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Summer School 2010/11

Concept of the Summer School

We organized two consecutive summerschools in the field of geo-biosciences in East Africa, including the disciplines of paleoclimatology, paleontology, paleoanthropology, evolutionary biology, structural geology and geophysics. The summerschool focused on the relationships between the development of extreme relief in the East African Rift system, superposed past climate changes and their influence on mammalian and hominin evolution. The transdisciplinary summerschools for students from the fields of geosciences and biosciences aimed at intense training of the participants at the MSc, PhD and postdoctoral level to foster a better understanding of climate-biosphere interactions in a complex tectonic-topographic setting such as the Kenya and Tanzanian rift valley. This effort rested on team teaching and joint learning and will generate important synergies between researchers and graduate students. The acquired knowledge and understanding helped students define premier research topics to study past geo-biosphere interactions, and it ultimately provided the next generation of researchers and practitioners with the necessary background and scientific tools to evaluate and mitigate the effects of present-day and future environmental changes in the course of global change.

Program of the Summer School

2010 | Session 1 | Kenya and Tanzania

M1 Shortcourse on Evolutionary Biology
Sep 19–25, 2010 | Professor Tiedemann

M2 Excursion to the Kenya Rift, Part 1
Sep 26–Oct 3, 2010 | PD Dr. Trauth

M3 Fieldcourse in Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Oct 4–10, 2010 | Dr. Hertler

M4 Bio-Geo Field and Laboratory Courses | 1
Sept 19–Oct 10, 2010 | all instructors

2011 | Session 2 | Kenya

M5 Shortcourse on Data Analysis
Sep 18–24, 2011 | PD Dr. Trauth

M6 Excursion to the Kenya Rift, Part 2
Sep 25–Oct 1, 2011 | Professor Strecker

M7 Shortcourse on Active Tectonics
Oct 2–9, 2011 | Dr. Clarke

M8 Bio-Geo Field and Laboratory Courses | 2
Sep 18–Oct 9, 2011 | all instructors

Instructors of the Summer School

apl. Professor Dr. Martin H. Trauth, University of Potsdam
Professor Dr. Eric O. Odada, University of Nairobi
Dr. Brian Clarke, University of Potsdam
Dr. Christine Hertler, Senckenberg Frankfurt
Dr. Annett Junginger, University of Potsdam
Professor Dr. Daniel O. Olago, University of Nairobi
Dr. Lydia Olaka, MSc, University of Nairobi
Professor Dr. Friedemann Schrenk, Senckenberg Frankfurt
Professor Manfred Strecker, PhD, University of Potsdam
Professor Dr. Ralph Tiedemann, University of Potsdam

Participants of the Summer School

May Murungi, U Mbarara, Uganda
Morgan Andama, U Mbarara, Uganda
Tina Omuombo, Atieno U Nairobi, Kenya
Yayeh Desalegn, U Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Enguye Wondimu, U Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Zuze Dulanya, U Malawi
Hailay Gebreyesus, U Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Rene Dommain, U Greifswald
Rishi Ram Adhikari, U Potsdam
Nina Boesche, U Potsdam
Verena Foerster, U Köln
Istem Fer, U Technical Istanbul, Turkey
Boris Sakschweski, U Potsdam
Stefan Dietrich, U Potsdam
Marlene Bausch, U Potsdam
Marius Walter, U Potsdam
Sven Borchardt, U Potsdam
Margaret Nduku Kyalo, U Nairobi
Mary Mwangi, U Nairobi
Abigail Wamunyu, U Nairobi
Benjamin Odumo, U Nairobi
Anne Papenfuß, U Potsdam

Picture
Photo: M. H. Trauth