Emmanuel Kimuma Ndiema

The Eastern African Association for Paleoanthropology and Paleontology (EAAPP) will convene its 10th biennial conference in Elementaita, Kenya, from 26–30 July 2026. This meeting crowns decades of sustained research in Eastern Africa and reflects EAAPP’s commitment to providing a forum where local and international scholars in paleoanthropology and allied disciplines meet, present, and engage with new findings from the region’s major paleoanthropological hot spots (Njau et al. 2009; Alemseged et al. 2010). Since 2007, the conference has rotated across Eastern Africa, bringing researchers closer to landscapes, collections, and communities documenting our deep history. The requested grant will support 22 scholars from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia—whose abstracts have been accepted to attend the conference. Many of these scholars, based at African institutions, have limited access to conference funding. EAAPP meetings stimulate networking, knowledge exchange, and long-term collaboration; provide a forum for policy makers and curators to address research challenges and safeguarding of paleoanthropological heritage; and create training opportunities for students. They foster public awareness, encourage emerging African scholars to assume leadership roles, and prompt governments to recognize researchers who have advanced the discipline. Supporting participation will reinforce this regionally anchored tradition of excellence and collaboration.