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Announcing the Fall 2024 Francis H. Brown African Scholars

Grants

The Leakey Foundation is proud to announce the fall 2024 Francis H. Brown African Scholars: Ester Lourenço, Georgina Luti, Aggrey Omuyangu, and Tekie Tesfamichael. This prestigious award acknowledges their contributions to the study of human origins and their exceptional potential for continued success.

The Francis H. Brown African Scholarship Fund was created in honor of Dr. Francis H. Brown, an eminent geologist who served on The Leakey Foundation’s Scientific Executive Committee for many years. Frank Brown devoted more than five decades to mapping and analyzing the geology of northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia, and his work provided a way to place fossil finds in chronological order.

During his time working in Ethiopia and Kenya, Frank Brown became an expert in not only the geology but also the plant life of the Omo-Turkana basin. He studied several languages, including Kiswahili, Kikamba, Kikuyu, and Turkana. Along the way, he sponsored the education of many Ethiopian and Kenyan university students.

Every year, through this scholarship fund, The Leakey Foundation supports outstanding East African students and researchers whose work is focused on the earth sciences or botany related to human origins. Read on to learn more about the 2024 Francis H. Brown African Scholars.

Francis H. Brown African Scholar Ester Loureco working at a field site. She is concentrating and looking down.

Ester Lourenço, Mozambique

Ester Lourenço earned her bachelor’s degree from Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique. Her undergraduate research focused on the geochemistry and mineralogy of bentonite in Mozambique’s Namaacha District. As a geologist with the Paleo-Primate Project in Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, Ester has contributed to Miocene fossil discoveries and is recognized as the first Mozambican woman to engage in these groundbreaking studies.

Ester has been accepted into a Master’s program in geological sciences at the University of Zaragoza in Spain. Her research will focus on the Mazamba Formation in Gorongosa National Park, which contains Miocene marine and terrestrial fossils. Her thesis will include stratigraphic mapping, sedimentological studies, and geochronological dating.

Impact of the scholarship

The Francis H. Brown African Scholarship will fund Ester’s tuition, research, and living costs. This support will enable her to conduct her studies and further Mozambique’s role as a hub for paleoanthropological research.

Future goals

Ester plans to pursue a PhD and aspires to become a professor in Mozambique, advancing research in paleoanthropology and geology. She is dedicated to establishing Mozambique’s Urema Rift as a key research site and inspiring the next generation of scientists.

Francis H. Brown Scholar Georgina Luti at the Gondolin Cave research site in South Africa in April 2023. Photo by Robyn Pickering.

Georgina Luti, Kenya

Georgina Luti is a Kenyan geologist who is advancing her PhD research at the University of Cape Town, focusing on stratigraphy, dating, and paleoclimatic reconstruction of the Gondolin and Kromdraai hominin sites in South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind. Now in the third year of her scholarship, Georgina is conducting fieldwork, laboratory analyses, and data interpretation to better understand the depositional environments and timelines of these important sites.

Her research aims to improve the understanding of the chronology of the Paranthropus genus in South Africa and place its fossil record within a broader paleoanthropological context. Current activities include stratigraphic mapping, sediment and speleothem sampling, and advanced U-Pb dating techniques. 

Impact of the scholarship

The Francis H. Brown African Scholarship is supporting several aspects of Georgina’s work, including field trips for mapping and sample collection, laboratory analyses, and training in advanced geochemical techniques. 

Future goals

After completing her PhD, Georgina plans to return to Kenya to advance geological and paleoanthropological research. She is dedicated to mentoring the next generation of women in science.

Aggrey Minya Omuyangu, Kenya

Aggrey Minya Omuyangu has focused his academic and professional efforts on earth sciences and paleoenvironmental research. He has earned a bachelor’s degree in history and archaeology from Maseno University in Kenya, and a Master of Science degreee in human evolutionary biology from Turkana University College. His experiences at the National Museums of Kenya and the Turkana Basin Institute have been instrumental in shaping his interest in the interactions between ancient vegetation, climate, and faunal evolution.

Educational goals

Aggrey has been accepted to the PhD program in earth sciences at the University of Memphis, where he will work with Dr. Gary Stinchcomb. His research will investigate Late Miocene vegetation dynamics and their role in faunal and hominin evolution in eastern Africa, focusing on the site of Lothagam in Kenya. Using a combination of paleosols, phytoliths, pollen, isotopic data, and biomarkers, Aggrey seeks to reconstruct past environments. His work will provide insights into the factors that influenced evolutionary changes during this critical period.

Impact of the scholarship

The Francis H. Brown African Scholarship provides support to cover Aggrey’s tuition, fees, and research expenses at the University of Memphis. This includes costs for coursework, lab supplies, and travel to research sites, ensuring he has the resources to conduct his study of paleoenvironments at Lothagam. 

Future goals

Upon completing his PhD, Aggrey plans to return to Kenya to advance education and research in paleoenvironmental sciences. He hopes to teach at institutions such as Maseno University and the National Museums of Kenya. Additionally, he hopes to develop paleoenvironmental science courses in Kenyan universities to encourage the next generation of researchers and to promote public understanding of the field.

Tekie Tesfamichael, Ethiopia

Dr. Tekie Tesfamichael is a geologist and an assistant professor at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. Dr. Tekie Tesfamichael is a geologist at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. He earned his bachelor’s degree geology from Addis Ababa University, and he studied a Master’s Degree in Italy and a PhD in the USA at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He conducts research and investigates the contributions and influences of climate change on human evolution using fossil leaves deposited in sedimentary rocks. He specializes in paleoenvironmental research and the impacts of climate change on human evolution. With a PhD in Geology from Southern Methodist University, his work has focused on reconstructing past climates and understanding their influence on hominin evolution. He has received the Francis H. Brown African Scholarship twice before, in 2020 and 2022, to support research in Ethiopia’s Mush Valley.

Impact of the scholarship

This year, the scholarship will support Dr. Tesfamichael’s research on fossil leaves from the Jiru area in North Central Ethiopia. His project involves fieldwork to collect fossil leaves and laboratory analyses to measure stomatal density, carbon isotopes, and other features. These data will be used to quantify ancient atmospheric CO2 levels and reconstruct the ecological conditions during early hominin existence. Building on his previous work, this research aims to refine our understanding of how climate fluctuations influenced the environments inhabited by early humans and contributed to their evolutionary pathways.

Future goals

Dr. Tesfamichael’s research contributes to the broader understanding of human origins by integrating paleoclimate data with evolutionary science. Beyond his research, he remains dedicated to mentoring young scientists and strengthening Ethiopia’s capacity for paleoenvironmental and geochronological research.

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