Peer into your past ...

   see after your future

 

 

         Introducing PEER: 

The Paleoanthropology and Evolutionary Ecology Research fund, 

an important new program of research and education in human origins and ecology:

In a time when the global scale of the human adventure has ever greater impact on the natural world, we need a clear perspective on our place in nature. Excavations of fossil sites in Africa are uncovering remains of our distant ancestors and the extinct animals with whom they lived. It is becoming clear that humans strongly influenced the processes of evolution and extinction from an early time in our prehistory, and that our impact on other species today has accelerated in more recent years. In order to map out our future, we need rigorous research into the nature and consequences of these trends.

The PEER fund will support a unique and broad-based research enterprise that ties together academic disciplines concerned with the human place in nature. Some of the proceeds will go toward the continuation of fossil excavations and exploration in South Africa, where we have been documenting environmental and evolutionary changes of the past three million years at sites such as Taung and Makapansgat.  We also plan to support endeavors across the globe to better chronicle the human evolutionary journey. The long-term trends we discover will set a base-line for understanding the ecological changes today. We plan to assess contemporary trends in human population growth and the demise of earth’s species biodiversity in light of the knowledge we garner from this research, toward planning a sustainable future for life on earth.

With the strength of The Ohio State University research community, the PEER fund will help foster collaborative research with other great institutions, such as the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.  Indeed, OSU graduate and undergraduate students will benefit from research opportunities provided by this ambitious endeavor.

We need your help in reaching our preliminary goal of an endowment worth $500,000. Proceeds from the endowment will provide long-term support for the expenses of professional and student research here and abroad.

The gift that keeps on giving:

Your generous contribution will help us "PEER" into our past so that we can better shape our future. We’ll keep you updated on our progress, so that you too can benefit from the educational mission of The Ohio State University.

 

It's easy to contribute in three steps from here:

Step 1: Decide to give a gift or a pledge (or fill out a form)

Step 2: Select an area: choose "Social & Behavioral Sciences (College)"

             Under "Special Instructions," specify PEER Fund, #410528.

Step 3: Enter your details so we can send you a "thank you" note, and

             update you on PEER activities.

Click here to contribute online or to get a contribution form

          Remember the PEER account number 410528

Thank you for your generous gift. We expect that future generations will also thank you for contributing to this timely and important research initiative.

 

 

The PEER Fund is overseen by

     Dr. Jeffrey K. McKee

 

     OH!                       IO!