The Leakey Foundation

The Leakey Foundation

@leakeyfoundation.org

We're a nonprofit on a mission to explore and explain the human story. We're here to make friends and talk about science.

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The Leakey Foundation
@leakeyfoundation.org

A fire rescue division chief shares how understanding human origins made her a better leader. How has your interest in human origins changed your perspective? We'd love to hear! @firefighternation.bsky.social www.firefighternation.com/fire-leaders...

firefighternation.comOrigin Stories, Trauma, and the Firehouse: Learning to Lead with LoveUnderstanding our personal and professional origin stories is fundamental to strengthening leadership, trust, and resilience among firefighters.
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The Leakey Foundation
@leakeyfoundation.org

Here are a few examples of their fascinating projects: Olayemi Ajayi of The University of Cincinnati is studying how rainfall variation shapes gene regulation patterns in thick-tailed galagos.

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Science Magazine
@science.org

Pastoralism remains central to survival in the Turkana of northwest Kenya, where heat and water scarcity pose constant challenges. New research uncovers the genetic signatures that underlie adaptation to arid living in this pastoralist community. Learn more this week: https://scim.ag/4nxcJbx

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Rhianna Drummond-Clarke
@savannarhianna.bsky.social

🚨New Publication🚨 So happy to have this final chunk of my phd out, and the fruits of my @leakeyfoundation.org research grant 🙉 "arboreal, and especially suspensory, locomotion can be advantageous for foraging in a savannah-mosaic and not just closed forest habitats" #phddone #womeninscience #wild

frontiersin.orgFrontiers | Foraging strategy and tree structure as drivers of arboreality and suspensory behaviour in savannah-dwelling chimpanzeesIntroductionThe association between an open habitat (e.g., savannah-mosaics) and increased terrestriality is central to hypotheses of hominin evolution, espe...

The Leakey Foundation reposted

Bacara Spruit
@bacaraspruit.bsky.social

Wrapping up my first month in Italy! From exploring collagen yields using NIR, to examining bone surface modifications, running modern specimens through the MALDI-TOF, and learning to interpret collagen signatures—it's been full-on. @leakeyfoundation.org @National Museum, Bloemfontein

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GW Department of Anthropology
@gwanthropology.bsky.social

Congratulations to CASHP member, Joyce Waweru!

The Leakey Foundation@leakeyfoundation.org

We're thrilled to announce the 2025 Leakey Foundation Baldwin Fellows! Click through to learn about these 14 scholars and their exciting human origins research. leakeyfoundation.org/announcing-t...

leakeyfoundation.orgAnnouncing the 2025 Baldwin FellowsMeet the 2025 Baldwin Fellows! This year, 14 scholars from 11 countries have received fellowships, empowering them to become future leaders.

The Leakey Foundation reposted

GW Department of Anthropology
@gwanthropology.bsky.social

Congratulations to CASHP member, Sims Patton!

The Leakey Foundation@leakeyfoundation.org

🎉 Congratulations to the spring 2025 Leakey Foundation grantees! We'll be sharing more about these amazing scientists and their work as their projects progress. leakeyfoundation.org/introducing-...

leakeyfoundation.orgIntroducing the spring 2025 Leakey Foundation granteesMeet the spring 2025 Leakey Foundation grantees. Their innovative research will shed new light on human origins, evolution, and behavior.

The Leakey Foundation reposted

Maria A Nieves Colón
@mitopr.bsky.social

My PhD student Emmanuel, co advised with @mcnultylab.bsky.social, is a Baldwin fellow 🎉🍾🙌🏽👏🏽! Thanks Leakey Foundation for supporting these talented scholars :-) learn more about Emmanuel’s work and background here: www.nievescolonlab.org/about-emmanuel

nievescolonlab.orgAbout 1 — Anthropological Genetics Lab at UMN
The Leakey Foundation@leakeyfoundation.org

We're thrilled to announce the 2025 Leakey Foundation Baldwin Fellows! Click through to learn about these 14 scholars and their exciting human origins research. leakeyfoundation.org/announcing-t...

leakeyfoundation.orgAnnouncing the 2025 Baldwin FellowsMeet the 2025 Baldwin Fellows! This year, 14 scholars from 11 countries have received fellowships, empowering them to become future leaders.

