U.S.-Kenya IRES: Origins of Human Adaptability

University Of Alabama At Birmingham, Birmingham AL

Investigators

Abstract

Technical Description This U.S.-Kenya International Research Experience for Students (IRES): Origins of Human Adaptability builds on the success of the Koobi Fora Research and Training Program (KFRTP) and will develop a new framework for integrated training and research in anthropology, archaeology, geology, anatomy, and paleobiology. The evidence for our species? recent evolutionary history is of unquestionable social and scientific importance; however, despite a wealth of fossil, archeological, molecular, and paleoecological data, issues as basic as the evolution of the key modern human behaviors and the effects of environmental change on human evolution, and vice versa, remain poorly understood. This can be attributed to so few students being trained in the range of analytical, experimental and conceptual skills now available for testing evolutionary hypotheses in an atmosphere that emphasizes collaborative research. This IRES project will offer US students an opportunity to gain research experience investigating the adaptations of hominin species that existed in Koobi Fora between 2 and 1.4 million years ago, a time period of major climatic changes that marked the most dramatic transitions in the anatomy, biology, and behavior of our lineage. The ultimate goal of this research is to generate fossil and archaeological data from Koobi Fora to evaluate the hypothesis: Changes in the biology and behaviors of hominin populations during the Early Pleistocene mark the evolution of distinctive characteristics that separated our lineage from other hominins and provided the framework for the origin of our species. Testing this hypothesis will form the basis of interdisciplinary training. This IRES project will recruit at least 21 US undergraduate and graduate students nationwide - focusing on students underrepresented in STEM fields - and will embed each student in teams conducting cutting-edge research on the origins of human adaptability within the context of major climate changes. Training activities will take place in stages (Preparation, Fieldwork, and a Project Completion Workshop) that extend over three semesters and will continue afterwards via presentations and publications. Each student will: 1) generate new knowledge by designing and conducting an original research project with leading international scholars in the archaeological and paleontological deposits of the Koobi Fora Formation in northern Kenya, 2) collect and analyze data using state-of-the-art methods, 3) synthesize and present their findings at follow-up workshops and professional development seminars in the U.S., and 4) engage in training on the public understanding of science with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (Washington, DC) and the Mc Wane Science Center (Birmingham, Alabama). Broader Description This project offers a number of measurable impacts, including fostering interdisciplinary and international collaboration, publicly disseminating the students' research findings, and training and inspiring the best and brightest US students - especially underrepresented minorities - to pursue careers in science. Biological Anthropology and Archaeology are uniquely situated as interdisciplinary 'gateway' fields, and this project intends to recruit students who would otherwise have little exposure to STEM research and collaborative, interdisciplinary projects with scholars in the traditional STEM fields. Impacts of the project include: 1) training three cohorts of students from diverse backgrounds in a manner that exposes them to interdisciplinary collaboration on an international level; 2) expanding the collaborative networks between scientists at several African (National Museums of Kenya, Witwatersrand U), European (Oxford U; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology), and American institutions (George Washington U, U Alabama, Birmingham); 3) strengthening connections between these US institutions, Birmingham's Mc Wane Science Center, and the Smithsonian museum; and 4) creating datasets, peer-reviewed publications, and public presentations that will enhance student training and promote public understanding of science.