominins that are the oldest found on the island and seem to represent a form ancestral to the celebrated ‘Hobbit’ (Homo floresiensis). In Sulawesi\, his discoveries\, with numerous colleagues\, of a series of ‘ice age’ cave paintings were deemed to be among the top 10 scientific breakthroughs of the year on two occasions (2014 and 2019) by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Brumm completed his PhD at the Australian National University in 2007 and has since held several postdoctoral research fellowships\, including at the University of Cambridge. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nResources to learn more  \n\n\n\nQuick picks:  \n\n\n\nFound in a cave in Indonesia\, we can now show the world’s oldest figurative art is 51\,200 years old \n\n\n\nGoogle Arts and Culture virtual tour of the Indonesian cave art site \n\n\n\nDig deeper: \n\n\n\nOrigin Stories: The First Story \n\n\n\n\n\nSponsors\n\n\n\nThis lecture is in partnership with the Field Museum and Chicago Council on Science and Technology and is generously sponsored by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation\, Camilla and George Smith\, and the Joan and Arnold Travis Education Fund. URL:https://leakeyfoundation.org/event/first-stories-the-ice-age-art-of-sulawesi/ LOCATION:Field Museum\, 1400 S DuSable Lake Shore Dr.\, Chicago\, Illinois\, 60605\, United States CATEGORIES:Speaker Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://leakeyfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/sulawesi-cave-painting-e1747691078168.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251103T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251103T193000 DTSTAMP:20260403T155421 CREATED:20251003T231416Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251031T183323Z UID:10000567-1762194600-1762198200@leakeyfoundation.org SUMMARY:Apes on the Edge DESCRIPTION:Houston Museum of Natural ScienceHouston\, Texas$18 general admission\, $12 for members (use code Leakey for your discounted ticket) \n\n\n\n\nGet your ticket\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSenegal’s Fongoli chimpanzees live in one of the world’s harshest savanna environments\, where temperatures soar above 110 degrees Fahrenheit and wildfires sweep across the landscape during the dry season. \n\n\n\nThe Fongoli chimpanzees are unique for many reasons. Their female hunters are the only chimpanzees that regularly hunt with tools\, and unlike most other chimps\, these apes fear neither fire nor water\, using shallow pools to cool off in the extreme heat. \n\n\n\nThe study of Fongoli chimps is as unique as the chimps themselves. While most primate research occurs in isolated reserves\, Fongoli chimpanzees live near humans\, creating both challenges and opportunities in this shared habitat. \n\n\n\nJoin primatologist Dr. Jill Pruetz as she shares discoveries from her extensive field research\, exploring the unique characteristics of these chimpanzees and the dynamics between them and the people they live alongside. \n\n\n\nLecture and book signing\n\n\n\nDrawing from her recently published book\, Apes on the Edge\, Dr. Pruetz explores the extraordinary adaptations and behaviors that set the Fongoli chimpanzees apart from the forest-dwelling chimpanzees known from other regions of Africa\, underscoring the importance of protecting these remarkable apes and their fragile habitat. \n\n\n\nDr. Pruetz’s book will be available for purchase at the event\, and she will sign copies following the program. \n\n\n\nDr. Jill Pruetz in the field. Suzanne Livingstone\n\n\n\nAbout Jill Pruetz\n\n\n\nDr. Jill Pruetz has been the Principal Investigator of the Fongoli Savanna Chimpanzee Project in Senegal since 2001. Dr. Pruetz is Regents’ Professor of Anthropology at Texas State University and a multiple-time Leakey Foundation grantee. Her research focuses on the environmental pressures that influence ape behavior and how the behavior of savanna-living chimpanzees differs from that of chimpanzees living in forested environments. She uses these findings to inform knowledge of early hominin behavioral ecology. \n\n\n\nShe is the founder of Neighbor Ape\, a nonprofit organization working to conserve chimpanzees in Senegal and provide for the well-being of the people who live alongside them. Dr. Pruetz has studied primates in Kenya\, Nicaragua\, Panama\, Costa Rica and Peru\, as well as Senegal. \n\n\n\nSponsors\n\n\n\nThis lecture is eligible for CPE credits and is presented in partnership with the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Leakey Foundation lectures are generously sponsored by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation\, Camilla and George Smith\, and the Joan and Arnold Travis Education Fund. \n\n\n\n\nGet your ticket\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWant to catch the next Leakey Lecture online or in your city? Sign up for our events newsletter!