The Leakey Foundation reposted

McNulty Lab
@mcnultylab.bsky.social

Congratulations to the new Baldwin Fellows, including 2 of my students, Penina Kadalida (c/a with Martha Tappen) and Emmanuel Ngetich (c/a with @mitopr.bsky.social)! Thanks to the @leakeyfoundation.org for supporting all of these students and their staunch support for Paleoanthropology!

The Leakey Foundation@leakeyfoundation.org

We're thrilled to announce the 2025 Leakey Foundation Baldwin Fellows! Click through to learn about these 14 scholars and their exciting human origins research. leakeyfoundation.org/announcing-t...

leakeyfoundation.orgAnnouncing the 2025 Baldwin FellowsMeet the 2025 Baldwin Fellows! This year, 14 scholars from 11 countries have received fellowships, empowering them to become future leaders.

The Leakey Foundation reposted

Elly Lewerissa
@ellylewerissa.bsky.social

Honored to be a Spring 2025 Leakey Foundation Research Grant recipient. I’m deeply grateful to the @leakeyfoundation.org for supporting research in human origins, and to my supervisor @naelnadifkasri-lab.bsky.social for the invaluable guidance and encourargement. leakeyfoundation.org/introducing-...

leakeyfoundation.orgIntroducing the spring 2025 Leakey Foundation granteesMeet the spring 2025 Leakey Foundation grantees. Their innovative research will shed new light on human origins, evolution, and behavior.

The Leakey Foundation reposted

Frido Welker
@fridowelker.bsky.social

Incredibly proud that our paper on the #palaeoproteomics analysis of the Penghu mandible, led by @tsutatsuta.bsky.social and in collaboration with Chun-Hsiang Chang, Enrico Cappellini and co, is out now in @science.org! doi.org/10.1126/scie...

doi.orgA male Denisovan mandible from Pleistocene TaiwanDenisovans are an extinct hominin group defined by ancient genomes of Middle to Late Pleistocene fossils from southern Siberia. Although genomic evidence suggests their widespread distribution through...
The Leakey Foundation
@leakeyfoundation.org

Our friends at @ncse.bsky.social have launched a podcast to help combat misinformation, disinformation, and misconceptions about #ClimateChange with actual science. Check it out!

National Center for Science Education@ncse.bsky.social

Episode 2 of Safeguarding Sound Science is now out wherever you listen to your podcasts! Historian Naomi Oreskes (@naomioreskes.bsky.social) discusses a century of disinformation - ncse.ngo/safeguarding... #SciencePodcast #SciSky #HistorySky

ncse.ngoSafeguarding Sound Science | National Center for Science EducationSafeguarding Sound Science, Climate Change EditionSafeguarding Sound Science combats misinformation, disinformation, and misconceptions about climate change with actual science.
The Leakey Foundation
@leakeyfoundation.org

Ever wondered what happens to your grant proposal once you submit it? Join a hands-on “mock review” workshop to learn about review processes at The Leakey Foundation and the Wenner-Gren Foundation. March 12 at #AABA2025. Registration is limited so act fast! @bioanth.org bit.ly/4havY78

bit.lyAABA Workshop in Baltimore: What happens to my grant proposal? Peek into the process through mock review!This workshop introduces early career scholars to the grant review process through mock review exercises with experienced panelists and representatives from Leakey and Wenner-Gren. Date and Time: Marc...
The Leakey Foundation
@leakeyfoundation.org

Can stress help monkeys survive? New research shows that on wild capuchin monkeys with stronger stress responses during previous droughts were more likely to survive an extreme drought. Study by Leakey grantees @sccarrera.bsky.social @irene-godoy.bsky.social @jbeehner.bsky.social & colleagues.

science.orgStress responsiveness in a wild primate predicts survival across an extreme El Niño droughtWhite-faced capuchins with a stronger stress response to previous droughts were more likely to survive a severe El Niño drought.

