December 2014
Anthropology's Isaiah Nengo Studies Human Origins
Anthropology instructor Isaiah Nengo was inspired to study human evolution when, as
a high school student, he heard a talk by famed paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey.
Leakey is the son of Louis Leakey, one of the first anthropologists to recognize Africa
as the origin of humanity.
“We’re most closely related to the great apes and all those species are found in Africa,” said Nengo. “Louis Leakey went back to Africa and started looking.”
The Leakeys discovered hominid fossils in the Olduvai Gorge and Lake Victoria Basin. Their findings convinced other scientists that humanity evolved in Africa. As a child growing up in Kenya, Nengo was only vaguely aware of these discoveries. Then he heard Richard Leakey.
“That’s when I got hooked,” said Nengo. “I became entirely fascinated. I thought, ‘this is exciting,’ but I didn’t think of it as a career [at first].”
Nengo enrolled in Nairobi University to study zoology and botany. When he graduated, he wrote to Leakey and was offered a volunteer position. Volunteering led to a fellowship and a sponsorship from the Smithsonian to study biological anthropology at Harvard.
“Anthropology in the past was used to classify people, but the discipline has done a lot to show the things that are common to us,” Nengo said. “Whatever information we get is not for a particular group or a particular place -- it is the human story.”
After earning a Ph.D., Nengo taught at Miami University of Ohio, UC Berkeley and Santa Clara University. He joined De Anza in 2006. In 2012, he was granted a Fulbright scholarship to spend an entire year in Kenya excavating and researching.
"Once we find fossils, we bring them to a museum, clean them, study them and share the results with everybody else,” said Nengo. “With the Fulbright I had the sustained focus I had not been able to have before. It’s amazing how much time you can spend on a tooth.”
Nengo has taken students on trips to Songhor, a fossil-rich site in western Kenya and to Napudet, in the Lake Turkana Basin of Nothern Kenya.
On the most recent trip, funded by the National Science Foundation and the Leakey
Foundation, the group found a complete primate skull between four and eleven million
years old at Napudet. It took six hours of careful digging each day for three days
to fully extricate the skull.
“Skulls are extremely rare. People work for years without ever finding one,” said Nengo. “This was rewarding because I was directing the project.”
The opportunity to discover rare fossils is only one reason Nengo takes students with
him on digs. He is also interested in what the students can learn about themselves.
“One student, it never occurred to him that he would leave the country, it never occurred
to him that he would go to Africa,” Nengo said. “I could see a change in how he viewed
himself. There was a transformation.”
Next summer, Nengo hopes to take five to seven students with him to the northern district
of Kenya to search for chimpanzee fossils. He’d also like to establish a field school
for students to do actual research, find fossils and meet people in the areas where
they excavate. To Nengo, taking students into the field is the best way for them put
their learning into practice.
“They can see all these people focused on this work. They’re given a responsibility and it’s not homework -- it’s real,” said Nengo. “It allows [students] to see themselves as part of something bigger and more important.”
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Holiday Reception -- Thursday, Dec. 11
Please join your faculty and staff colleagues for the holiday reception on Thursday, Dec. 11, from 2-3:30 p.m. in Conference Room B. Holiday beverages and cookies will be served.
DASB Celebrates Bike Donation
The DASB Senate recently celebrated the donation of 20 bikes to the campus bike program.
The program was created by the DASB as part of its commitment to environmental sustainability.
Eligible students can rent a bike for the quarter for on- and off-campus use.
"The bike program is the beginning of the future for De Anza College. Students can
be provided alternative means of transportation without having to pay anything,” said
DASB President Julia Malakiman. "There is a huge demand for this program, and the
DASB senate
only plans to expand it."
The bikes were donated by Calabazas Cyclery in San Jose.
Auto Tech Collects Cans for Charity
The day and evening Auto Tech programs collected almost 7,000 cans as part of their
annual canned food drive. As in previous years, all donations went to West Valley
Community Services in Cupertino to make the holidays happier for local families.
Instructor and Auto Tech Club advisor Pete Vernazza said West Valley is always incredibly impressed and grateful for the donations.
"I give the kids all the credit," he added. "I just direct, maybe inspire, but the
kids do everything."
Want to donate too? Drop off canned goods in
the Second Harvest food barrel located
in the
lobby of the Administration Building. Thanks to
Gilbane Building Co. for
sponsoring.
Annual HTEC Conference Held at De Anza
More than 100 machining teachers and administrators from throughout the state attended
the 6th annual HTEC conference at De Anza in October. The conference covers new manufacturing
technologies and processes, and gives industry professionals an opportunity to discuss
manufacturing issues in the Bay Area.
The machining/CNC program has been in place since the college opened in 1967. De Anza
has one of the most varied collections of machine tools of any college program on
the West Coast.
“The success of the manufacturing program is represented by one of the most diverse
advisory committees in the state," said Mike Appio, CNC instructor and department
coordinator. "Companies such as NASA, Apple, Google...help shape the curriculum that
makes our students so successful.”
Moveable Feast Comes to Campus
Moveable Feast made its campus debut in Parking Lot A on Nov. 7. The food truck fest
is currently on hiatus, but will return Fridays starting Feb. 6. A percentage of event
sales goes to DASB.
Recent vendors included Jon Jon's BBQ, Fish Taco Wabo, Waffle Amore and Curry Up Now. The Moveable Feast Facebook page shows the weekly list of vendors.