Anthropologist Profile: Dr. Isaiah Odhiambo Nengo, World Renowned Paleoanthropologist

 

Isaiah Nengo (Source: David Gottlieb)

 

Today’s blog post features Dr. Isaiah Odhiambo Nengo, a world renowned paleoanthropologist whose focus on early primate evolution has expanded our knowledge of primate and human evolution.  His scholarly accomplishments are well known, but it is his personal story, fraught with challenges, persistence, and accomplishment that I personally find most inspiring.  It also explains why he dedicated his time not only to his research but also to providing opportunities for his students and those interested in pursuing paleoanthropological study.

 

Nengo was born in 1961 near Nairobi, Kenya.  His family was considered impoverished even for Kenyan standards, but he did not let his family’s financial situation stop him from dreaming big.  In high school he realized his interests in biology when he visited the Nairobi National Museum and heard Dr. Louis Leakey give a lecture on hominid evolution.  It is reported that Leakey was the first white man to speak with Nengo, and the way Leakey communicated to both Nengo and his classmates was charismatic and informative enough to provide Nengo the confidence to pursue further study after high school.  He went on to earn his Bachelors in zoology and botany at the University of Nairobi.

 

Upon completion of his undergraduate studies he immediately approached Leakey to request to work alongside him.  That request was flatly denied.  Rather than give up on his dream Nengo persisted, returning several times to request to work with Leakey.  Leakey eventually became impressed by Nengo’s drive and determination and agreed, employing him in a position that allowed him to work alongside both Louis and Maeve Leakey at the Nairobi National Museum.  It was during his interactions with Maeve Leakey that Nengo became inspired to study and research primate, specifically ape, evolution.  Nengo also joined Leakey’s prestigious excavation team and worked alongside them as they excavated the Ekembo nyanzae skeleton, the earliest known fossilized ape species.  Nengo discovered the near complete hip of the species, which remains the most complete specimen of this species.

 

He was eventually invited to pursue his doctorate at Harvard University, where he worked alongside established and notable paleoanthropological experts David Pilbeam and Stephen Jay Gould.  After graduating from the program he took a position at Miami University in Ohio and was the Director of the University’s Hefner Museum of Natural History.  He and his family’s experiences led them to opt to move to California to seek out a more culturally diverse social environment.  Nengo initially took a position teaching high school biology before landing a position at De Anza College, where he eventually reached tenured status. 

 

In 2010 Louise Leakey, daughter of Louis and Maeve Leakey, implored him to return to Kenya.  This resulted in him pursuing and securing a Fulbright Scholarship that enabled him to teach at the University of Nairobi between 2012 and 2013.  This led him to pursue various opportunities for both American and African students.  As he believed that there were too few African scholars and scientists working within the fields of paleoanthropology, he worked hard to establish the graduate program in human evolutionary biology at Turkana University College in Kenya.  It took several years to accomplish this goal as he had to navigate and overcome various challenges involving educational and governmental agents and institutions, but he never let these challenges stop him from achieving this goal.  He remained committed to this program up until his death, actively recruiting students, being involved in decision making of who was accepted, identifying funding sources so students could attend the program fully funded, developing and refining curriculum, and more.

 

He eventually went on to continue his research on primate evolution in Kenya, offering opportunities for both De Anza College students and students throughout Kenya and Africa to participate in his research alongside him.  In 2015 he and his students made a remarkable discovery: the Alesi fossil, which was the in-tact, fossilized skull of an infant ancestral primate (Nyanzapithecus alesi).  The sediments surrounding the skull dated it to 13 million years ago.  This in and of itself is amazing, but what is even more so is the preservation of this skull.  Fearing that the methods available to him would damage the integrity of the skull and potentially destroy any evidence they could gain from the study of it while it remained in tact Nengo actively pursued assistance from scholars outside of anthropology to identify nondestructive ways of studying the skull.  Working alongside French physicists to use a particle accelerator to scan the internal structures of the skull Nengo and his team realized that the skull was in excellent condition as a complete brain cavity, unerupted adult teeth, and inner ear bones were fully preserved and able to be studied through this new nondestructive method they pioneered.  The morphological characteristics of the Alesi fossil provide insights into primate evolution, particularly as this individual has characteristics found in various ape species.

 

This discovery led to Nengo founding the Turkana Miocene Project, a project that involves a multidisciplinary team who are charged with investigating sites from 30 to 5 million years ago throughout the Turkana Basin.  Their goals are to better understand primate evolution from the beginning to the period when hominids (humans) evolved.  He also became a Research Professor at Stony Brook University in New York, Associate Director of the Turkana Basin Institute, and Director for Research and Science at the Turkana Basin Institute.  He was also a fellow of the Institute for the Science of Origins and received numerous awards.

 

Unfortunately, Nengo passed away suddenly on January 23, 2022.  He is remembered fondly by his colleagues and students.  They described him as a soft spoken, visionary leader; a brilliant scientist; and beloved friend and mentor.   There have been calls to honor his memory by continuing his work in both ancient primate evolution and in providing opportunities for diverse populations of students and scholars who may not have as many chances to work in paleoanthropology. 

 

Bibliography

Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University. (2022). Tribute to Richard Leakey and Isaiah Nengo. Retrieved from Stony Brook University of New York: https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/anthropology/faculty-and-staff/tribute.php

Nengo, I. (2017). A Story of Persistence. Retrieved from Isaiah Nengo, Biological Anthropologist: https://www.isaiahnengo.com/about

Ochieng, J. (2022, January 25). Isaiah Nengo, Associate Director of Turkana Basin Institute, Passes on. Retrieved from Turkana Basin Institute: https://www.turkanabasin.org/2022/01/isaiah-nengo-associate-director-of-turkana-basin-institute-passes-on/

Rowan, J., Princehouse, P., Kinyanjui, R. N., & Uno, K. T. (2022). Isaiah Odhiambo Nengo (1961–2022). Nature Ecology & Evolution.