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Anthropologists study everything about being human. Their work explores our origins as a species, our present-day cultures, and how humanity will survive into the future.

Anne Stone is an anthropological geneticist who has transformed knowledge in the genetics of infectious diseases and the evolutionary history of humans and the great apes. She has published significant work on the genetics of reemerging infectious diseases, especially leprosy and tuberculosis.

Dogs were first domesticated between 29,000 and 14,000 years ago, and have been closely linked to humans ever since. Dingoes – the only native Australian dog – are thought to represent a unique event within canine evolution, having arrived in Australia 5,000–8,000 years ago.

Leakey Foundation grantee Ingrid Holzmann is studying how wild howler monkeys respond to their neighbors in order to better understand the impact of these relationships.

The Leakey Foundation seeks a part-time administrative assistant to join our San Francisco-based team. The ideal candidate is someone who values our mission and wants to be an integral part of an organization working to make a difference in the world.

Finding love in an isolated place can be tough when everyone is a familiar face, or when half the dating pool is already out because they’re all close relatives. That’s no less true for the wild baboons of Amboseli, who live in close-knit groups of 20 to 150 at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya.

Primates are among the most endangered animals on the planet, and they are key species for forest health and biodiversity. Thanks to their fruit-heavy diet, apes and monkeys are fantastic seed-dispersers that help support diverse plant and animal life in their forest habitats.

Celebrate Women’s History Month with The Leakey Foundation with these upcoming programs!

In the latest episode of Origin Stories, we talk with Evan Hadingham, senior science editor for the PBS program NOVA. His new book, Discovering Us: 50 Great Discoveries in Human Origins, highlights the thrilling fossil finds, groundbreaking primate behavior observations, and important scientific work of Leakey Foundation researchers.

See world-renowned primatologist Dr. Frans de Waal’s first public lecture on his new book Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist at The Leakey Foundation’s first hybrid event on April 5, 2022.