The American School of Prehistoric Research is proud to partner with The Leakey Foundation and the Joan Cogswell Donner Field School Scholarship to support of African archaeology and the next generation of human-origins researchers. The gift to the Joan Cogswell Donner Field School Scholarship provided scholarships towards field school tuition for students from countries with limited resources to support training in fieldwork related to human origins research, especially those interested in archeology. We were able to support nine students across three different archaeological and paleoanthropological programs in Africa.
The Koobi Fora Research & Training Program:
A six-week intensive designed to build technical knowledge in paleoanthropology, geology, and paleontology at the Mpala Research Centre and the Turkana Basin.
Paleoarchaeological Fieldwork at Boomplas Cave:
Focuses on tracking dietary and technological changes across the Middle Stone Age to Later Stone Age (MSA-LSA) transition through the analysis of lithics and macrofaunal remains.
Gorongosa Interdisciplinary Training in Human Evolution:
Based in Mozambique, this field school combines the study of Miocene fossil sites and Pleistocene caves with primatology focused on the behavioral adaptations of baboons and vervet monkeys.
Through this scholarship, ASPR supported hands-on training opportunities that would otherwise have been financially out of reach, covering essential costs such as travel, accommodations, and field logistics. These programs provided students with direct experience in excavation, paleoenvironmental research, and human-origins studies, helping build local expertise and leadership in African archaeology. We are grateful to The Leakey Foundation for their collaboration and are proud that, through the Joan Donner Field School Scholarship, ASPR’s support contributed to widening access to field research and strengthening the future of archaeological research in Africa.