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Paige Madison
@fossilhistory.bsky.social

100 years ago, you could read about the “Fossilized Skull that May Be That of Missing Link” in the NY Times for two cents. Celebrating the Taung Child's centenary: fossilhistory.wordpress.com/2025/02/07/1...

fossilhistory.wordpress.com100 Years of the Southern ApeToday we’re celebrating. On February 7, 1925, a paper announced a startling fossil had been uncovered in a South African mine. With the face of a human but the small brain of a chimpanzee, the smal…
The Leakey Foundation
@leakeyfoundation.org

This tiny fossilized skull belonged to a 3-year-old child that lived around 2.8 million years ago! Today we’re celebrating the 100th anniversary of the announcement of the discovery of the Taung Child, Australopithecus africanus. #onthisday

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The Leakey Foundation
@leakeyfoundation.org

⁠Photos 3,4 and 6 form part of the Wits University Archives and are published with kind permission of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in South Africa.⁠ We're grateful to them for allowing us to share these wonderful photos! ⁠

The Leakey Foundation
@leakeyfoundation.org

This tiny fossilized skull belonged to a 3-year-old child that lived around 2.8 million years ago! Today we’re celebrating the 100th anniversary of the announcement of the discovery of the Taung Child, Australopithecus africanus. #onthisday

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The Leakey Foundation
@leakeyfoundation.org

Dart recognized this was something special and spent over two months scraping away the surrounding limestone with knitting needles. He described the fossil in the journal Nature on February 7, 1925, giving it the species name Australopithecus africanus, which means the "southern ape from Africa."⁠

The Leakey Foundation
@leakeyfoundation.org

This amazing fossil also had what's called an endocast of the brain, which you can see here. An endocast is a fossil impression of the inside of a hollow object, like a skull. This captured the shape and size of the Taung Child's brain, giving Dart an important clue that this was a human relative.⁠

The Leakey Foundation
@leakeyfoundation.org

This tiny fossilized skull belonged to a 3-year-old child that lived around 2.8 million years ago! Today we’re celebrating the 100th anniversary of the announcement of the discovery of the Taung Child, Australopithecus africanus. #onthisday

The Leakey Foundation
@leakeyfoundation.org

The Taung Child skull was discovered in 1924 by workers at a South African rock quarry who had blasted it out of the limestone quarry wall. Josephine Salmons, a medical student at the University of the Witwatersrand saw the skull on a friend’s mantelpiece and brought to her professor, Raymond Dart.⁠

The Leakey Foundation reposted

Baptiste Sadoughi
@bsadoughi.bsky.social

Extremely grateful to be one of The Leakey Foundation Research Grant Recipients @leakeyfoundation.bsky.social The then young intern in the photo could only have dreamed that his research would one day be supported by this fantastic foundation. Huge thanks to my mentor & collaborators on the project!

leakeyfoundation.orgIntroducing the Fall 2024 Leakey Foundation Research Grant RecipientsIntroducing the fall 2024 Leakey Foundation Research Grant recipients. Twenty-seven scholars will receive funding to advance knowledge of human origins, evolution, behavior, and survival.

The Leakey Foundation reposted

Bacara Spruit
@bacaraspruit.bsky.social

Proud to announce that I am one of the Fall 2024 Leakey Research Grant Recipients It has been a dream to be funded by the @leakeyfoundation.bsky.social who made my research possible A huge thank you to my supervisors for their encouragement and support leakeyfoundation.org/fall-2024-re...

leakeyfoundation.orgIntroducing the Fall 2024 Leakey Foundation Research Grant RecipientsIntroducing the fall 2024 Leakey Foundation Research Grant recipients. Twenty-seven scholars will receive funding to advance knowledge of human origins, evolution, behavior, and survival.