Stephen Bulyar
Doctoral student
Department of Human Origins
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
e-mail:
stephen_bulyar@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de
Research interests
My research interests in human evolution cover aspects of hominin taxonomy and systematics. As such, I am broadly interested in metric and non-metric quantification of morphological variation as it relates to taxonomy and function with interest in both postcranial and craniodental anatomical regions. My doctoral research will examine variability in dental roots morphology in extant primates and extinct African Plio-Pleistocene hominins (Australopithecus, Paranthropus and early Homo), in order to assess the functional and developmental basis of this variation. I aim to exploit microCT imaging and 3D geometric morphometrics methods for inference and visualization of phylogenetic patterns of variation. At the heart of this research is the goal of investigating the efficacy of dental roots for recovering reliable taxonomic signals in extinct hominins that would allow taxonomic reassessment of specimens with problematic allocations. Penultimately, I aim to reevaluate phylogenetic hypotheses related to African Plio-Pleistocene hominins. This research will provide insights into our understanding of the evolutionary basis of dental root structure and function. I am supervised by Dr. Matthew Skinner and affiliated with the Koobi Fora Research Project in Kenya.
Curriculum Vitae
Career and Education
| Since 2025 | PhD student, Department of Human Origins, Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany. |
| 2025 | Field school student, Koobi Fora Field School, George Washington University, USA and National Museums of Kenya. Project: “Digital age of fossil hunting?” Testing the effectiveness of Machine learning Models in predicting fossil rich areas in Koobi Fora Formation. |
| 2024-2025 | Research Assistant. Koobi Fora Research project (KFRP). Funded by Mastercard Scholars program at the university of Cambridge. Project: New fossils of Paranthropus boisei from Koobi Fora, East Turkana, Kenya (2001 to 2012). |
| 2023-2024 | Master of Philosophy (Mphil) in Human Evolutionary studies, University of Cambridge, UK. Thesis: Inferring Morphological Variation and Taxic Affinities in isolated Hominin Postcrania; A Geometric Morphometric study of humeri from Koobi Fora Formation, Kenya. |
| 2022 | Field school student, Turkana Basin Origins Field School. Stony Brook University, USA and the Turkana Basin Institute, Kenya. |
| 2021-2023 | Intern, Turkana Basin Institute, Kenya. |
| 2015-2020 | Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. |
Fieldwork
| 2025 | KFFS Hominin Paleobiology group. Koobi Fora, East Turkana. Fossil prospection in Burgi and Okote members. Project PI, Dr. Matthew Skinner, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. |
| 2023 | Turkana Miocene Project- Buluk, Sibiloi and Loyangalani Miocene sites, East Turkana. Fossil prospection and collection. Project PI, Prof Craig Feibel, Rutgers University, USA. |
| 2023 | Koobi Fora Research Project (KFRP). Koobi Fora, East Turkana. Collection and investigation in Area 101. PI, Dr Louise and Maeve Leakey. Stony Brook University, USA. |
| 2023 | Turkana Basin geology project. Koobi Fora, East Turkana. Field prospection and collection pumice clast samples from tuff strata. PI, Prof David Phillips, University of Melbourne. |
| 2022 | Turkana Miocene Project. Buluk Miocene site. Site prospection for fossils and paleosol samples PI, Prof Craig Feibel, Rutgers University, USA. |
| 2022 | In Africa Project - Site survey and prospection. PI, Prof Marta Mirazon Lahr, Cambridge University, UK. |
| 2022 | Buluk Miocene Project. Fossil collection, prospection, and preparation. PI, Prof Ellen Miller Wake Forest University, USA. |
Teaching
| 2025 | Guest lecture, Turkana Basin institute Origins Field school. |
| 2025 | Guest lecture, Turkana Basin institute Astronomy Field school. |
| 2025 | Guest lecture, Turkana Basin institute Engineering Field school. |
Awards and funding
| 2024 | Mastercard foundation scholars’ program at the University of Cambridge “Transition Project”. |
| 2023 | Mastercard foundation scholarship awarded for Master in Philosopy at University of Cambridge. |
| 2022 | Read scholarship awarded for the Turkana Basin Institute Origins Field school. |