Open a line to the archive
Submissions, research collaborations, visiting-scholar appointments, and press inquiries — every message is read by a working palaeontologist, not a queue. Tell us what you are working on and we will route it to the right pair of hands.
Write to the editorial desk
Choose the lane that matches your inquiry. We triage every message by hand — a human will reply, usually within three working days. Required fields are marked with a small ember dot.
Reach the right desk, faster
Four standing channels. Pick the one that matches what you are after — submissions, research, visits, or press — so your message lands in front of the person who can act on it the same day.
Editors you can write to by name
No ticketing system, no shared inbox. Every department is staffed by a named editor who signs their replies. Pick the one closest to your work and address them directly.
Dr. Dilan Otieno
Editor-in-chief
Hominin evolution, Pliocene–Pleistocene transitions, and field-methods essays. Reads every pitch on Mondays.
[email protected]Mei-Lin Tanaka
Archive curator
Submissions to the fossil archive, image licensing, and database corrections. Keeps the index honest.
[email protected]Jonas Bekele
Fieldwork editor
Site reports, expedition logs, and travel-grant applications. Usually out of office — give him five days.
[email protected]Sara Vélez
Press & partnerships
Media enquiries, documentary crews, and institutional partnerships. Based in Madrid — replies in EN/ES.
[email protected]Find the archive
The physical collection lives in a converted 1960s house on Loresho Ridge — easy to miss, deliberately so. Look for the rust-coloured gate and the small fossil-shaped plaque by the door.
Plan a visit
The reading room holds twelve carrels and a reference collection of 4,200 specimens. Visiting researchers may book up to six weeks in advance; same-week requests are accommodated when seats are open.
Request a reading-room seatQuick answers, before you write
If your question is below, the answer is too. If not, the form above reaches us directly and a real person will be in touch.
How long does a reply usually take?
Three working days is our stated target. Press inquiries are usually answered within 24 hours; collaboration proposals can take a week because they pass through two editors. If you have not heard from us in ten days, please resend — occasionally messages do slip through spam filters.
Do you accept guest essays from independent writers?
Yes, on a rolling basis. We commission roughly thirty guest essays a year. We pay a modest honorarium on publication and retain first-serial rights; copyright returns to the author after six months. Send a 200-word pitch and one published clip.
Can students visit the archive on a field-trip?
Undergraduate and taught-postgraduate groups are welcome for guided tours of up to twelve students, twice a term. The reading room is reserved for graduate-level and postdoctoral researchers; the reference collection is open to all visitors during the tour.
Are image and specimen photographs free to use?
Low-resolution thumbnails on the archive are released under CC BY-NC 4.0 for non-commercial teaching and press use with attribution. High-resolution files require a separate licence; we respond to those requests within five working days and fees scale with distribution size.
Can I donate a specimen to the archive?
We accept donations of well-documented specimens that fill gaps in the existing index. We do not purchase material, and we decline specimens without provenance. Write to the curator with photographs and locality data; the accessions committee meets quarterly.
Read the archive while you wait for a reply
No need to sit on the doorstep. The fossil archive, the fieldwork dispatches, and the deep-time essays are all open. Have a look — it helps us understand what you are pitching.