Education | Grantee Spotlight
Stephen Magohe is a geologist and assistant lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam who is pursuing his PhD at the University of Calgary. In 2024, Magohe received a prestigious Francis H. Brown African Scholarship for his project “Investigating early Homo habitat through geoscience at Oldupai Gorge, Tanzania.” His project focuses on understanding the geological history of Oldupai Gorge, one of the world’s most significant paleoanthropological sites.
Speaking with rocks
Magohe’s fascination with geology began when he was a child. He grew up in Kahama, Tanzania, a gold mining district where he often watched geologists at work. “I thought that was a cool thing to do! They told me they could speak to the rocks. I wanted to be a geologist also, so I could speak to the rocks,” Magohe recalls. Inspired by these experiences, Magohe decided to become a geologist so he could also understand the stories that rocks tell. Over time, he developed a strong interest in evolution, especially human evolution. He earned a master’s of science from the University of Dar es Salaam, where he now teaches geological mapping, sedimentology, and biostratigraphy.
“My goal as a tutor and researcher has always been to meet young university students and inspire them to pursue geoscience careers,” said Magohe. “I have done this since employment, but to do it best, I need to complete my PhD.”
Layers of history at Oldupai Gorge
In 2022, Magohe began his PhD program at the University of Calgary and joined an ongoing research project at Oldupai Gorge called “Stone Tools, Diet, and Sociality at the Dawn of Humanity.“
Oldupai Gorge is a steep-sided ravine that stretches for 30 miles (48 kilometers) in the East African Rift Valley in Tanzania. Its layers contain an extraordinary record of human history spanning nearly two million years. The name “Oldupai” comes from the Maasai word for the wild sisal plant (Sansevieria ehrenbergii) that grows throughout the area. The site became widely known through the work of Louis and Mary Leakey who conducted extensive research there for decades. The Leakeys uncovered many important fossils and stone tools that greatly expanded our understanding of human evolution.
Shifting landscapes of the human past
Magohe’s focus is on the western part of the gorge, which has been studied much less than the eastern side of the gorge. His work involves examining “marker tuffs,” volcanic ash layers used to correlate rocks from different areas. By comparing markers from both the west and east sides of the gorge, Magohe seeks to improve our understanding of how the area’s environment evolved over time. This research is crucial in explaining how shifts in climate and landscape influenced early human evolution.
His insights will also provide essential context and age constraints for the fossils and artifacts found by other members of the research team, a collaboration that is meaningful to Magohe. “I am a geologist working with archaeologists. While their focus is to find the evidence of early humans preserved in rocks as fossils, my duty as a geologist is to reconstruct and explain what the environment hosting the fossils looked like back in time,” Magohe explains. “Archaeologists unearth important findings, but without placing these findings into a chronological context, their beautiful story can be incomplete. My research helps complete stories of human evolution, making them more interesting,” Magohe explains.
The Francis H. Brown African Scholarship
Receiving The Leakey Foundation’s Francis H. Brown African Scholarship was a pivotal moment for Magohe. “I was very happy! A Leakey grant is not just a grant; it is a ‘stamp’ for someone working in the Oldupai Gorge,” he says. The grant not only funds his research but also recognizes his contributions to the field, playing a key role in his development as a researcher and academic.
The Francis H. Brown African Scholarship aims to expand human knowledge of earth sciences and botany related to human origins by assisting East African researchers and students. The fund is also intended to build scientific capacity in East African institutions and countries, a goal Magohe shares.
“Tanzania is striving for a middle economy through intensive research and industrialization. Towards this, the country needs many experts in the field of geoscience to take part in transformation. As a Tanzanian, I aspire to help my country in this through research development during and after my PhD. My hunger is to share knowledge obtained at the University of Calgary through the Francis H. Brown African Scholarship and to continue following the path toward scientific excellence for the betterment of my country.”
