Reflections on Human Origins Since Darwin’s Conjectures
- Speaker
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Richard E. Leakey, FRSProfessor, Chair, Turkana Basin Institute, Stony Brook University
Simons Foundation Lectures are free public colloquia related to basic science and mathematics. These high-level talks are intended for professors, students, postdocs and business professionals, but interested people from the metropolitan area are welcome as well.
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Richard E. Leakey is a professor of anthropology at Stony Brook University in New York. He serves as the founder and chair of the Turkana Basin Institute, a Kenya-based research facility that studies the history of life, past climate change and the origins of humans. Until recently, he was the chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Service.
He has devoted most of his life to research on human origins, the conservation of wildlife and public service. He has played a crucial role in efforts to combat elephant and rhino poaching and has actively campaigned for the protection of great apes. He is also vocal about the threats to biodiversity posed by global climate change and human population growth.
About the Speaker
Leakey was director of the National Museums of Kenya, director of the country’s Wildlife Conservation and Management Department, a member of the Parliament of Kenya, cabinet secretary, and head of the civil service. He is currently establishing Ngaren, a stand-alone, one-of-a-kind memorial and celebration of humankind’s origins in Africa.