In June of 2025, I had the opportunity to join the Koobi Fora Field School, through George Washington University and went to Kenya for a six week field school. Throughout this time, we camped near our sites and went out in the field to survey and collect data daily.
Final Project Outcome
This research poster was presented at SUNY Oneonta's Summer Showcase, September 2025.
What I did
Traveling to Kenya and joining the Koobi Fora Field School meant a lot of days of travel throughout the country. We camped at each stop and attended extensive lectures from the professionals running the field school. We were introduced to concepts in Geology, Mapping, Paleoecology, Paleontology, Paleobotany, Mobility and Land-Use Patterns and more. Our days consisted of mornings of field survey looking for fossils in our desired locations, followed by lunches in the field and evenings spent working on these research projects. By the end of the 6 weeks we had completed a power-point presentation of our findings, as well as a 5 page paper.
What I learned
This poster is the final usage of the data collected in comparison to a database of collections throughout the 1970's to current(Turkana Public Database). This was my first time using R, or GIS to create graphics for my own project, I also had the opportunity to read through many journal articles that provided regional context to this experience. I will be able to present this work in the future, and continue to build upon it if I am able to go back to Kenya this upcoming summer.
