Did you know that April 8th is the anniversary of The Leakey Foundation’s first board meeting in 1968? This makes for the perfect time to launch festivities for The Leakey Foundation’s 50th anniversary!
The theme for our anniversary is Discovering Us, and we have many exciting events planned to help us celebrate the accomplishments of the past 50 years and explore the endless possibilities of the future!
The celebration is just beginning, and it won’t end until April 2019; however, we have some special events planned for this April and May that you will not want to miss!
AAPA
We are kicking things off at this year’s American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA) conference in Austin from April 11-14. This year much of the foundation’s staff will be present to get this anniversary started right.
Come visit us at our table in the exhibitor hall (Ziker 1/2/3, booth 9). Get to know the foundation and our staff, register for our daily giveaway or even take a turn in our photo booth.
We will wrap up our visit to Austin with a “birthday” party at local venue Antone’s Nightclub, hosted by Leakey Foundation trustee Spencer Wells. All AAPA meeting attendees are invited to join us at Antone’s on Friday April 13th from 8 pm to closing.
The Leakey Foundation 50th Anniversary Gala
Celebrations for our 50th anniversairy would not be complete without a party! Join us on May 3, 2018, at the beautiful St. Regis hotel in San Francisco for The Leakey Foundation’s 50th Anniversary Gala. This very special evening will feature renowned scientists, gourmet dinner with wine provided by Grgich Hills Estate, music, and a reception with a hosted bar featuring sparkling wine provided by Iron Horse Vineyards.
Proceeds from this event will help fund human origins research and outreach. This event will sell out quickly. Tables, sponsorships, and individual tickets are available now! Click here to register for what promises to be an unforgettable evening!
Speaker Series: What Makes Us Human? Lessons from the Study of Wild Chimpanzees by John Mitani
Join us at the Houston Museum of Natural Science at 6:30 pm on April 17th. In this talk, John Mitani will review findings that reveal some interesting parallels between humans and chimpanzees with respect to friendships, longevity, and cooperation. Humans form long-lasting friendships, live a very long time, and are an unusually cooperative species. Studies of the Ngogo chimpanzees indicate that the gap between them and us in these regards may be smaller than previously thought. These findings furnish new insights into chimpanzee behavior and are particularly relevant as we continue to struggle to conserve the dwindling populations of these animals. Click here for more information.
Speaker Series: Atapuerca: Crossroads of Human Evolution in Europe by María Martinón-Torres
Join us at the California Academy of Sciences at 7 pm on May 2nd. In this talk María Martinón-Torres will discuss her work tracing the origins of our closest extinct relatives, the Neanderthals. She will also share how fossils of Homo antecessor, an early human species, found at Atapuerca have shifted our understanding of the ancestry of the first Europeans. Click here for more information.
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