\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGet Updates\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Enter your name here\n *\n \n \n \n Enter your name here \n\n \n \n \n Enter your name here \n\n \n \n \n Enter your name here \n\n \n \n\n\n \n \n\n\n Enter your email here\n *\n \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nSubscribe\n\n\n\n \n \n \n If you are human\, leave this field blank. \n \n \n \n\n\n\nΔ URL:https://leakeyfoundation.org/event/apes-on-the-edge/ LOCATION:The Houston Museum of Natural Science\, 5555 Hermann Park Drive\, Houston\, TX\, 77030\, United States CATEGORIES:Speaker Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://leakeyfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Picture1.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260428T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260428T200000 DTSTAMP:20260403T155421 CREATED:20260327T233019Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260401T170848Z UID:10000568-1777402800-1777406400@leakeyfoundation.org SUMMARY:Fossils\, Ecology\, and Human Evolution DESCRIPTION:Tusher African HallCalifornia Academy of Sciences \n\n\n\n$25 General admission$20 Cal Academy and Leakey Foundation membersAcademy members and donors\, please log in after adding tickets to your cart to receive your discount. \n\n\n\n\nGet your Tickets\n\n\n\n\nIn the remote Turkana Basin in northern Kenya\, bone fragments and fossil footprints preserve stories stretching back millions of years. Dr. Kay Behrensmeyer brings these stories to life\, showing how scientists piece together ancient ecological settings and animal behavior from what remains after death. \n\n\n\nHer work reveals how climate\, landscape\, and living communities affect both species adaptations and the fate of their remains. Through these deep-time insights\, we’ll explore how the forces that shaped the past influence our world today and into the future. \n\n\n\nAbout Kay Behrensmeyer\n\n\n\nKay Behrensmeyer\, Curator\, Department of Paleobiology\, National Museum of Natural History\, Smithsonian Institution.\n\n\n\nAnna K. (“Kay”) Behrensmeyer is a Leakey Foundation grantee and recipient of the 2024 Gordon P. Getty Award. She has worked in the Department of Paleobiology at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History since 1981; she has been a Senior Scientist there since 2009. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011\, a Member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2020\, and a Member of the American Philosophical Society in 2021. \n\n\n\nBehrensmeyer is a ‘big-picture’ scientist with an over-arching interest in the evolution of terrestrial ecosystems—which in lay terms means understanding how animals interacted with their environment\, and with each other\, in deep time. \n\n\n\nBehrensmeyer has undertaken fieldwork at various paleontological sites in the East African Rift Valley System\, but her longest and best-known involvement is with research on the east side of Lake Turkana where she discovered what\, at the time\, was the earliest evidence for the manufacture of stone tools by early hominins. \n\n\n\nSponsors\n\n\n\nThis lecture is presented in partnership with the California Academy of Sciences. \n\n\n\nThis lecture is made possible by the generous support of the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation\, Camilla and George Smith\, and the Joan and Arnold Travis Education Fund. \n\n\n\nAcademy members and donors\, please log in after adding tickets to your cart to receive your discount. URL:https://leakeyfoundation.org/event/fossils-ecology-and-human-evolution/ LOCATION:California Academy of Sciences\, 55 Music Concourse Dr 94118\, San Francisco\, CA\, 94118\, United States CATEGORIES:Speaker Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://leakeyfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/nl_2661x1774_sayswho_african-hall-panel-dsc08635_nr_cas_230630.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR