Suffolk Reporter

Stony Brook University will feature two prominent anthropologists in its upcoming Provost’s Lecture Series on February 11. Professors Lawrence Martin and Pat Wright, both SUNY Distinguished Service Professors, are set to present their research at the Charles B. Wang Center Theater.

The event is scheduled to begin at 3:30 pm and includes a reception with refreshments. The lectures are open to the public at no charge.

Lawrence Martin's lecture, "Becoming Human: Our Seven-Million-Year Journey," will delve into the human evolutionary story primarily documented in Africa's sedimentary rocks, particularly in the Turkana Basin. Martin collaborated with Richard Leakey for 17 years to establish Stony Brook's Turkana Basin Institute as a center for human evolution research. He will discuss findings from half a century of study in the region, emphasizing that for most of the past seven million years, human ancestry was confined to Africa.

Pat Wright will address "Recent Discoveries Enlighten the Mysteries of Madagascar," focusing on significant findings by her team over the last decade. Madagascar's isolation has led to unique biodiversity now facing extinction threats. Wright's team discovered fossils suggesting human presence on the island as far back as 10,000 years ago, well before previously thought Indonesian arrivals 2,500 years ago. Her talk will cover these discoveries and explore ways to preserve Madagascar’s natural heritage.