MEAVE G. LEAKEY |
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Dr.
Meave Leakey was born Meave Epps in 1942 in London.
As a child, she attended convent and boarding
schools. She later attended the University of North
Wales, where she earned a joint honours in Zoology
and Marine Zoology. Her ambition at that time had
been to become a Marine Zoologist. In 1965,
however, she changed her focus and began to pursue a
Ph.D. in Zoology. That same year, she had her first
contact with the Leakey family; she took a staff
position at the Tigoni Primate Research Centre,
which was administered by Dr. Louis Leakey. She
completed her Ph.D. in 1968.
In
1969 she returned to Kenya and was invited by
Richard Leakey to join his field expedition
investigating the newly discovered palaeontological
site at Koobi Fora on the eastern shore of Lake
Turkana. This was the beginning of a long-term
involvement with the highly successful Turkana Basin
research project. Meave married Richard Leakey in
1970. Their two children are Louise, born in 1972
and Samira, born in 1974.
In 1989, when Richard Leakey left his Directorship
of the National Museums to take over the management
of Kenya’s wildlife, Meave became the co-ordinator
of the National Museum’s palaeontological field
research in the Turkana basin. Since 1989, in an
attempt to find evidence of the very earliest human
ancestors, this fieldwork, under Meave’s direction,
has concentrated on sites between 8 and 3 million
years old. In 1994, remains of some of the earliest
hominids known were discovered at Kanapoi, a 4.1 Ma
site to the south west of the present lake. These
finds not only represent a new species,
Australopithecus anamensis which is likely to be
ancestral to Australopithecus afarensis (the
earliest species of australopithecine currently
recognised) but also provide secure evidence of
bipedality at 4.2 mya. In March 2001, Meave and her
colleagues announced the discovery of a new genus
and species of human ancestor, Kenyanthropus
platyops, which shows that Australopithecus
afarensis (best known from the skeleton dubbed
“Lucy”), is not the only contender for human
ancestry.
Meave has worked at the National Museums of Kenya
since 1969. She was head of the division of
palaeontology from 1982 until February 2001. She now
continues her research as a Research Affiliate of
the National Museums.
Since 1998, Dr. Meave has been co-leading the
expeditions with her daughter Dr. Louise Leakey, who
until late 1999 was pursuing her doctoral studies in
the University College of London. Today, Dr. Louise
has completed her studies and has been awarded a PhD
degree. She continues the family tradition and now
heads the Koobi Fora Research Project.
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