Frouin Earns NSF Early CAREER Award for Research in the Turkana Basin

Stony Brook University Assistant Professor Marine Frouin recently received an Early CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her research on reconciling the Turkana Basin's timeline utilizing luminescence geochronology to reduce sedimentary gaps from the last million years.

The award is bestowed upon early-career faculty who show promise as both researchers and educators, distinguished as up-and-coming professionals poised to advance the mission of their academic departments. As Early CAREER recipients, the professors will receive more than $2.7 million combined in grants to support their research.

Frouin, a member of the Department of Geosciences faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded $872,859 for her research combining luminescence geochronology, stratigraphic mapping, sedimentology, petrography and Bayesian age-depth modeling to investigate sedimentary deposits spanning the Middle Pleistocene to the Early Holocene.

Measuring time in the geological record is fundamental to studying the evolution of life, the timing of cultural developments, and the geomorphic processes that occur on Earth's surface. However, significant time gaps remain, limiting our understanding of the human story.

This NSF CAREER award will enable a transformative reconstruction of the Turkana Basin's recent geological and evolutionary history using cutting-edge luminescence dating and sedimentological methods. Focusing on the Middle Pleistocene to Early Holocene, this project addresses a critical interval marked by major climatic and ecological shifts that has long been considered a gap in the region's stratigraphic record. This research will overcome the limitations of prior approaches and generate the high-resolution chronologies needed to understand how past environments shaped human and faunal resilience.

"It has been through close collaboration and extended engagement with communities in the Turkana Basin that I came to understand the urgent need to focus on the recent past, a period during which ancient populations also faced dramatic climatic fluctuations and had to adapt to shifting environments," Frouin said. "The lake has long served as a critical lifeline for both human and faunal populations, and its history holds key insights into how resilience and survival were negotiated in the face of environmental change."

Frouin said the process of developing, revising, and ultimately strengthening this proposal required sustained reflection, careful listening, and considerable due diligence, and pushed her to think more deeply about the kind of research ecosystem she wanted to build. That reflection culminated in the creation of the FIELDwork initiative [Foundation for International Experiential Learning and Design Work], a direct reimagining of how to push the broader impacts component of her proposal beyond conventional outreach to become meaningful collaboration integral to the research process itself.

"This transdisciplinary initiative brings together a collaborative network of scientific and creative disciplines alongside community and industry partnership to transform how scientific research is conducted, experienced, synthesized, and shared," Frouin said. "Our goal is to make the sciences of the recent-past more accessible, place-based, and emotionally resonant - for audiences both far and near - while fostering sustained synergy at the intersection of science, art, and cultural heritage."

"Marine Frouin's NSF CAREER Award showcases the bold, high-impact research that defines our college," said David Wrobel, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of history. "By building the first comprehensive timeline of the Turkana Basin's recent geological history, her work will clarify how landscapes, water systems, ecosystems, and early populations changed over time. This award - one of the largest CAREER awards Stony Brook has ever received - supports Marine's important work that not only advances global understanding of human origins-it also creates powerful training opportunities that prepare the next generation of scientists. We are proud and fortunate to have her among our faculty, as are our students who are benefiting from her exceptional mentorship."

"This award recognizes the importance of Professor Frouin's research in Kenya's Turkana Basin and her leadership in the development and application of luminescence dating techniques to develop chronologies of events in Earth's geologic record," said Timothy Glotch, professor and chair of the Department of Geosciences. "It is extremely well deserved!"

Frouin is the director of the Stony Brook Luminescence Dating Research Laboratory. In addition to the Department of Geosciences, she is affiliated with the Turkana Basin Institute, and part of the Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences. She is also a research associate at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art at Oxford University (U.K.).

Frouin's research is focused on the development and application of luminescence dating techniques, an absolute chronometer that is almost universally applicable to any sediment that has been exposed to daylight during transport. It is a major chronometric tool for late Quaternary studies, with a wide age range from a few years up to about 0.5 Ma, with some indication that this limit can be further extended. She has more than 15 years of experience working in the field in North and South America, Africa, Asia and Europe.

Frouin said she welcomes students from all STEAM disciplines to bring their perspectives, creativity, and skills to this work. Anyone interested in getting involved and contributing to this exciting project, can email her at [email protected].