RUI: Sediment Records of Environmental Changes at Lake Victoria, East Africa, during the Past Millenium with Decade-Scale Resolution

该奖项将使研究人员能够从最近从东非维多利亚湖北方沿海沃茨收集的沉积物岩心中开发高分辨率（约10年间隔）的微体化石和地球化学记录。 初步证据表明，这些岩芯包含了过去一千年来由于气候变化而导致的湖泊水位波动的证据。从这些沉积记录中，研究人员希望重建维多利亚湖在过去500年的环境历史，重建东非干旱的前所未有的高分辨率古气候记录，深入了解热带地区世纪至十年尺度气候周期的作用，研究太阳变化如何随着时间的推移影响非洲气候，并研究热带气候对中世纪温暖期和小冰期的反应的时间和性质。作为RUI的提案，该奖项将为本科生提供一个独特的机会，让他们参与高质量的研究，从而在科学研究的实践方面获得宝贵的经验。

This award will enable researchers to develop high-resolution (~10 year interval) microfossil and geochemical records from sediment cores recently collected from the northern coastal waters of Lake Victoria in East Africa. Preliminary evidence indicates that the cores contain evidence of past lake level fluctuations due to climatic changes over the last millennium. From these sedimentary records, researchers hope to reconstruct the environmental history of Lake Victoria over the last 500 years, reconstruct an unprecedented high-resolution paleoclimatological record of East African droughts, gain insights into the role of century- to decade-scale climate cycles in the tropics, investigate how solar variability over time affects African climates, and examine the timing and nature of tropical climate responses to the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age. As an RUI proposal, this award will provide a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to participate in high-quality research thereby gaining invaluable experience in practical aspects of scientific research.