Harvard Summer Program in Kenya

Health, safety, and security are paramount in Summer School Study Abroad program planning and execution. Our security consultants at Harvard Global Support Services (GSS) continually monitor and make recommendations to Harvard Summer School programs regarding current travel risk levels and situations around the world. GSS’ current risk rating for Kenya is Elevated Risk. As always, we will work closely with GSS to help prepare you for a safe trip and provide information and resources for your security and well-being while abroad.

As humanity adapts to crises of climate change, habitat loss, and emerging infectious diseases, nowhere have changes been more acute nor responses more dynamic than in equatorial Africa. In this program, we’ll explore humanity’s longstanding links to climatic and environmental change in the heart of the East African Rift System: a geological record-keeper of past environments, and the animals and plants who inhabited them. From the flanks of Mount Kenya to the famous Turkana Basin and the shores of the Indian Ocean, you will combine classical field research with new molecular and computational tools to study human origins through the lens of evolutionary biology, ecology, climate, and health.

Program Structure

The program will investigate African climatic, ecological, and paleontological sciences from three world-class field research centers: Mpala on the flanks of Mount Kenya, the Leakey family’s Turkana Basin Institute on the banks of Kenya’s fossil-rich Lake Turkana, and A Rocha Kenya’s field station on the Indian Ocean coast at Watamu. You will learn field, lab, and computer science-based methods through lectures, daily field trips, and collaborative research projects. You will visit famous sites of natural beauty or archaeological significance, camp at fossil localities, travel by train and safari vehicle through Tsavo National Park, and learn Swahili while engaging with local researchers and communities.

The East African Rift System is a region of particular interest not only because of contemporary climate change, but also because the human lineage — including Homo sapiens — evolved in Africa.

In a first course on climate and ecology, we’ll adopt an interdisciplinary approach to understanding climate and ecology in tropical Africa, from the unique vantage afforded by the Mpala Research Center on the flanks of Mount Kenya. Using field and theoretical approaches, we’ll study the foundations of ecology, the origins of evolutionary thought, and the workings of the Earth’s climate system, past and future. Throughout the course, we ask how transformations in ecology and climate impact us, and the choices people make to adapt.

In a second course on past environments and evolutionary processes, we’ll hunt for clues about Earth’s history and human evolution from our base in the Leakey family research camp in Kenya’s famous Turkana Basin. We’ll build upon our understanding of Earth and climate science to learn the principles of geology, study the African fossil record through traditional field and new computer science approaches, and search for clues about hominin origins by participation in ongoing field work. The course concludes on the coast, where we will observe seashore, mangrove, and coastal forest habitats, and learn more about Kenya’s research archeological history.

View a summary of highlights of the 2024 Harvard Summer Program in Kenya on the American School of Prehistoric Research (ASPR) webpage.

This program counts as two semester-long courses (4 credits each) of degree credit.

The program is set in three of eastern Africa’s premier field research sites.

The Mpala Research Center sits in the Kenyan highlands on the flank of Mount Kenya. The camp is surrounded by savannah habitats rich in diversity and famous for its elephants, giraffes, hippos, lions, and other fauna. Within a short distance, you can explore the savannah wilderness of the Ol Pejeta, the community pasturelands and montane vegetation of Mount Kenya, and the lush tropical woods of the Ngare Ndare forest. Mpala is thus an ideal site to study the ecology of tropical Africa, the symbioses that influence emerging challenges to human health, and the nature of global climatic systems.

The Turkana Basin Institute is located on the Turkwel River in northern Kenya, not far from Lake Turkana, Kenya’s famous “Jade Sea.” Through a short stroll within camp, you can walk through four million years of evolutionary history: from deposits documenting the “Green Sahara” of the last 10,000 years, to lava, sand, and ash layers overflowing with fossils that formed millions of years in the past. We will camp at the fossil sites of Lothagam and Topernawi, visit the still-active volcano of Central Island in Lake Turkana, meet fishing communities who live alongside its banks, and explore famous geological and archaeological research sites in the region. At night, you can see one of the best views of the Milky Way of any place on Earth. Turkana provides an unparalleled vantage point from which to study human origins, and our unique place in past and future ecological systems.

A Rocha Kenya’s Mwamba field study center sits on the beach at Watamu, between the Watamu Marine National Park and the Arabuko-Sokoke forest, the largest remaining fragment of East Africa’s coastal forest. From here we explore the mangroves of Mida Creek, the Panga Ya Saidi cave where humans lived and buried their dead 78,000 years ago, and ruins of coral-walled city of Gedi, which in medieval times connected Swahili city-states to from places as distant as Italy and the Congo to China and Australia. 

Accommodations

The Mpala Research Center, the Turkana Basin Institute, and A Rocha Kenya all provide comfortable dormitories, typically with warm showers, electricity, and internet connectivity in otherwise remote and wild regions of Kenya. You will be provided with meals typical of Eastern African cuisine, and will participate in the Kenyan ritual of daily chai breaks. In Nairobi and en route between sites, you will stay in eco-camps and lodges. On rest days, you will have the opportunity to visit local beaches or markets to purchase mementos and local food.

Physical Requirements

Fieldwork is sometimes physically intense and rigorous in hot temperatures, and our program includes frequent hikes, and several days of outdoor camping. No special training is required, but a reasonable level of fitness is advisable. A lighter schedule can be arranged for those with physical challenges.

You may apply to no more than one program.

A complete online application includes:

• Basic personal information
• A statement of interest
• Your most recent transcript

Interviews may be requested at the discretion of the program.

Be sure to read about the funding options available for Harvard Summer School Study Abroad programs.

If you have questions about the application, please contact the Harvard Summer School Study Abroad Office by email at SummerAbroad@Summer.Harvard.edu.

The program fee includes:

• Tuition
• Accommodations
• Scheduled program activities
• Some meals (the program will provide further details)

You will also need to budget for a number of expenses not covered by the program fee. The amounts listed below for these out-of-pocket expenses are approximate, and you may incur additional expenses not noted here. Your actual expenses will depend on a number of factors, including personal spending habits and currency exchange rates. Note that expense categories — especially airfare — may be subject to significant fluctuations.

• International airfare ($2,000 – $2,400)
• Ground transportation ($150)
• Meals ($150)
• Personal expenditures, communications, course materials, visa fee, and miscellaneous ($1150)

If you have specific questions about personal budgeting, please contact the program directly.

See Funding and Payment for information on how to submit payments and funding options.