[Biography] [Departmental Website] [Publications] [Contact Info] “After high school, I was not exactly sure what I would like to study but knew that I had broad interests. The geography discipline allowed me to learn and explore multiple facets of human society, technology, and the natural environment, from the classroom, laboratory and field settings. After completing […]
British Ecological Society – Tropical Ecosystems Group August 14-15, 2014
BES-TEG aimed at promoting and facilitating communication and interaction between tropical ecologists to enable inter-disciplinary transfer and development of knowledge and skills; and provides support for early career researchers while filling-in policy gaps. After six successful Early Career Research Meetings, BES-TEG are organizing a 7th meeting schedule to take place at the University of York, […]
Colin Courtney Mustaphi Projects and Publications List
Overview During the past 20 years I have worked on three continents to research human impacts on the environment by developing time series, spatial, and qualitative data sets. I study how human modifications to the environment have long term legacy effects on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, mostly freshwater lakes and wetlands and the surrounding watershed […]
Identification help: Freshwater bryozoa statoblast from East Africa
Identified! This is a statoblast of the species Lophopodella capensis or possibly Lophopodella stuhlmani. Some information on the distribution of this freshwater bryozoa can be found here. Bryozoa statoblasts like these were found in the late Holocene sediments of Nyabuiyabui Swamp, a freshwater swamp on the Mau Escarpment in Kenya, at 2900 m asl. If it is […]
Quadcopter UAVs for photographic and video surveying
Below lists some information to be advised for the use of the quadcopter (with or without the camera attached) in the United Kingdom. Thanks to Dave Hay of the Environment Department, University of York, for help compiling this information for REAL members. Air Navigation rules in the United Kingdom Air Navigation: The Order and the […]
Quadcopter with camera for surveying
During a test run of the DJI Phantom II quadcopter on July 22, 2014, the quad flew away and landed in a field. This video was recorded and shows its 2300-meter-long adventure through the University of York campus and to a nearby school field. Dave Hay, from the Environment Department, put this video on YouTube […]
Sediment analyses at Aberystwyth University
By: Colin Courtney Mustaphi and Esther Githumbi July 16, 2014 X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) is a technique that yields detailed information on the geochemistry of sediment cores and can be useful for characterising depositional environments and for palaeoenvironmental interpretations. The XRF analysis was performed at the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth University in Wales, UK, […]
Generic Political Map of East Africa
Here is a generic map of East Africa made by Nick Deere from KITE (University of York) that can be used as a study aid to label and take notes on. [TIF file] [JPG file]
POLLEN PROCESSING USING HF DIGESTION
SEDIMENT DESCRIPTION Sediment colour is described using the Munsell soil colour charts as the core is extruded. Colour and the point of any colour change are noted in the core log book which also holds the routine sediment analysis data. Troels-Smith description of the sediment may also be needed, in which case the project leader […]
POLLEN PROCESSING FOLLOWING THE HEAVY LIQUID SEPARATION
Accumulated sediments contain plant macro and microfossils; lakes, swamp and bog sediments trap evidence from the surrounding environments for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. The plant microfossils provide evidence of historical changes in the surrounding environment. These sediments are the indicators studied in palynology which is concerned with the structure and formation of the pollen grains Pollen analysis can […]
Project Overview – Resilience in East African Landscapes (REAL)
Project summary The strong temporal dynamics of the East African landscape and natural-resource distributions have always encouraged people to innovate and adapt to changing conditions. However, the realities of current social and environmental changes are occurring at unprecedented rates and amplitudes. Increasing population growth, changes in patterns of land tenure, industrialization, weak systems of governance, […]
Survey of Kenya visit
The Survey of Kenya, with headquarters in Nairobi, was involved in field mapping alongside the Directorate of Overseas Surveys and Directorate of Colonial Surveys during British colonial rule and remains the main centre of geospatial information in Kenya. The Survey maintains the air photography, maps, cadastrals and geospatial data of Kenya and is an important […]