Lunch Break Science

Lunch Break Science is The Leakey Foundation’s live-streamed web series. This series features interviews and short talks with Leakey Foundation grantees about the latest in human evolution research.

Take a break from your day and feed your brain with The Leakey Foundation. New episodes stream live the first and third Thursday of every month on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and here on this page!

Watch on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube if you’d like to participate in the Q&A session.

Featured Video

Meet Leakey Foundation scientist Melissa Emery Thompson and learn about the life histories of the chimpanzees of Kanyawara region of Kibale National Park, Uganda.

Watch this new episode of Lunch Break Science live on Thursday, July 1 at 11 am Pacific, 12 pm Mountain, 1 pm Central, and 2 pm Eastern on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, or here on Leakey Foundation Live to participate in the live Q&A session with Dr. Emery Thompson.

This episode of Lunch Break Science was recorded live on July 15, 2021.

Upcoming Live Programs

Lunch Break Science #32 | Kevin Hatala
Thursday, August 5
11 am Pacific

Meet Leakey Foundation scientist Kevin Hatala and learn what 1.5 million-year-old fossil footprints tell us about our early ancestors.

Watch this new episode of Lunch Break Science live on Thursday, July 1 at 11 am Pacific, 12 pm Mountain, 1 pm Central, and 2 pm Easternon Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, or here on Leakey Foundation Live to participate in the live Q&A session with Dr. Hatala.

Summer Travel Series: Primate Research Sites
August 26, 2021
5 pm Pacific

The final program in our exclusive Summer Travel Series is on August 26th at 5 pm Pacific. You’ll be virtually transported on a whirl-wind tour of several sites that received funding through the Primate Research Fund. Dr. Jacinta Beehner takes us to the high altitude of the Ethiopian highlands where gelada monkeys live. Dr. Takeshi Furuichi takes us to the forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo where the first-ever ecological and behavioral study of bonobos was established. Dr. Jill Pruetz takes us to a mosaic environment in Senegal where we’ll see how the dry savannah environment influences chimpanzee behavior. Lastly, Dr. Caroline Schuppli takes us to the forests of Sumatra in Indonesia where Suaq orangutans are exhibiting complex behaviors, such as tool use.

All proceeds from this event series will go towards the Primate Research Fund. Registration is limited. Use the registration form below to reserve your spot. Register today!

Past Videos

Miss an episode of Lunch Break Science? Check out this playlist featuring all of our past episodes!

Lunch Break Science has featured the following Leakey Foundation grantees: Zarin Machanda, Lauren Schroeder, Chalachew Seyoum, Jenny Tung, Rachna Reddy, Hailay Reda, Daniel Lieberman, Anne Stone, Caroline Schuppli, Ainash Childebayeva, Rachel Bynoe, Meg Crofoot, Grace Davis, Catherine Markham, Christopher Gilbert, Jacinta Beehner, Isaiah Nengo, Eduardo Fernandez-Duque, Amy Lu, Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Jeremy DeSilva, Dagmawit Getahun, Naomi Cleghorn, Ashley Hammond, Kate McGrath, Nicole Thompson González, Andrea Baden, Stacey Tecot, Deming Yang, Enquye Negash, and Christpher Schimitt.

Science Through Visual Stories | Sara ElShafie Workshop

Join Sara ElShafie, a global change biologist and science storytelling consultant, to learn how to create aesthetically pleasing and informative visuals for science storytelling. “Science Through Visual Stories” is part of our career development program for Leakey Foundation grantees and the wider science community.

This online workshop will help you create better presentations, figures, photographs, footage, and any other visual media you need for your science communication endeavors. This event was recorded live on July 22, 2020.

Unravelling the Genetic Past and Present of Island Southeast Asia | Irene Gallego Romero

Leakey Foundation grantee Irene Gallego Romero discusses the presence of Denisovan DNA in present-day Papuans. She also examines the positioning of Indonesia in the global human genetics landscape.

“Unravelling the Genetic Past and Present of Island Southeast Asia” was recorded live on October 20, 2020.

Leakey Foundation grantee Daniel Lieberman discusses his latest book, Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding.

This lecture is presented by The Leakey Foundation, the Harvard Book Store, the Harvard University Division of Science, and the Cabot Science Library.

This lecture was recorded on January 5, 2021.

The Leakey Foundation’s Young Professionals Group hosts barber shop talk with two evolutionary biologists and hair enthusiasts, Tina Lasisi and Liz Tapanes. Learn more about hair from a practical perspective, from a social perspective, and from the many overlapping disciplines that have shaped how we think about hair.

This event was recorded live on January 12, 2021.

The Leakey Foundation celebrates Darwin’s birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Descent of Man. This event brings together seven world-class scholars and science communicators to explore what Darwin got right and what he got wrong about the origin, history, and biological variation of humans.

This event was recorded live on February 13, 2021.

Dr. Briana Pobiner discusses her outreach activities and research in science education, which are part of her broader science communication efforts on human evolution with various public audiences. Dr. Pobiner is the recipient of the 2021 AAPA & Leakey Foundation Communication and Outreach Award in Honor of Camilla M. Smith.

This Speaker Series on Human Origins lecture was recorded live on June 22, 2021.