The REAL mid-term meeting was hosted at the University of Ghent by Prof. Dirk Veschuren and his team. A special thanks to Yoeri Torsy for arranging the details that made it such an enjoyable meeting. From the 15th-19th June 2015, the REAL team members spent time together updating each other on their research progress,discussed the […]
Palaeoenvironmental site map
Interactive map of palaeoenvironmental sites in East Africa. Click the sites to find the relevant published studies and access the papers. An index list of sites can be found by clicking the box at the top left corner of the map. version 001 Colin Courtney Mustaphi 15 December 2014 Sites and references Amani Pond Mumbi […]
UNIVERSITY OF YORK REAL-CAPACITIE-AAREA TRAINING WORKSHOP
The University of York hosted a 6 day training workshop for the REAL members and also invited participants from the environment department and other research groups (CAPACITIE, AAREA, ENVIRON). This was held at the University of York Heslington East Campus and the Department of Archaeology, Kings Manor. The training course 24th-26th was aimed at imparting […]
Fieldwork at Lakes Baringo and Bogoria, July 2014
The REAL ESRs from Ghent University carried out field work in Lakes Baringo and Bogoria in the Kenyan rift valley in July. Together with Prof. Dirk Verschuren, ESRs Geert van der Plas and Aynalem Degefa and other members of the Limnology Unit at Ghent University (Gijs de Cort and Yoeri Torsi), were involved in the […]
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, […]
Amboseli fieldwork
Assorted REALers accompanied Esther and Colin on their fieldwork trip to the Amboseli region. Two swamps were targeted for analysis, resulting in some beautiful cores and a ton of fun, all under the watchful eye of Mount Kilimanjaro. Further activities included mapping the sediment depth, taking pictures with the trusted Quad “Don’t land me in […]
Workshop on archival sources
From March 24 to 25, 2014, Dr. David Anderson and Dr. Benoit Hazard led a workshop on accessing and critically analysing archival sources and historical research methods at the British Institute in Eastern Africa and the Kenya National Archives. The workshop introduced archival sources and historical research methods to scholars with limited experience in historical research. The workshop […]
Workshop in Palaeoenvironmental Approaches
This week some of the REAL members came together with researchers of the National Museums of Kenya to participate in a workshop in palaeoenvironmental approaches organised by Stephen Rucina, Rob Marchant, and Colin Courtney Mustaphi. The workshop was held at the National Museums in Nairobi. Some of the REAL members enjoying the sun Colin talked […]
ESR 3: Landscape and environmental change
Fellow: Geert van der Plas Supervision: Dirk Verschuren Host Institution: Limnology Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University Duration: 3 years – beginning December 2013 Project description: “Millennial scale landscape and environmental change in the northern Rift Valley and Mount Kilimanjaro regions” In my project I will reconstruct past interactions of humans with their environment, driven […]
Photos from the Baringo conference at the University of Köln
Over January 8-10, 2014, the Global South Studies Center at the University of Cologne hosted a conference and brought together many members of the REAL team and other researchers working in East Africa. The focus was social-ecological transitions, exchange and emergence: resilience and vulnerability in the wider Baringo basin and adjoining highlands. […]
Resilience and vulnerability in the wider Baringo basin
Over January 8-10, 2014, the Global South Studies Center at the University of Cologne hosted a conference and brought together many members of the REAL team and other researchers working in East Africa. The focus was social-ecological transitions, exchange and emergence: resilience and vulnerability in the wider Baringo basin and adjoining highlands. The program is […]
Stockholm GIS workshop, Feb 2014
REAL ESRs participated in the QGIS and R statistical analysis training held 10-14 February at Stockholm University. The QGIS training, organised by the department of Human Geography at Stockholm University included basic GIS exercises, followed by intermediate and advanced GIS analyses involving spatial data analysis, working with terrain data, and accessing public domain geographic data. […]